Image source: CVS Health.
What happened
Investors in CVS Health(NYSE:CVS) should be quiterelieved to finally put 2016 in the rearview mirror. Shares of the retail pharmacy giant fell by more than 18% during 2016, according to data fromS&P Global Market Intelligence. That vastly underperformed the company’s biggest rival,Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA).
CVS data by YCharts.
So what
CVS Health’s year was going just fine up until August. The company produced a string of earnings reports that showeddouble-digit growthon its top and bottom lines. Management also took advantage of the market’s weakness to start the year by buying back nearly $4 billion worth of stock in the first two quarters.
Best Growth Stocks To Invest In Right Now: MEDIFAST INC(MED)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Peter Graham]
A long term performance chart shows small cap weight loss or dieting stocks Weight Watchers International and Reliv International, Inc (NASDAQ: RELV) still underperforming whileNutriSystem Inc (NASDAQ: NTRI) and Medifast Inc (NYSE: MED) began taking off early last year:
- [By Lee Jackson]
These companies also reported insider buying last week: Carrizo Oil and Gas Inc. (NASDAQ: CRZO), Medifast Inc. (NYSE: MED), Medley Capital Corp. (NYSE: MCC), Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY) and Sothebys (NYSE: BID).
- [By Peter Graham]
Although obesity is widespread, small cap dieting stocks havetended to causeinvestor portfolios to loose weight. A long term performance chart shows small cap weight loss or dieting stocks Weight Watchers International and Reliv International, Inc (NASDAQ: RELV) stillbelow or at breakeven for longer term investors whileMedifast Inc (NYSE: MED)has performed better and NutriSystem Inc (NASDAQ: NTRI) hasfinally begun to take offearly last year:
Best Growth Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Nordstrom Inc.(JWN)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Adam Levine-Weinberg]
Upscale retailer Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) faces the same negative trends as Macy’s in its full-line business. However, while Nordstrom’s management has shown a willingness to close a store here or there, investors shouldn’t expect any kind of massive store closure program at Nordstrom.
- [By Jeremy Bowman]
Downbeat holiday sales reports byKohl’s(NYSE:KSS) andMacy’s(NYSE:M) pushed the department store sector, and much of retail, in the red on Thursday. As of 11:38 a.m. EST, Kohl’s was down 19.5%, Macy’s was down 14.4%, and peers includingNordstrom(NYSE: JWN) andJ.C. Penney(NYSE: JCP) also tumbled, falling 9.8% and 6.7%, respectively.
- [By Chris Lange]
Look for Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN) to reveal its fiscal second-quarter results on Thursday as well. The consensus analyst estimates are $0.63 in EPS and revenue of $3.74 billion. Shares of Nordstrom closed at $46.81 on Friday, above the consensus price target of $46.00. The 52-week range is $39.53 to $62.82.
- [By Dan Caplinger]
The stock market mounted a last-minute rally to keep its string of winning days alive, as all three major market benchmarks recovered from losses during most of the day to close higher. The performance again showed the complete confidence that investors seem to have in the market’s longer-term future, despite the fact that some believe that stocks have generally risen too quickly and have been hoping for a pullback. Enough investors seem to be waiting for an opportunity to buy that losses have generally been muted and short-lived. Moreover, some good news sent many individual stocks higher, and Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN), RH (NYSE:RH), and Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) were among the top performers on the day. Below, we’ll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so well.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
By now, we all know retailers are facing a tough time. More and more, people are choosing to shop online, putting sales under pressure and leaving many with too many stores. Some department stores have begun to acknowledge the problems–but will they be able to adjust quickly enough in a rapidly changing landscape? Credit Suisse analyst Christian Bussand team believe this process is “well under way” but that didn’t stop them from downgrading Kohl’s (KSS) and J.C. Penney (JCP), even as they upgraded Nordstrom (JWN) and Burlington Stores(BURL). They explain why:
- [By WWW.THESTREET.COM]
The Bad
Bonds behaved poorly. The 10 year and long bond rose by between 3-4 basis points in yield. I bought a trading position in iShares Barclays 20+ Yr Treas.Bond ETF (TLT) in front of a possible yearend pension rebalance. Big pharma stinks up the joint, again. Spec biotech is weakening again (Portola Pharmaceuticals PTLA, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals ACAD, etc.) Retail cant get out of its way. I am long JC Penney (JCP) and have trading positions in Kohl’s (KSS) and Macy’s (M) . (Nike (NKE) , Nordstrom (JWN) , Lowe’s (LOW) are downside features).
The Ugly
Best Growth Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Intuitive Surgical Inc.(ISRG)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Demitrios Kalogeropoulos]
As for individual stocks, IBM (NYSE:IBM) and Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) attracted heavy investor interest following their quarterly earnings releases.
- [By Joseph Hogue]
Enter Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq: ISRG) and Da Vinci, a robotic arm that allows surgeons to operate with just a single incision less than an inch in size.
- [By Ashley Moore]
Here is a table of the 10 most expensive stocks trading on U.S. markets today:
Company (Ticker)Price per ShareMarket CapBerkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A)$ 257,227.52$ 419.50 billionSeaboard Corp. (NYSEMKT: SEB)$ 3,760.00$ 4.48 billionNVR Inc. (NYSE: NVR)$ 1,944.23$ 7.19 billionThe Priceline Group Inc. (Nasdaq: PCLN)$ 1,727.94$ 80.82 billionMarkel Corp. (NYSE: MKL)$ 978.51$ 13.78 billionWhite Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. (NYSE: WTM)$ 935.01$ 4.25 billionAmazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN)$ 846.08$ 408.27 billionAlphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOGL)$ 844.06$ 582.85 billionAutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO)$ 744.26$ 21.04 billionIntuitive Surgical Inc. (Nasdaq: ISRG)$ 735.63$ 28.41 billion
Best Growth Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Buffalo Wild Wings Inc.(BWLD)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Hilary Kramer]
We welcome host of Fox Business Network’s Making Money with Charles Payne to this year’s contest. When he’s not on air, the rags-to-riches financial guru is editing his free weekly newsletter, Charles Payne’s Smart Talk, as well as his new newsletter, Charles Payne’sSmart Investing, which allows individuals insights into picks that were formerly only available to institutions.
Payne is going with the owner, operator and franchiser of a wildly popular sports and wings bar for this year’s pick: Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD).
With commodities prices in the dumps, BWLD stands to benefit as Americans have more cash lining their pockets thanks to lower gas prices. That’s cash, Charles reasons, that Buffalo Wild Wings will be able to claim a chunk of. Not to mention the fact that if chicken prices remain subdued, it’ll mean a beefier bottom line.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD) has dropped 3% to $157.51 after its earnings fell short of the Street consensus.
Las Vegas Sands (LVS) has declined 1.1% to $58.60 despite beating earnings forecasts.
- [By Peter Graham]
A long term performance chart shows Dave & Busters Entertainment being a pretty steady performer up until June while potential peer, upscale gentlemen’s clubs and restaurant ownerRCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: RICK), took off last yearand Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) has started to fall off:
