2019 was quite a year for stocks, but according to analysts 2020 maybe even better.
In fact, analysts, according to CNBC, believe some of the best stocks to watch in the New Year, including Nike, Apple, NVIDIA, and Zynga.
NVIDIA (NVDA)
Wells Fargo, for example, named NVIDIA as its top semiconductor pick for 2020 thanks to its gaming, automotive, and data center businesses. “We see NVIDIA representing the most significant investor sentiment upside driven by our expectation of a meaningful reacceleration in data center growth through 2020,” says the firm, as quoted by CNBC.
Apple (AAPL)
Apple (AAPL) helped lead the way, rallying nearly 90% on the year.
Unbelievably, the New Year could be even better.
Not only could Apple win the 5G market share race, it’ll benefit from the wider adoption of wearables. Its Apple Watch, for example, accounts for nearly half of all smartwatch sales. Apple has plans to double its services revenue by 2021. Services revenue currently accounts for 20% of AAPL revenue, up 16% year over year.
“We see Apple as one of top picks for 2020 given its favorable position to drive an outsized share of early 5G handsets and a strong iPhone volume cycle, and ensuing acceleration in the installed base and Services growth. … The rally in the shares had two big drivers, including: 1) Delivering to sell-side volume expectations for volumes in the 2019 iPhone cycle, but more importantly delivering upside to buyside expectations, which were expecting a lackluster replacement cycle for iPhones with limited hardware upgrades; and 2) Building expectations for a 5G led volume cycle with Apple expected to be a prime beneficiary,” says JP Morgan, as quoted by CNBC.
Nike (NKE)
After exploding from a 2019 low of $70.46 to a high of $100.75, analysts are still bullish.
“NKE is our Best Idea as its innovation pipeline is robust ahead of the Summer 2020 Olympics amid a global secular trend toward more active/healthy lifestyles. We remain focused on the strong fundamentals and NKE’s focus on engaging with the consumer through all channels, globally, helping to offset geopolitical pressures. We see several catalysts ahead, most importantly the Summer Olympics, where we expect NKE to unleash its marketing budget and innovation pipeline,” says Guggenheim, as quoted by CNBC.
Zynga (ZNGA)
Since its January 2019 low of $3.88 to its current price of $6.14, ZNGA has been on fire.
Analysts at Cowen note, “We are naming Zynga as our Best Idea for 2020. Zynga has proven itself to be the most consistent company in the mobile gaming vertical over the last few years, delivering steady growth both through organic efforts and smart M&A. With an exciting 2020 product pipeline, valuation remains attractive against our (likely conservative) estimates for revenue growth; we reiterate our $7 price target.”
