In good markets and bad, investors should always keep an eye out for stocks they’d buy in any environment. These ‘solid buy stocks’ are ones that tend to show relative strength versus the broader market.
In a bull market, these stocks can boast tremendous returns. In bear markets, these stocks can protect a portfolio from some of the painful losses plaguing the stock market.
It helps when these stocks react favorably to earnings and when sentiment is strong. That goes for investor sentiment and Wall Street sentiment (in other words, analyst sentiment).
Sometimes, sentiment is strong, and it shouldn’t be. However, as long as these businesses move in the right direction, investors can overlook short-term bumps. So, without further ado, let’s look at a few strong buy stocks that Wall Street loves.
| DIS | Disney | $108.06 |
| AMD | Advanced Micro Devices | $81.48 |
| MSFT | Microsoft | $263.10 |
Disney (DIS)
Disney (NYSE:DIS) just reported earnings on Feb. 8, and at first, Wall Street loved the results. Investors bid the stock higher, but shares soon fell flat. Despite rallying almost 6% at the point, shares finished lower on the day.
The company delivered a top- and bottom-line beat, but more than that, Disney announced a large restructuring. It will lay off 7,000 employees and look to save $5.5 billion. It will also put more significant focus on its ESPN unit.
Ahead of the report, the stock had rallied impressively. Shares were up 33% from the recent low going into earnings. Since the announcement report, several analysts have reiterated their buy-equivalent ratings.
Of course, there are fears of a recession and how that would impact Disney. But for now, those fears seem to be taking a back seat. That’s as analysts expect almost 8% revenue growth this year and a much-needed rebound in earnings, up 16.5%. That said, at 26-times earnings, it isn’t exactly cheap.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
A name that has seemingly gone from hated to loved? Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD).
Going into the fourth quarter, the stock couldn’t find a bid. Neither could Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) or Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) for that matter. However, AMD and Nvidia have been roaring higher after losing roughly two-thirds of their value.
AMD has seen a low-to-high rally of 63%, with gains capped by a solid reaction to earnings. The company delivered a mixed quarter on Jan. 31, narrowly beating earnings and revenue expectations while guidance was a tad light.
That didn’t deter most analysts though, who generally seemed to like the better-than-feared update from management.
These results allowed shares to rally more than 18% during the two days following earnings, although the stock has been cooling off again. For now, Wall Street seems to like AMD, and so do investors. Accordingly, this is a stop with a bullish trend worth watching here.
Microsoft (MSFT)
Lastly, we have Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), which has garnered quite a bit of attention lately, and has done so at the expense of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL, NASDAQ:GOOG).
Unlike many other strong buy stocks, analysts and investors alike did not love the earnings results from Microsoft. At least initially. At one point, shares were down almost 5% after the print, but ended the day lower by just 0.6%. By the end of the next day, shares were up 2.5% since the report.
More recently, MSFT stock has been performing well, as there’s been a strong bid in tech stocks, and those closely tied to an artificial intelligence (or AI) arms race that has been heating up.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT quickly swept across the globe, garnering more than a million users in just a few days. As it gained momentum, it also gained investors, as Microsoft quickly agreed to a multi-billion stake.
Soon after, Microsoft showed off its AI capabilities, integrating AI into its internet browser, search engine, and platforms. While Google is the search engine leader, and most popular website in the world, investors have been piling into Microsoft and dumping Alphabet (although an AI gaff by Alphabet surely didn’t help matters).
Ultimately, analysts have been piling on the love for Microsoft stock too. This is a stock I’d certainly put in the must-buy category right now.
On the date of publication, Bret Kenwell did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.