S&P 500 stocks Fortinet and Goldman Sachs along with artificial intelligence play Taiwan Semiconductor are in focus for this week's stock market. TechnipFMC and Confluent are also stocks to watch.
The stock market rally is still acting well, with the Nasdaq right at record highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and other major indexes traded higher Friday after a quiet session on Thursday, with not many stocks flashing new buy signals.
Some stocks are in buy ranges while more are setting up in emerging bases or pullbacks. However, many leaders are simply extended. With this is in mind, investors should keep an eye on these fives stocks as they assess current holdings and work on watchlists.
Investors should also keep tabs on the IBD Leaderboard watchlist, the IBD 50 list of top growth stocks and IBD SwingTrader along with the IBD Sector Leaders list.
S&P 500: Goldman Sachs Stock
GS shares fell 2.4% to 585.48 in last week's stock market action. The stock has a three-weeks-tight pattern, according to MarketSurge charts. The traditional tight buy point is 612.73, the all-time high that GS hit on Nov. 29.
Shares have fallen just below the 21-day exponential moving average. A strong move off the 21-day line could offer investors an entry opportunity.
Year to date, Goldman Sachs stock has gained 52%. That includes a 17.5% jump in November.
Goldman Sachs was Monday's IBD Stock Of The Day.
Morgan Stanley analyst Betsy Graseck on Monday upped the price target on the Dow Jones giant to 736, up from 570. That analyst expects President-elect Donald Trump to create a favorable environment for large-cap banking stocks.
With the fourth quarter fast coming to an end, analysts project EPS growing 49% with revenue rising 7%. For the full year, the consensus puts Goldman Sachs profit up 60% to $36.63 per share on sales totaling $51.71 billion, a 12% gain compared with 2023. Analysts expect 2025 earnings per share of $42.74 and revenue coming in at $54.94 billion.
The Dow and S&P 500 banking stock has a robust 91 Composite Rating. Goldman Sachs has a 90 Relative Strength Rating and an 87 EPS Rating.
Taiwan Semiconductor Stock
TSM jumped 5% to 200.99 on Friday, moving above its 50-day moving average. The stock has a 205.63 cup-with-handle buy point in a consolidation just above a prior base. Friday's move broke the downtrend of the handle, offering an early entry.
Taiwan Semi was Friday's IBD Stock Of The Day.
Taiwan Semiconductor makes chips for Nvidia, Broadcom and many others.
Late Thursday, Broadcom delivered roughly in-line results for its fiscal fourth quarter, helped by strong sales of AI processors and networking chips.
Chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor, also known as TSMC, on Oct. 17 beat Q3 estimates with a 54% increase in earnings on a 39% sales jump. Chief Financial Officer Wendell Huang credited the results to "strong smartphone and AI-related demand for our industry-leading 3-nanometer and 5-nanometer technologies."
Last week, Taiwan Semiconductor reported November sales jumped 34% vs. a year earlier, led by AI chips. Analysts saw the foundry giant is on track to meet or beat Q4 estimates.
TSM has a strong 95 Composite Rating. Taiwan Semiconductor has an 87 Relative Strength Rating and a 98 EPS Rating.
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TechnipFMC Stock Performance
The oil field services stock advanced 0.9% to 31. FTI is just above a buy zone, which stretches 5% beyond the 29.49 handle entry to 30.96. However, investors could also use the top of the consolidation, 29.85, as an alternate entry. FTI stock has found support there and the 21-day line.
TechnipFMC has rallied more than 15% since the U.S. elections on Nov. 5, trending to record highs. President-elect Donald Trump is considered petroleum-friendly with his "drill, baby, drill" campaign slogan.
But, if oil prices remain subdued, U.S. producers may not be eager to ramp up drilling.
The Houston and Newcastle, U.K.-based TechnipFMC has inked new contracts with major oil firms BP, Shell and Petrobras this year.
Meanwhile, the company has record triple-digit earnings growth the last seven quarters. However, revenue gains have slowed over the past three quarters.
Organized in two business segments — Subsea and Surface Technologies — TechnipFMC provides fully integrated projects, products and services for the traditional and new energy industries. It works with oil and gas firms to develop energy resources while helping its partners reduce their carbon footprints.
FTI stock has a 94 Composite Rating. The shares also have an 88 Relative Strength Rating and an 82 EPS Rating.
Confluent Stock Performance
CFLT shares dropped 2.65% to 30.49 on Friday, trading below a 34.08 buy point from a cup-with-handle base. Confluent is testing the 21-day line.
Shares tumbled 9.4% for the week after big gains over the prior two months.
Mountain View, Calif.-based Confluent offers data streaming software it describes as a central nervous system for a company's data. Walmart, eBay and Citigroup are among its customers.
Confluent stock has rallied sharply since stronger-than-expected third quarter results on Oct. 30. Confluent stock was trading essentially flat year-to-date prior to its big recent run.
Confluent's recent rally kicked off after it reported earnings growth of 400% to an adjusted 10 cents per share. The company reported sales growth of 25% to $250 million for its September-ended quarter. Both numbers exceeded estimates.
Chief Executive Jay Kreps told analysts following the company's Q3 report that the results highlight Confluent's "prime position to win the $60 billion data streaming category."
Some analysts predict that the market will be helped by demand from generative AI, which requires companies to organize vast amounts of data to feed into AI models. Confluent is offering solutions tailored to that process.
Confluent stock has a robust 95 Composite Rating. The stock has an 87 Relative Strength Rating and an 81 EPS Rating.
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S&P 500: Fortinet Stock Performance
FTNT edged down 0.7% to 97.95 in Friday's stock market trade.
Fortinet stock is trading just below a 100.59 buy point in a short consolidation after a strong run-up on earnings. FTNT is on track to have a proper flat base in a few days on a daily chart, according to MarketSurge analysis.
Fortinet competes in the firewall network security market vs. Palo Alto Networks, Check Point Software Technologies and others.
Firewalls reside between private networks and the internet. They block unauthorized traffic and check web applications for malware. As large companies shift to off-premise cloud computing services, one view is that firewall technology will play a lesser role. Fortinet has targeted software-defined wide area networks, or SD-WANs, an emerging computer networking technology.
In November, Fortinet provided three- to five-year financial targets, with expectations billings and revenue will grow at a 12% CAGR. The forecast came in slightly above analyst predictions.
The company did not give preliminary 2025 guidance.
Fortinet stock has a near perfect 98 Composite Rating. The S&P 500 stock also have a 93 Relative Strength Rating and a 99 EPS Rating.
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