Amazon.com leads five stocks near buy points, along with Robinhood, Ryan Specialty, Texas Roadhouse and Mastercard.
With the market in an uptrend, IBD currently recommends 80% to 100% market exposure for investments. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average are right at record highs, while the Nasdaq holds above 18,100, not far from its high.
Among this week's list of stocks to watch, Ryan Specialty and Robinhood both rank on the IBD Big Cap 20 list.
Amazon Stock
Amazon stock is trending back toward its record highs from mid-July ahead of its Q3 results due in late October. The Magnificent Seven member and e-commerce giant should benefit from the looming holiday season. Meanwhile, Amazon is duking it out with Microsoft to become the leading cloud platform for artificial intelligence via Amazon Web Services.
Analysts expect Amazon to report a 10% revenue increase in its coming report after Q2 sales missed forecasts and the Dow Jones firm gave a lower-than-expected guidance for Q3 sales and operating income.
AMZN stock is working up the right side of a 12-week consolidation, toward a 201.20 buy point on a daily chart. With shares pulling back slightly in the past week, Amazon has a handle on a weekly chart with a 195.37 buy point.
Amazon stock rebounded above its 200-day and 50-day moving averages in early September. Shares have held above those levels since.
Amazon stock has rallied nearly 24% in 2024.
Texas Roadhouse Stock
Texas Roadhouse is trading just below a buy zone for a flat base. TXRH stock broke out above the 177.72 buy point last week, closing above the entry on Thursday before sliding Friday.
The 5% buy zone stretches to 186.60.
TXRH is holding above its key moving averages after rebounding above its 50-day line on Sept. 19.
Texas Roadhouse vaulted 43% so far this year.
A number of restaurant stocks are performing well along with Texas Roadhouse, including Cava, Wingstop and Shake Shack.
Guggenheim on Wednesday raised its price target on TXRH stock to 195 from 190 and kept a buy rating on shares, based on higher earnings estimates heading into Q3, The Fly reported. Texas Roadhouse earnings accelerated over the last three quarters, to a 47% gain for its July 25 report.
Is Amazon Stock A Buy As Tech Giant's Shares Approach July Highs?
Ryan Specialty Stock
Wholesale broker and managing underwriter Ryan Specialty Holdings leads the Insurance-Brokers Group according to the IBD Stock Checkup. The Chicago-based insurance company on Sept. 16 completed the acquisition of the property and casualty managing general underwriters, owned by Ethos Specialty Insurance, from Ascot Group for an undisclosed amount.
Ryan Specialty topped Q2 expectations on Aug. 1 and lifted its 2024 revenue growth outlook to a range of 13% to 14%.
BMO upgraded Ryan Specialty to outperform on Tuesday, noting a strong EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) growth runway, according to The Fly. The firm increased its EBITDA estimates by more than 6% based on a combination of higher profit margins and accretive acquisition expectations. Ryan's purchases of higher-margin businesses and "healthy" double-digit organic growth appears to give the company a "fog-free runway" to continue margin expansions in the coming quarters. BMO lifted its price target on RYAN stock to 75 from 65.
RYAN stock has moved up the right side of shallow cup base with a 69.03 buy point, matching its all-time high. Shares bounced strongly off their 50-day moving average on Tuesday, which could have been an early entry opportunity.
But RYAN stock pulled back the rest of the week, indicating a new handle could be on the way in a couple more sessions.
The handle looks to be shaping up with a 68.47 buy point, but still needs a few days to form.
RYAN stock has soared 53% in 2024.
Robinhood Stock
Robinhood stock is extended from the top of the official buy zone from a cup-with-handle base's 21.54 buy point. But a recent pause created an alternate handle at 24.06. Friday's 6.5% move to 23.89 in higher volume offered an early entry.
Robinhood stock has shot up more than 87% this year.
Meanwhile, Robinhood and London-based fintech firm Revolut are exploring the opportunity to launch stablecoins, Bloomberg reported Thursday. Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to hold a specific price over time, and the value is tied to a reference asset. Many stablecoins are designed to maintain at $1. Digital asset firm Tether's USDT token currently accounts for more than two-thirds of the $170 billion stablecoin market.
Elsewhere, Citi on Friday raised its price target on Robinhood stock to 23 from 19 and kept a neutral rating.
More broadly, Robinhood is a crypto-friendly free trading app at a time when brokerages are doing well and cryptocurrencies are rebounding.
Mastercard
Mastercard stock is trading in the bottom of a cup buy zone, above a 490 buy point following a Sept. 12 breakout. Investors also could use the Sept. 18 all-time high of 501.80 as a high-handle entry.
MA shares are finding support at their 21-day exponential moving average. The pause over the past couple of weeks is letting the 50-day line catch up somewhat.
Mastercard stock advanced nearly 16% in 2024.
JPMorgan on Wednesday said that Mastercard, Fiserv and FIS will likely benefit after the Department of Justice slapped Dow Jones rival Visa with an antitrust lawsuit on Tuesday. The regulator alleges that Visa illegally monopolized the debit card market in the U.S. since 2012 via incentive payments to keep competition out of the market and punishing merchants with higher fees for routing transactions. The DOJ also accused Visa of harming customers because card fees were passed on in the form of higher prices for goods and services.
JPMorgan noted that a resolution will be "multiple years in the making."
Citi on Tuesday said it now prefers Mastercard over Visa due to the lawsuit.
You can follow Harrison Miller for more stock news and updates on X/Twitter @IBD_Harrison
