Nvidia and uranium producer Cameco lead this weekend's watch list of five stocks near buy points. Both NVDA and CCJ bucked the trend over the past week as the S&P 500 slipped back to its 50-day moving average for the first time since early November. The list also includes obesity drug leader Novo Nordisk, trucking firm Saia and alternative investment manager Ares Management.
Nvidia, Cameco, Novo Nordisk and Saia are part of the IBD Leaderboard portfolio of elite stocks. NVDA stock also is part of the flagship IBD 50 list of leading growth stocks, in addition to being a current SwingTrader position.
All five stocks have at least a 95 IBD Composite Rating, according to IBD Stock Checkup. Among those, Nvidia stockhas a 99 rating that puts it in the top 1% of stocks based on fundamental and technical factors.
S&P 500 Set-Up
The S&P 500 lost 1.55% over the past week, its biggest weekly decline since the current rally began in late October, as hot inflation data threw a bucket of cold water on expectations for a near-term Fed rate cut.
The S&P 500 is still just 2.5% below its all-time closing high on March 28. Yet the test of a key support level and the surge in the 10-year Treasury yield to the highest level since mid-November have raised risk for the rally.
Be sure to read IBD's The Big Picture column after each trading day to get the latest on the prevailing stock market trend and what it means for your trading decisions.
Nvidia Stock
Nvidia was featured as IBD Stock Of The Day on Wednesday as the No. 2 S&P 500 stock year to date, with an 83% gain, brushed off talk of AI chip competition from the likes of Intel and Alphabet's Google.
On Monday, KeyBanc raised its price target for Nvidia to 1,200 from 1,100, keeping an overweight rating. KeyBanc analysts said the Blackwell GB200 superchip out later this will have a price ranging from $1.5 million to $2.5 million, potentially generating $90 billion to $140 billion in 2025.
Nvidia rose 0.2% on the week, finishing at 881.86, but the daily action was more volatile.
Nvidia stock touched a six-week low of 830 on Tuesday, but bounced higher after slipping to its 10-week moving average, then reclaimed its 21-day exponential average. The action flashed an early entry point, but after Friday's 2.7% pullback, look for a move past Thursday's intraday high of 907.39 for another potential green light.
Nvidia has an official 974 buy point from a five-week flat base.
Cameco Stock
The spot price of uranium doubled to $100 per pound in the year through January, and Cameco, based in Canada, powered ahead too, with shares more than doubling in the 13 months through January. The spot price has since settled back to around $85.
In a Feb. 8 earnings statement, CEO Tim Gitzel highlighted growing recognition of the benefits of nuclear power, with 28 countries backing the tripling of capacity to help achieve global net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
"The uncertainty about where nuclear fuel supplies will come from to satisfy growing demand has led to increased long-term contracting activity," he said.
On April 1, Goldman Sachs started coverage of Cameco with a buy rating and 55 price target. Analyst Neil Mehta wrote that increased demand and higher prices should fuel upward revisions to earnings estimates.
CCJ stock rose 0.8% to 49.59 on the week. Cameco tried to break above a 50.43 buy point from a nine-week cup-with-handle base on both Thursday and Friday, rising as high as 52.64 on Friday. The buy point is still operative.
Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk was featured as IBD Stock Of The Day on April 5. In March, the Danish drug giant said its next-generation weight-loss pill, amycretin, outperformed its currently approved Wegovy medicine delivered via a shot. Amycretin recipients lost more than 13% of their body weight over 12 weeks.
BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Novo Nordisk on Friday with an outperform rating and 163 price target. Analyst Evan Seigerman highlighted Novo's growing portfolio of treatments for obesity and Type 2 diabetes and their expanding revenue opportunity from Medicare and acceptance for treating more conditions.
Further, the February deal to acquire Catalent for $16.5 billion provides expanded manufacturing to supply a capacity-constrained market, he wrote.
NVO retreated 1.1% to 124.51 over the past week, slipping just below its 10-week and 50-day moving averages. A bounce above both its 50-day line and 21-day average, clear of the April 12 intraday high of 127.06, would also break a downs-loping trendline and open an early entry opportunity.
NVO has an official 138.28 flat-base buy point.
Saia Stock
Saia is among the less-than-truckload carriers enjoying a growth spurt after picking up assets unloaded by Yellow Corp. in bankruptcy last fall.
On March 21, Benchmark raised its price target for Saia to 625 from 575, keeping a buy rating. The research firm cited Q1 operating data that showed Saia retaining most of the volume gained via Yellow, highlighting shipment and tonnage growth that outpaced peers.
In a Feb. 5 note, Evercore ISI analyst Jonathan Chappell wrote that Saia has been pushing up prices but there still room to do more, noting a "still-wide pricing gap" with national peers.
Saia's next quarterly earnings report is due on April 26. Less-than-truckload peer Old Dominion Freight LineODFL reports on April 24. Full truckload carrier J.B. Hunt reports on April 16
Saia slipped 2.6% to 577.72 over the past week, ending a hair above its 10-week and 50-day moving averages. A move past the April 8 intraday high of 605.89 would offer an early entry.
Saia has an official 628.34 flat-base buy point, according to a MarketSurge analysis.
Ares Stock
The alternative asset manager has carved out a flat nine-week base since surging after Q4 earnings. The firm's next report comes on May 2.
On the heels of its Feb. 8 Q4 report, JPMorgan raised its price target for overweight-rated Ares to 141 from 119, calling it "among the most surefire" ways to invest in the private credit industry.
Ares was cofounded in 1997 by Tony Ressler, also the co-founder of Apollo Global Management.
The firm's assets under management grew 19% to $418.8 billion in Q4, helping to drive a 39% increase in EPS per Class A share to 86 cents.
On the Q4 earnings call, CEO Michael Arougheti said that Ares had its second-largest fundraising year despite a difficult year for fundraising across its industry. "We entered 2024 in the enviable position of having more than $110 billion in dry power to invest in what we believe is an attractive vintage, providing the opportunity to drive strong earnings growth in the years ahead."
Ares slipped 2.1% to 131.35 over the past week as financial stocks suffered from growing doubts about the Fed rate-cut outlook.
Ares closed the week just below its 50-day line. A move past Tuesday's intraday high of 136.32 would offer an early entry. The official flat-base buy point is 139.48.
