Investors must adapt to shifting macroeconomic forces and trends as the world prepares for another pandemic year.
Rising inflation, the Federal Reserve’s decision to reduce monetary support, and a workforce disrupted by the current coronavirus outbreak influence daily stock price action.
TipRanks, a financial data aggregation website, provides investors with the information they require to navigate the market. Wall Street analysts highlight five stocks they believe will be around for a long time.
Two Interactive
Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO) announced on January 10 that it would pay $12.7 billion for FarmVille creator Zynga. The news shook both companies’ stocks, with Zynga ending the day up 40% and Take-Two down more than 13%.
The analyst is Jefferies’ Andrew Uerkwitz, who attributes the sell-off to miscalculations about Zynga’s suitability for Take-Two and fears of a bidding war for the game developer. However, Uerkwitz stated that no one is doing the math regarding the merger itself. Uerkwitz rates the stock as a Buy with a price target of $231.
According to the analyst, the recent weakness in TTWO’s share price provides investors with an appealing long-term entry point.
In terms of Take-core Two’s business, Uerkwitz is bullish on the company’s robust pipeline and the growing opportunities for mobile gaming, which are being fueled in part by more capable hardware.
Meanwhile, those playing the games are more comfortable than ever using phone platforms.
Cisco
Companies such as Cisco Systems benefit from the shift toward digitization (CSCO).
Tigress Financial Partners’ Ivan Feinseth believes Cisco should maintain its leading position as a global IP-based connectivity and networking equipment provider. The company has benefited from an increase in enterprise networking infrastructure spending.
Feinseth assigned the stock a Buy rating and set a price target of $73.
According to Feinseth, the acquisition is one of many strategic initiatives demonstrating Cisco’s commitment to inorganic growth and the strength of its balance sheet.
Cisco stands to benefit from increased videoconferencing and the general need for faster networking speeds and capacity. If the company succeeds, so will its shareholders. For the tenth year in a row, the company has increased its dividend.
Feinseth is No. 89 out of over 7,000 analysts on TipRanks. He has been successful 68 percent when rating stocks and has averaged 18.1 percent returns on each.
Microsoft
While many technology companies have cards in the cloud-computing solutions game, none are well-positioned to grow in 2022 as Microsoft (MSFT). The tech behemoth has increased the number of large deals for its Azure cloud services and its Office 365 bundle.
After reviewing its December financial results, Wedbush Securities’ Dan Ives issued a bullish report on the stock, highlighting how strong Microsoft appears to be. He was encouraged by the robust enterprise spending on Azure cloud. He predicted that the company would soon enter its next growth phase. Ives assigned the stock a Buy rating and a $375 price target. According to the technology analyst, others have been cautious about Microsoft’s prospects. He claimed that Wall Street has yet to recognize the reality of remote work trends. Furthermore, the sheer volume of enterprise-level deals, which has increased by more than 50%, allows Ives to project higher than his peers.
Ives sees Microsoft gaining market share from established players like AWS, even though the total addressable market for remote cloud services could be worth up to $1 trillion (AMZN).
