With the Memorial Day holiday in the book, and the unofficial start of summer underway, many investors are wondering if they still have time to sell in May and go away. The reality may be that while volatility is ultra-low, the stock market still remains the only viable place to turn for investment results, especially after yields have plunged back to lows not seen since last summer. The Technology team at UBS points out in a new report, that some hot momentum stocks that had been absolutely mauled during the tech and biotech sell-off were market leaders last week, and given renewed interest, they could be ready to bring investors some sizzling summer gains.
Here are five momentum stocks that could be solid summer trades for investors with high risk tolerance and an aggressive portfolio stance.
FireEye Inc. (NASDAQ: FEYE) was absolutely blasted in the withering tech sell-off for many reasons, including a rich valuation, continued deal making and insider lock-ups expiring. However, security software is a huge need for business and spending could be up 20% this year. The stock was among the momentum leaders last week, up a solid 19.2%. An upgrade at Barclays also helped to boost the name. The Thomson/ First Call price target for the stock is $47.20. FireEye closed last Friday at $33.39, up almost 3.5% on the day.
3D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD) makes the list of winners from last week, up a solid 15%. Its 3D printers convert data input from computer-aided design generated software format or 3D scanning and sculpting devices to printed parts. 3D printing was a super-hot segment last year, and the top stocks were absolutely eviscerated in the early spring sell-off. The consensus price target is $70.63. 3D systems closed Friday at $54.40.
ALSO READ: Thirteen Analyst Stocks Under $10 With Big Upside Calls
Rackspace Hosting Inc. (NYSE: RAX) is another stock that was absolutely pummeled but caught Wall Street’s attention last week when it said it was looking at strategic alternatives, which could mean a buyout or merger. The company took off as many investors embraced the cloud storage revolution and bought the top stocks in the sector. In fact, the company bills itself as the global leader in hybrid cloud and founder of OpenStack, the open-source operating system for the cloud. The consensus price target is $41.32. Rackspace closed Friday at $35.41, up 14% on the week. That is down from a high of more than $80 in January of 2013.
Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE: PANW) is leading a new era in cybersecurity by protecting thousands of enterprise, government and service provider networks from cyber threats. Unlike fragmented legacy products, its security platform safely enables business operations and delivers protection based on what matters most in today’s dynamic computing environments: applications, users and content. It does not have the massive salesforce that some of its competitors have. Palo Alto may be an acquisition target and was up almost 12% last week. The consensus price target is $84.07. Palo Alto closed Friday trading at $66.99.
Workday Inc. (NYSE: WDAY) is another red-hot stock that took a beating during the sell-off, but it rallied almost 9% last week. The company delivers human capital management, financial management and analytics applications designed for the world’s largest organizations. Hundreds of companies, ranging from medium-sized businesses to Fortune 500 enterprises, have selected Workday. While its growth has been stunning, the stock may have gotten ahead of itself, hence the big hit it took in the spring. The consensus price target is set at $102.17. Workday closed Friday at $70.69.
These stocks are not for the timid. They do have potential to bring aggressive accounts some solid gains. It is important to remember, that typically in a mid-term election year, the summer season can be dicey. People looking to add these trades may want to keep tight sell-stops and move them up if the stocks gain. Should there be a quick turnaround in the market, you can scalp profits and live to trade another day.
ALSO READ: RBC’s Telecom and Networking Stocks to Buy for the Rest of 2014
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