Dow Jones stocks Apple and Microsoft head a group of stocks including MercadoLibre, Samsara and Dynatrace that are in focus this week.
The stock market rally is still intact and doesn't seem like it wants to pull back just yet. On Friday, the market got a slim boost with tame inflation data.
However, after a strong run, there aren't many buying opportunities. With the S&P 500 just below record highs and the Nasdaq trading around the 15,000 level, extended from the 50-day line, the risk of a pullback remains.
These five stocks, including two Dow Jones giants, are all trading right around buy points and should be on investors' radars as they gauge the market and their holdings.
Dow Jones: Apple Stock
AAPL shares edged down 0.55% to 193.60 Friday during market action. On the week, the Dow Jones component declined 2%.
Apple stock is holding just above a 192.93 buy point from a cup with handle. It's also testing a rising 21-day moving average.
As expected, the Dow Jones giant on Thursday stopped sales of its Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 on its U.S. website due to a patent dispute.
Apple pulled them on orders from the International Trade Commission, which found these Apple Watch models use a blood oxygen sensor that infringes intellectual property rights of Masimo. This means Apple isn't selling key consumer products in the final days of the holiday season.
Apple stock has advanced 49% in 2023. Wall Street forecasts earnings growing around 7% to $6.53 per share in 2024 with revenue increasing to $396.36 billion.
The Dow Jones giant has an 83 Composite Rating out of a best-possible 99. Apple stock also has an 81 Relative Strength Rating and a 91 EPS Rating.
Samsara Stock
IOT advanced 0.65% Friday, and 0.1% on the week, to 34.01. Samsara stock is sitting in a buy range from a 32.41 entry from a cup base. Shares now have a three-weeks-tight pattern on a weekly chart, with an official 36.91 entry. Investors could use Friday's high of 35.04 as an early entry.
Samara spiked 26% on Dec. 1 following strong earnings and guidance. It's largely held those gains since then.
San Francisco-based Samsara was founded in 2015 and began by selling fleet management software in the transportation industry. Leveraging Global Positioning System, or GPS, technology along with telematics — sensor data gathered from trucks — Samsara helped customers monitor routes and vehicle performance so they could save money on preventive maintenance and fuel usage.
From there, Samsara in 2018 expanded into video-based safety products. Now Samsara offers subscription services for vehicle telematics and video-based safety. Outside of transportation, it's focused on sectors such as energy and manufacturing, food and beverage, and state and local governments.
Samsara stock sits thirty-first in IBD's Computer Software-Enterprise industry group. IOT shares have a 91 Composite Rating out of 99. Samsara stock also has a 97 Relative Strength Rating. The EPS Rating is 81.
MercadoLibre Stock
MELI shares shed 0.6% Friday and 1.1% on the week to 1,589.08. MercadoLibre stock is well past a buy point of 1,398.59 from a cup-with-handle base.
Shares have consolidated for a few weeks, testing the 21-day moving average on Friday. A strong bounce off the 21-day moving average or a move above the Dec. 19 high of 1653.42 could be used as add-on entries. If MELI stock continues to trade sideways, a new base could form.
Sometimes called the Amazon.com of Latin America, MercadoLibre doesn't boast a cloud-computing arm but does have a booming payments business.
Its Nasdaq-listed shares have surged 88% in 2023.
Founded in Argentina by Marcos Galperin in 1999 and now headquartered in Uruguay, MercadoLibre operates in 18 countries, with Brazil, Mexico and Argentina its largest markets. MELI stock debuted on the Nasdaq in 2007, priced at 18. The firm now has a market cap around $80 billion.
Most recently, MELI stock has moved higher after a third-quarter report that topped analyst expectations. Along with its fast-growing Mercado Libre e-commerce platform, the firm offers a popular Venmo-like digital wallet, among other financial services, under the name Mercado Pago.
MercadoLibre stock has a perfect 99 Composite Rating, a 92 Relative Strength Rating and an 82 EPS Rating.
Dynatrace Stock
DT shares edged up 0.25% Friday to 55.37. On the week, Dynatrace stock gained around 1.4%. In November, DT jumped nearly 9%, breaking a string of three consecutive monthly losses.
Dynatrace is a bit extended from a cup-with-handle pattern with a 52.60 entry, but is just above a 55.18 buy point on a weekly chart, according to MarketSmith analysis. The handle on the weekly chart also is part of a three-weeks tight pattern. Investors could also use the Dec. 14 high of 55.45 as a buy point.
Dynatrace stock has gained 45% on the year.
Dynatrace's customizable enterprise cloud platform integrates security, automation and analytics. It does so by using predictive, causal and generative AI models. These modules allow for machine learning, forecasting, anomaly detection, automated recommendations and natural language creation.
The software company recently received what is known as "security competency" status from Amazon.com's Amazon Web Services unit, or AWS. The status acknowledges that Dynatrace demonstrated expertise on customer vulnerabilities and threats in the AWS environment.
Dynatrace stock is an IBD Sector Leader. The stock has a 97 Composite Rating. DT also has an 87 Relative Strength Rating and a 98 EPS Rating.
Dow Jones: Microsoft Stock
MSFT edged up 0.3% Friday, advancing 1% on the week, to 374.58. The Dow Jones giant is trading along its 21-day moving average as its 50-day line works to close the gap.
Microsoft stock is still holding in range from a 366.78 cup-base buy point, first cleared on Nov. 10.
The Dow Jones stock is also in a five-weeks-tight pattern with a possible 384.30 entry. However, a downward-sloping trendline, using the Dec. 20 high of 376.03, could be a safer bet. MSFT stock is on IBD Leaderboard. The Dow Jones component is also on IBD Long-Term Leaders.
On Oct. 24, the cloud computing and AI leader posted earnings per share of $2.99, a 27% year-over-year gain, during the fiscal first quarter that ended Sept. 30. Sales also have been on the rise in recent quarters, climbed 13% to $56.5 billion in the most recent period.
That was the third straight quarter of accelerating growth for profits and revenue.
Analysts project full-fiscal 2024 EPS growing 14% to $11.22 with revenue increasing 15% to $243.04 billion.
MSFT has gained 56% in 2023.
Microsoft stock has a 95 Composite Rating out of a best-possible 99. The Dow Jones giant also has an 87 Relative Strength Rating and a 97 EPS Rating.
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