Any way you look at it, last week was a big relief. After a grinding six weeks of almost consistent selling, the market finally seemed to catch a legitimate bid and bounce back. The good thing for growth stock investors looking for ideas is that the relentless selling that started when 2016 did has taken some outstanding growth stocks and reset the prices at very attractive entry points.
The latest “Picturing this Week’s Opportunities” research piece from the talented crew at Jefferies spotlights some outstanding growth ideas, highlighted by a tech stock that could have huge upside for patient aggressive growth investors. We screened the list and found three that looked especially timely, all of which are rated Buy.
Acadia Healthcare
This company could have a revenue explosion over the next three years if Jefferies is right. Acadia Healthcare Company Inc. (NASDAQ: ACHC) is a provider of inpatient behavioral health services. It operates a network of 226 behavioral health facilities with approximately 9,200 beds in 37 states, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom. Acadia provides psychiatric and chemical dependency services to its patients in a variety of settings, including inpatient psychiatric hospitals, residential treatment centers, outpatient clinics and therapeutic school-based programs.
The company posted stellar earnings last year, and Jefferies thinks that its revenues can double in three years, owing to not only strong organic growth, but potential acquisitions. Also cited in the past was that political support for expand Medicaid coverage for adult mental health is something that the firm believes could grow the company’s addressable market by up to 30%.
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Acadia reported strong results last week with 8% same-store-sales gains, and the analysts noted that while guidance was below expectations, they think the company is being extremely conservative and there is a degree of currency headwinds to account for, in addition to a recent equity offering.
The Jefferies price target for the stock is $85. The Thomson/First Call consensus target is $81.94. The stock closed Friday at $54.38.
Cerner
This is a solid health care company that has good upside potential, and Jefferies thinks the growth potential is not appreciated. Cerner Corp. (NASDAQ: CERN) solutions assist clinicians in making care decisions and enable organizations to manage the health of populations. The company also offers an integrated clinical and financial system to help health care organizations manage revenue, as well as a wide range of services to support clients’ clinical, financial and operational needs.
Jefferies surveyed hospitals late last year and found that only about 25% have replaced their electronic health record (EHR) systems. An EHR is a digital version of a patient’s paper chart, and they are real-time, patient-centered records that make information available instantly and securely to authorized users. The analysts feel that quality vendors like Cerner will continue to take share in these replacements.
Cerner reported inline earnings and revenues last week, but bookings missed by 10% as two large contracts were not completed. The analysts feel both will be signed this year and the overall pipeline for the company looks good. They also cite momentum with the Siemens conversions and predict double-digit earnings growth both this year and next.
The $68 Jefferies price target is less than the consensus estimate of $75.42. The stock closed Friday at $54.38.
NVIDIA
This top tech stock reported outstanding earnings and is also a member of the Jefferies Franchise Picks list. NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) is a leader when it comes to supplying graphics processing technology for the 3D graphics market, including desktop graphics processors and gaming consoles.
NVIDIA also is moving into visual computing chips for cars, mobile devices and supercomputers. It has a technology partnership with electric car maker Tesla. The company has been able to use its ability to leverage past investments, with a more controlled spending structure ahead on unified, which enables strong cash flow that is allowing a focus on capital return, which is currently estimated to be $1 billion next year.
The recently reported results beat both sales and earnings estimates handily and came with guidance that was better than expected. Jefferies feels the stock is maturing to a platform company from a pure chip company and sees the stock as a call option on four secular trends: virtual reality, PC gaming, chips in the automobile industry and graphic processing units in the cloud.
NVIDIA investors receive a 1.51% dividend. Jefferies has a $40 price objective, while the consensus target is $32.96. The stock closed Friday at $30.44.
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The Jefferies team has strong growth stock picks that all have big upside potential to the firm’s posted target prices. While not suitable for more conservative accounts, they certainly make sense for more aggressive growth portfolios.
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