Worrying economic data, weak consumer sentiment and tariff concerns have created a difficult journey for stocks in February, with S&P 500 Loss of 1.4% in the month.
Investors should pick stocks of companies that can withstand these short-term pressures and seize growth opportunities, thus providing attractive returns in the long run. To this end, the advice from top Wall Street analysts is helpful because they are based on in-depth analysis of the company’s strengths, challenges and growth prospects.
With that in mind, here are three stocks Top professionals on this streetAccording to Tipranks, a platform ranks analysts based on its past performance.
Booking hold
First of all Booking hold ((bkng), one of the leading online travel agencies. The company provides fourth-quarter results for market challenges due to excellent travel demand. Booking holders are investing in their business to drive long-term growth through a number of programs, including the deployment of generative AI technologies to enhance the value it provides to travelers and their partners.
Response to stellar results, Evercore analyst Mark Mahaney Reaffirm the buy rating of BKNG stock and raise its target target from $5,300 to $5,500. The analyst noted that the company’s stable Q4 Beat is driven by the power of all geographic markets and travel verticals. He also stressed that BKNG’s fundamentals have improved across the board, with key indicators such as bookings, revenue and room night growth accelerating this quarter.
In fact, Mahani pointed out that Airbnb Compare with three Expedia As far as room nights are concerned, BKNG’s booking, revenue and room nights are growing faster than both competitors in Q4 2024. Given its huge scale, advanced growth, very high profits and an experienced management team, analysts believe BKNG is the best quality online travel stock.
“We continue to see BKNG as a reasonable priced, sustainable and advanced EPS growth (15%), a large FCF (free cash flow) generation, and a clear record of execution,” Mahaney said.
Overall, Mahaney is confident that BKNG can maintain its long-term target of 8% growth in bookings and revenues, and EPS grew by 15%. BKNG also inspired him in years of strategic investments in merchandise sales, flights, payments, connected travel and production of AI, as well as the growing traffic of the company’s website.
Mahaney ranks 26th among the more than 9,400 analysts tracked by Tipranks. His ratings are 61% profitable with an average return of 27.3%. look Booking holding inventory chart On Tipranks.
visa
The second stock is the payment processing giant visa ((v). During an Investors Day event on February 20, the company discussed its growth strategy and revenue opportunities for its Value Added Services (VAS) and other businesses.
After the event, BMO Capital Analyst Rufus Hone Reiterate the buy rating for visa stocks at $370. Analysts said the campaign helped address many investor concerns, such as the remaining consumer payment runway and the company’s ability to maintain high young people’s growth in VAS.
Analysts highlighted management’s comments about the remaining runways in consumer payments. Specifically, the company estimates the amount of $41 trillion paid by consumers, of which $23 trillion is currently underserved by existing payment infrastructure.
Commenting on the VAS business, Hone pointed out that the company provided significant insights into its VAS business. It is worth noting that Visa’s long-term revenue growth ranges from 9% to 12%, and expects its revenue portfolio to continue to shift to faster commercial and monetary motion solutions (CMS) and VAS businesses, which will offset the expected growth expected by consumer payments. Visa expects CMS and VAS to contribute more than 50% of their total revenue over time, compared with about one-third of the fiscal year 24.
Finally, Hone believes that Visa stock is the core holding in the U.S. financial field. “We continue to believe that visas will maintain double-digit top-line growth for the foreseeable future (the consensus is about 10%),” the analyst concluded.
Of the 9,400 analysts tracked by Tipranks, Hone ranks 543. His ratings succeeded 76% of the time, with an average return of 16.7%. look Visa hedge fund activities On Tipranks.
Cyberark Software
The third stock on this week’s list is Cyberark Software ((Cybr). The company recently announced a steady fourth-quarter 2024 results, reflecting a strong demand for its identity security solutions. On February 24, the company held an Investor Day event to discuss its performance and growth prospects.
After Investor Day, Baird Analysts Shrenik Kothari Reaffirm the buy rating of Cybr stock and raise its target target from $455 to $465. Analysts said the incident strengthened the company’s dominance in cybersecurity. Specifically, Cyberrac now sees a total addressable market (TAM) of $80 billion, reflecting the previous $60 billion estimate worth mentioning.
Kothari explained that the expansion of fence TAM is driven by the need for machine identity solutions, AI-driven security, and modern identity governance and management (IGA) solutions. Analysts point out that the 45-fold surge in machine identities creates a huge security gap compared to human identities, and the Cyberras are in a good position and can be passed Its Venafi acquisition.
Additionally, the company’s Zilla security acquisition is helping to meet the needs of modern IGA solutions. When it comes to AI-driven security needs, Kothari emphasizes Cyberark’s innovation, especially the launch of Cora AI.
Kothari added that management supports annual recurring revenue of $2.3 billion and 27% free cash flow rates through 2028 with platform merger trends. “We believe that deep enterprise pipeline/adoption, execution disciplines should maintain Cybr’s long-term growth trajectory,” analysts said.
Kothari ranks 78th among the more than 9,400 analysts tracked by Tipranks. His ratings are 74% of the time and the average return is 27.7%. look Cyberark software ownership structure On Tipranks.
