When looking for the best stocks to buy and watch, focus on those with rising relative price strength. One stock that fits that bill is Monster Beverage, which had its Relative Strength (RS) Rating upgraded from 76 to 84 Thursday. Monster Beverage stock rose Thursday.
Monster Beverage Stock Among Top 16%
The new 84 RS Rating means that Monster Beverage stock outperformed 84% of stocks in terms of price performance over the past year. Market research shows that the top-performing stocks typically have an RS Rating north of 80 as they launch their biggest price moves.
Monster brands include its namesake Monster Energy drink, as well as Full Throttle, Reign and Predator energy drinks.
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Monster Beverage stock closed at 89 Thursday, up 0.2% for the day. Corona, Calif.-based Monster hit a fresh all-time high at 99.89 in August last year. On July 29 this year it traded so close to that all-time high point that you could almost taste it, when it rose to 99.81. From there it consolidated and is building a flat base with a 99.91 entry. See if the stock can clear the breakout price in heavy volume.
Monster has grown sales consistently this past year, ranging from 13% to 22% a quarter. Last quarter it reported a 13% increase to $1.66 billion. Earnings growth has been harder to come by. Last quarter it recorded a 32% year-over-year drop in earnings to 51 cents per share.
Peers In Beverages Group
Monster Beverage stock holds the No. 7 rank among its peers in the Beverages-Non-Alcoholic industry group. Coca Cola Femsa and National Beverage are also among the group's highest-rated stocks.
When looking for the best stocks to buy and watch, one factor to watch closely is relative price strength.
The proprietary IBD Relative Strength Rating measures technical performance by showing how a stock's price action over the last 52 weeks compares to that of other stocks on the major indexes.
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