[Power Trends] Are the âFANGâ Stocks Losing Their Teeth? Hereâs Where the Next Big Profits Are Hiding
Ten years ago, Jim Cramer of CNBC came up with the âFANGâ acronym to describe the hottest stocks in the market at that time: Facebook (FB), Amazon (AMZN), Netflix (NFLX), and Google (GOOG). And those stocks stayed hot for an extended stretch â averaging 516% returns over the last decade.
But Facebook is now Meta Platforms (META). And Google is now Alphabet (GOOG). The upshot: The FANG acronym doesnât work anymore (MANA doesnât have quite the same ring), and a couple of those stocks lack the powerful bite they once had. All four companies report quarterly earnings results in the next two weeks, starting with Netflix on Wednesday. To gauge their moneymaking potential going forward, letâs see how they rate in my [Quantum Edge system]( â and look at what Big Money is doing. Netflix â Oct. 18
Shares of the streaming king are up 23% so far this year, but theyâve taken an outsized 25% hit since their highs of July. ghs in July â which corresponded to the last earnings report. Netflix (NFLX) slid after the company beat earnings expectations but missed on revenue and revenue guidance. On the plus side, Netflix added more paid subscribers than Wall Street expected. One of the more interesting things to watch is the impact of the companyâs crackdown on password sharing, which it began in May, so the July report was too early to get much of a read. [Quantum Edge Ranking:]( With a Quantum Score of 58.6, NFLX is in the middling zone and not a screaming buy. Itâs worth noting, however, that the companyâs fundamentals are solid with a 70.9 rating. The 50 technicals rating is the biggest weight on the overall score. Big Money was buying the stock earlier in the year (the green bars are buy signals), but there have been seven sell signals the last two months.
MAPsignals.com
I donât normally buy a stock within days of an earnings report anyway, but I wouldnât rush out to buy NFLX right now. This weekâs report might provide important information that changes the outlook, but for now, there are better opportunities for the coming rally. Alphabet â Oct. 24
Alphabet (GOOGL), on the other hand, has been a stalwart, up nearly 60% in 2023 alone and already back at 52-week highs after a 7% pullback in September. Analysts expect earnings to grow 37% on 10% revenue growth. Those estimates have been rising the last few weeks, and that often precedes a positive surprise. Quantum Edge Ranking: GOOGLâs [Quantum Score]( is 77.6, which is excellent and in the zone I look for when buying a stock. I also like the balance, with the fundamentals rating 75 and the technicals 79 â both strong scores. And Big Money has stayed loyal. There have been a bunch of sell signals since the beginning of August, but GOOGL has yet to see even one in 2023. Just the opposite. Weâve detected 12 buy signals, including as recently as last week.
MAPsignals.com
With earnings a little over a week away, there is always the risk of a disappointment. Otherwise, the only drawback is the companyâs humungous $1.7 trillion market cap. Itâs just harder for massive stocks that size to pile up the percentage gains, but GOOGL has been pretty darned good at it. RECOMMENDED LINK [Could This Tiny Microcap Be the Biggest A.I. Opportunity of the Decade?](
This may be the biggest tech opportunity youâll see in your lifetime. (HINT: Itâs not Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, or other obvious companies that have already run up).
[Go HERE for details]( Meta Platforms â Oct. 25
Meta Platforms (META) has been one of the marketâs superstars this year, gaining 167% in less than 10 months. Thatâs second only to Nvidiaâs (NVDA) 215% surge. Analysts look for the former Facebook to post 120% earnings growth on 21% higher revenues, which is impressive. The question is how much of that may already be priced into the stock. Quantum Edge Ranking: META matches Alphabetâs strong Quantum Score of 77.6. The difference, though, is how we get there. With the stockâs moonshot higher this year, the technicals rate very high at 85.3. Thatâs close to being overheated. The fundamentals, meanwhile, are solid but not exceptional at 66.7. I think META will need a strong earnings report to keep the momentum going. And 2023 has been a story of momentum, with fewer than 24 Big Money buy signals this year â and 0 sells.
MAPsignals.com
META is likely to continue moving higher over time. How quickly it runs from here is the question. Some valuation measures are a little rich right now, which is not at all surprising given how well the stock has done. Amazon.com â Oct. 26
And lastly we come to Amazon.com (AMZN). Its fresh off another round of Prime Big Deal Days last week, but itâs the lowest rated of these four stocks. AMZN has quadrupled the S&P 500 this year with its 58% gains, and it has turned higher the last 10 days after getting knocked down from $145 to $125 in September and early October. Quantum Edge Ranking: Amazonâs Quantum Score of 55.2 puts it slightly behind Netflix. Its 61.8 technical rating isnât bad, but the fundamentals get a below-average ranking at 45.8. Itâs a great company that has clearly made investors money, but the current profit margin is negative, debt is high at more than twice equity, and the valuation is rich by multiple measures â including shares trading at 58.8 times expected earnings. Big Money was on board the first eight months of the year, but weâve seen four sell signals in the last three weeks. That may just be market volatility, but it bears watching.
MAPsignals.com
Iâm not saying Amazon is a bad stock to own, but I am saying it has the least certain upside potential of the four former FANGs. You can see that a couple of those FANGs have dulled a little bit, like Amazon and Netflix. But Alphabet and Meta Platforms still have some bite. For bigger upside, consider smaller stocks out there with equally strong â or even stronger â fundamentals, technicals, and Big Money inflows. Like semiconductor and software company Synopsys (SNPS), which has a $75 billion market cap and an outstanding Quantum Score of 82.8. (It is also up 36% since I recommended it to my [Quantum Edge Trader]( readers.) Upcoming earnings season should give us multiple such opportunities as we also enjoy a strong rally in stocks into 2024. Talk soon, [Jason Bodner]Jason Bodner
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