Here are Bank of America's top picks for the fourth quarter

Published Thu, Oct 1 202011:25 AM EDT

Jesse Pound @/in/jesse-pound @jesserpound

(This story is for CNBC Pro subscribers only). Bank of America identified a number of stocks as high conviction bets for the quarter ahead after a rough September muted some of the market's recent gains. The firm released its quarterly top ideas list on Thursday, and it included some long picks and short ones. The calls were spread across nine industries. One of the bank's favorite picks is a real estate play. The firm has a buy rating on Extra Space Storage with price target of $129 per share, which is about 20% above where shares closed on Wednesday. While much of commercial real estate is clouded by uncertainty about the return of office workers and the future of retail, storage is in a strong position, Bank of America said. "We like Self Storage overall for its sticky customer base and defensive nature during downturns. The COVID-19 pandemic hit self-storage demand hard in the early stages of the pandemic as movement was halted but fundamentals have since rebounded, with a boost from customers fleeing urban metros with a need to store belongings until they return," the note said. Extra Space Storage could see occupancy continue to grow past Labor Day, bucking typical seasonal trends and helping to push the stock higher, the note said. Shares have gained roughly 2% year to date. Bank of America is also bullish on the potential TikTok deal for Walmart . The bank has a price target of $175 per share for the retailer, which represents a premium of nearly 25%. The TikTok deal, which is led by Oracle and has not been approved by Chinese officials, could help Walmart monetize other parts of its business, the note said. "This includes WMT's growing digital advertising business (through the Walmart Media Group), which we see among WMT's most strongly positioned businesses to benefit from continued expansion in its digital audience, as well as WMT Payments," the note said. Walmart's shares have already outperformed many other retailers in 2020, gaining about 19%. Among major tech companies, only Google-parent Alphabet made the list. The firm has a price target of $1,850 per share on the stock and said that search advertising could rebound more quickly than Wall Street expects. For investors looking for a health care investment, the list also includes Jazz Pharmaceuticals at a price target of $166 per share. The analyst covering the stock believes there will be faster-than-expected adoption of a new lung cancer drug called Zepzelca that should drive shares higher.

A man walks a dog in the shade away from the midday sun past the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) building in Manhattan, during hot weather in New York City, New York, U.S., August 11, 2020.

Mike Segar | Reuters

(This story is for CNBC Pro subscribers only).

Bank of America identified a number of stocks as high conviction bets for the quarter ahead after a rough September muted some of the market's recent gains.

The firm released its quarterly top ideas list on Thursday, and it included some long picks and short ones. The calls were spread across nine industries.