One of the best strategies for investors sizing up a new stock or stocks to buy for their portfolios is to try to have as many reasons as possible to pull the trigger. Hearing Jim Cramer talk about a stock on CNBC’s nightly show called “Fast Money” is maybe not the best reason to run out and buy a stock. While Jim Cramer is a very bright guy, he often will make a scattershot call on a stock from a phone call, which the next day has a short-term jump. Good cheerleading and a quick take, but maybe not the best reason to buy a stock.
The analysts at Oppenheimer do have an outstanding method for picking stocks, which they dub their “Triple Play” selections. The Oppenheimer team combines three specific criteria when picking stocks on the list: 1) The stocks must be rated Outperform at the firm. 2) The stocks must screen positively for earnings revision trends. 3) The stocks must have an attractive technical profile. By combining these three attributes, the triple play stocks provide investors a head start for potential success.
In their latest triple play research report, the Oppenheimer team adds three top new stocks to buy that make the list.
Air Methods Corp. (NASDAQ: AIRM) leads off the new additions. The company is the global leader in air medical transportation. The Air Medical Services Division is the largest provider of air medical transport services in the United States. The company also has two additional divisions, one that supplies design and manufacture of aeromedical and aerospace technology, and the tourism division, which is made up of Sundance Helicopters and Blue Hawaiian Helicopters, which provide helicopter tours and charter flights in the Las Vegas/Grand Canyon region and Hawaii, respectively.
While Oppenheimer notes that the company’s earnings can be volatile from quarter to quarter, the long-term outlook for the stock is very positive. The Oppenheimer price target is $65. The Thomson/First Call consensus target is in line at $66. The stock closed Thursday at $56.97.
READ ALSO: Cowen Starts Top Clean Technology Stocks With Outperform Ratings
Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) has been on a huge roll the past three earnings reporting quarters, and many on Wall Street feel that the stock has plenty of room to run. Mobile revenue and advertising numbers have skyrocketed, and the company has started to add a search component that could prove to be another earnings silo for the social media giant. With more than 1.3 billion registered users around the world, Facebook’s e-commerce potential is also very significant and growing larger monthly.
The Oppenheimer team believes consumers will increasingly find media and information through their social graph, which puts Facebook in the middle of this information exchange. They also believe the continued growth of smart devices increases Internet usage, and the shift to 4G likely will increase mobile advertising monetization. The Oppenheimer price target is a strong $90, and the consensus target is $86.18. Shares closed Thursday at $77.92.
GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) sells new and pre-owned video games and hardware; physical and digital video game software; pre-owned video game products; and personal computer (PC) entertainment and other software in various genres. While hardware sales like new consoles are nice, the company relies on much higher margin new software sales and consoles have just one-quarter of the profitability it registered in its lucrative used video-game division. Currently the company has 32.3 million shares that are sold short, which represents almost 30% of the free float. This could be huge for investors, because positive earnings or company news could force a short-squeeze and send the stock much higher.
The Oppenheimer analysts feel that GameStop is very well positioned to ultimately capitalize on a new product cycle in the video gaming sector. With the holiday season right around the corner, now may be a good time to acquire stock. The Oppenheimer price target is $47, and the consensus is higher at $50.20. The stock closed Thursday at $43.96.
READ ALSO: Jefferies Has 5 Big Internet Stocks to Buy for the Rest of 2014
There is no guarantee that the triple play formula will work for investors. One thing is for sure, the more positives you can stack up for a stock, the better overall chances for success when the positives are put into play in the market.
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