As weeks go, it's been a great one for equities. The S&P 500 index has hit its highest levels in almost two years and has gained 14% since the end of October. Much of this is due to the Fed delivering on their promise to cool inflation without hurting the economy too much, and it's looking more and more likely that they've managed to do this and thread the needle.
With 2024 lining up to be a great year for stocks (famous last words much?), it can be tough to identify true quality names when everything is rallying. To make the choice a little easier, here are three in particular that analysts are going wild over.
HubSpot Inc (NYSE: HUBS)
First up is the tech titan, HubSpot. Its shares are up more than 35% since the start of November and are on track to have one of their best weeks in a long time. Part of this is the overall risk-on sentiment that's returning to stocks, but the bullish comments from Piper Sandler are also helping it.
The team there came with an upgrade on HubSpot stock earlier this week, moving their rating from Neutral up to Overweight. The key driver here is improved growth prospects, as they upped their 2024 financial estimates by $60 million. This reflects a new projected growth rate of 19.4%, the encouraging results from a recent survey, and a significant rebound in website traffic over the past few months.
With a fresh price target of $610, Piper Sandler is now expecting further upside of at least 10% from where shares closed on Thursday. Were they to hit this in the coming weeks, HubSpot would be at fresh 52-week highs.
PVH Corp (NYSE: PVH)
Next up is the high fashion group PVH. They've been one of the standout performers from the retail industry this year, with their shares almost back to 5-year highs. Much of the current rally has been realized in recent weeks, with a 70% gain since October alone.
This hasn't stopped the team at Goldman, however, and earlier this week, the team there named PVH one of their top retail picks heading into 2024. The company's outlook in the North American market is strengthening, with improved execution and rising margins driven by efficient supply chain management, savvy costing, favorable FX, and specific SG&A strategies. What will be particularly interesting here for investors is that these elements alone are set to drive solid EPS growth, even if sales stay flat.
PVH's investments in brand, innovation, and marketplace management were also highlighted, and even with the ongoing rally, the Goldman team projects ongoing upside revisions to estimates heading into 2024 and beyond.
Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZG)
Last but not least is Zillow, whose shares are on track to hit new 52-week highs soon. Having slumped through much of Q3 after a decent start to the year, they're now up more than 60% in little more than a month. And the best part? There's a lot more where that came from, according to JMP Securities.
The team there, led by analyst Nicholas Jones, upgraded Zillow to Market Outperform earlier this week. They're anticipating a strong boost to business from what's almost the perfect storm for real estate prices: declining interest rates and growing housing demand.
Jones expects these factors, along with modest market share gains and normalizing home transactions, to significantly increase Zillow's earnings in 2025 and 2026. He's upped his earnings estimates as a result, and a $60 price target points to even more expected gains in the near term.
