As October nears its end, Oppenheimer is eyeing some stocks that it thinks are slated for gains over the next year. October has historically been a volatile month for stocks, and this year’s period has been no different. Both the S & P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted their third losing session in a row on Wednesday. That said, the broad market index as well as the Nasdaq Composite are still on track to close out the month in the green. These moves come amid a strong earnings season so far. To date, 32% of the S & P companies have reported, and their earnings and revenue have beaten analysts’ expectations by 6% and 1.3%, respectively, per LSEG. Their performance is also much better than last year’s period, with earnings up 4.3% and revenue up 4.2%. Looking ahead to November, Oppenheimer has updated its top stock ideas list, which features additions such as CarMax , Mastercard and Atlassian . The investment bank also removed names such as Dick’s Sporting Goods , International Flavors & Fragrances and Uber . Below are some of the stocks on the list. Shares of global health company Cigna have seen gains of nearly 7% in 2024 but have fallen almost 8% this month. Analyst Michael Wiederhorn notes that the name usually trades at a discount compared to its peers, which leaves room for potential upside from multiple expansion in the future. More notably, the analyst thinks the market has undervalued the opportunity from the company’s $54 billion purchase of Express Scripts in 2018, which should generate “strong” returns in the long term. He has an outperform rating on the stock, and his price target implies nearly 26% upside from Wednesday’s close. Earlier this week, Cigna shares fell after Bloomberg News, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that the company has restarted merger discussions with rival Humana after talks ended last year. The sources told Bloomberg News that the discussions are in early stages. CI mountain 2024-10-21 CI, week-to-date More growth could also be ahead for newly added Atlassian. Analyst Ittai Kidron has an outperform rating on the stock, and his $230 target reflects nearly 22% upside, as of Wednesday’s close. While shares have fallen 20% this year, they have risen nearly 20% this month. Kidron thinks Atlassian is strongly positioned in the long term to become a beneficiary of the growing importance of software and application development. The analyst also thinks its focus on product innovation in its go-to-market strategy will continue to fuel the success of its land-and-expand strategy. Kidron is not alone in his bullish stance. Morgan Stanley likewise named the stock one of its top picks earlier this month based on the similar belief that its expanding product portfolio will propel shares higher. In the semiconductor space, Broadcom may be poised for continued growth. Shares are already up 53% in 2024. Analyst Rick Schafer has given the stock an outperform rating with a target of $200. That implies more than 15% upside from Wednesday’s close. Schafer cited a sustained competitive edge in the high-end filter market, as well as a manufacturing advantage, among the catalysts for growth. Evercore ISI also added Broadcom to its top chip stock picks ahead of its earnings report later in the year. In a statement following its latest quarterly results, CEO Hock Tan said the company is projecting $12 billion in sales for 2024 from artificial intelligence parts and custom chips.
