It happened in 2008 and 2009, and despite a huge rally off the bottom, many of the top companies that investors are very familiar with have taken a beating. Needless to say, some of those that have been beaten down the most are in sectors that are struggling the most with the temporary new normal of shelter-in-place.

We screened our 24/7 Wall St. research database looking for well-known, blue-chip companies that are likely to survive the current troubles and could very well offer patient investors some huge returns over the next year or so. Long-term investors who did that in 2008 and 2009 absolutely killed it over the next few years. Five top companies made our cut, and all are rated Buy now by top Wall Street firms.

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Ford

This remains a solid value play now, and demand could jump when the coronavirus issues have passed. Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) is one of the world’s largest vehicle producers, with over 6 million units manufactured and sold globally. The company has made significant progress executing on its One Ford plan and delivering best-in-class vehicles. Ford is among the car brands with the most loyal customers.

Ford also remains committed to positioning itself well within the evolving auto industry through balanced investments across electrification, autonomy and mobility services. It can qualify for some backstop financing from the Federal Reserve, even though the company’s corporate debt was downgraded to Junk status on March 25.

Ford has suspended its dividend and borrowed billions of dollars from its existing credit lines, as it prepared to shut down most of its factories in North America and Europe.

Merrill Lynch has a Buy rating and a $7 price target on the venerable car giant. The Wall Street consensus target is $6.41, and Ford stock closed trading most recently at $5.37 a share.

Goodyear

Even during a pandemic, and surely after one, people will need tires. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT) engages in the development, manufacture, distribution and sale of tires. Its products include lines of rubber tires for automobiles, trucks, buses, aircraft, motorcycles, farm implements, earth-moving and mining equipment, industrial equipment and various other applications.

One of the world’s largest tire companies in the world, Goodyear employs about 63,000 people and manufactures its products in 47 facilities in 21 countries around the world. Its two Innovation Centers in Akron, Ohio, and Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg, strive to develop state-of-the-art products and services that set the technology and performance standard for the industry. It also operates approximately 1,000 retail outlets, which offer products for retail sale and provide repair and other services

The company recently announced that it will extend the full capabilities of its Commercial Total Solution to carriers of all sizes in Convoy’s Digital Freight Network. This is the first online discount program Goodyear has offered through its commercial e-commerce platform on the company’s website.

Shareholders still receive an 8.32% dividend, which could be lowered or even eliminated. Nomura’s Buy rating comes with a $14 price objective. The posted consensus target is $11.69., and the stock was last seen trading at $7.69.

This company is down almost 75% over the past year, but it remains a top large-cap oil services pick across Wall Street. Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) is one of the world’s largest providers of products and services to the energy industry.

The company serves the upstream oil and gas industry throughout the life cycle of the reservoir, from locating hydrocarbons and managing geological data to drilling and formation evaluation, well construction and completion, and optimizing production through the life of the field.

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Halliburton is the second-largest provider of oil services and the number one player in pressure pumping services worldwide. The company’s business always has been dependent on commodity prices. The low price environment triggered by the battle between Saudi Arabia and Russia on oil production has hammered benchmark pricing, and Halliburton has felt the brunt of it. Contrarians that see a path to higher oil prices could make some huge money here.

Shareholders receive an 8.55% dividend, which could be on the chopping block. A $12 price target accompanies the Raymond James Strong Buy rating. The consensus target is $11.68. Halliburton stock ended last week at $8.21 per share.

JetBlue Airways

This stock has been obliterated in the past two months but holds a very commanding position on the east coast of the United States. JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) provides air transportation services. As of December 31, 2019, the company operated a fleet of 63 Airbus A321 aircraft, six Airbus A321 neo aircraft, 130 Airbus A320 aircraft and 60 Embraer E190 aircraft.

JetBlue serves 99 destinations in the 30 states in the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and 21 countries in the Caribbean and Latin America.

Deutsche Bank has a Buy rating and a $15 price target, which is higher than the $13.83 consensus target and the most recent close at $9.50 apiece.

Marathon Oil

This leading integrated oil and gas firm has extensive upstream operations. Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) operates through three segments. The North America Exploration and Production segment develops, explores for, produces and markets crude oil and condensate, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and natural gas in North America.

The International Exploration and Production segment explores for, produces and markets crude oil and condensate, NGLs and natural gas in Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Libya and the United Kingdom, as well as produces and markets products manufactured from natural gas, such as liquefied natural gas and methanol in Equatorial Guinea.

The Oil Sands Mining segment mines, extracts and transports bitumen from oil sands deposits in Alberta and Canada, and it upgrades the bitumen to produce and market synthetic crude oil and vacuum gas oil.

The dividend yield is 1.69%. Wells Fargo maintains a Buy rating with an $8 price target, while the consensus target is $8.31. Marathon Oil stock closed at $4.12.

These five companies that are household names to most investors have all been sent to the single-digit midget penalty box. Some of these companies may have a difficult road back to prosperity, but given what we have seen in the past, and the massive liquidity being provided in Washington, D.C., going forward, the odds are good that each survives this downturn.

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