Despite the stock market’s recent beating, which many market pundits attribute to the weakness in oil, and some smart money people believe is mutual funds and hedge funds rolling big 2014 gains into the 2015 tax year, solid gains could lie ahead for patient aggressive growth investors. A new report from SunTrust Robinson Humphrey makes it clear that some of the Internet and digital market leaders are continuing to show very positive trends.
We scanned the SunTrust report for the stocks that are rated Buy in the firm’s Internet and digital media coverage universe, with solid upside to the posted price targets. They were Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P), Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) and Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP).
Amazon
This retailer was once again took the top online spot for holiday sales, and the SunTrust team, as well as others on Wall Street that are bullish, think that 2015 catalysts and a cheap valuation compared to historical numbers make the stock very reasonable. Holiday shopping reports showed that Amazon was the clear pricing winner in almost all categories for holiday gift buying, with the exception of toys. With solid data points being reported, the huge increase in e-commerce growth should continue to benefit the company.
With some on Wall Street seemingly losing faith in Amazon founder and leader Jeff Bezos as he pushes the company into new product silos, aggressive investors may want to use this solid entry point as a good place to start buying shares. With online spending increasing at a continued breakneck pace, Amazon’s reported 75% penetration is outstanding.
The SunTrust price target for the stock is $360. The Thomson/First Call consensus price target for the online giant is $357.16. The stock closed Monday at $302.19.
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As it continues to dominate the social media world, the SunTrust team notes that Facebook continues to show very stable penetration, usage and consumer frequency. The company 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.
Last year Facebook unveiled its much-anticipated ad platform that has an answer for advertisers who want something better than the Web-restricted cookie to track and target ads. Atlas can follow Facebook members where they digitally roam, on or off the Web, smartphone to tablet. With more than 1.3 billion registered users around the world, Facebook’s e-commerce potential is also very significant and growing larger monthly.
Many on Wall Street agree that consumers will increasingly find media and information through Facebook’s 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 will likely increase mobile advertising monetization.
The SunTrust price target on Facebook is $90, and the consensus is at $87.80. Shares closed Monday at $77.19.
Another mega cap tech name that the SunTrust analysts favor, the stock is trading at levels that may offer long-term investors a very solid entry point. The company posted underwhelming earnings for the third quarter that caught many off guard, and estimates for the fourth quarter were ratcheted lower at some firms on Wall Street. Many analysts still that Google’s cloud product belongs in the second-tier of its business lines (like Play and Nexus) and may prove meaningful in the future by offering value chain synergies with the core business. With Google Shopping having a reasonably meaningful impact during the holiday season, the search giant remains an excellent play.
The SunTrust price target is $675.The consensus figure is posted at $640. Google closed Monday at $513.87.
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Pandora
While it is clearly not the only company with a big desire to be in the music streaming business, but it is the current leader in installation and use in the automotive world, with a penetration rate right at 70%, and it hopes to stay that way. Many on Wall Street expect a higher rate of Pandora adoption in new and used vehicles, which can help drive increased listener ship and monetization of existing ad inventory. With the streaming music segment strong across the board, according to SunTrust, the Pandora brand should continue to draw new customers and retain old ones.
The SunTrust price target is $30, while the consensus figure is slightly lower at $29.43. The stock closed trading on Monday at $17.08.
Many on Wall Street see this stock as a potential home run this year, and the SunTrust team is in lock-step with that thought. Like many strong companies that are underperforming their peers, a few good quarters of earnings, and solid growth in metrics, can give a strong boost to the stock price. Twitter is facing growing scrutiny of the firm’s CEO Dick Costolo, with some seeing a change being made at the top this year. With a very strong social media brand and penetration, especially within the younger demographic, Twitter could be poised for a very strong year.
The SunTrust target price is set at $58, with the consensus target at $50.97. Shares closed trading on Monday at $36.38.
Yelp
Yelp is one of the mid-cap stocks that the SunTrust team loves for 2015. With the Priceline purchase of Open Table last year, chatter has increased on Wall Street about a potential buyer for Yelp. Many point to the synergies of a purchase by Yahoo, while others suggest it would be a good fit for Expedia. Either way, Yelp has a massive sales force and relationships with more restaurants than any other site. Wall Street analysts also cite the outstanding 60% to 70% revenue growth over the past 12 quarters as a solid reason to like the stock going forward.
SunTrust has an $80 price target, and the consensus target is $82.10. Shares closed Monday at $52.53.
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The mere fact that some of these top stocks have underperformed in 2014 is one of the key reasons to buy them for 2015. Investors need to continue to rotate stock in a secular bull market to keep having solid upside potential for their portfolios.
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