Analysts say these 'uniquely positioned' stocks are firing on all cylinders

Published Sat, Sep 3 20229:03 AM EDT

Wall Street analysts named a host of stocks this week that they said offer quality and huge upside as investors look to navigate an uncertain market. These companies are attractively valued, analysts say, and have many positive catalysts in the months ahead. CNBC Pro combed through top Wall Street research to find stocks that analysts say are firing on all cylinders. They include Home Depot, Lowe's , Vizio , Forge Global, CrowdStrike and Northrop Grumman. Vizio Stephens analyst Nicholas Zangler is doubling down on shares of the television maker. Zangler said in a note earlier this week that Vizio is a top idea and listed 20 reasons why. "The Company's 20+ year history, reputable brand name and deep, long-standing relationships with key retailers has solidified a consistent ~15% market share position among TV" original equipment manufacturers, he said. Vizio holds the number one shelf-share spot at Walmart and Target and has key relationships with Best Buy and Costco, according to Zangler. Shelf-share is the amount of brand presence that a product has in a store. The firm went a step further and noted that even Amazon's Smart TV likely can't compete with Vizio. "We believe Amazon is out of position and the Company's CTV (connected TV) operating system is market share loser over time," Zangler said. Vizio, which went public in March 2021, also boasts a burgeoning advertising business with plenty of room for growth, he added. Zangler said companies like Vizio that control their own ecosystems are likely to emerge as winners. "Vizio is a uniquely positioned TV hardware/CTV operating system software pure-play," he said. Shares are up 5% over the last month. Forge Global The private market trading and data platform company was initiated with a market outperform rating earlier this week by investment firm JMP Securities. Shares of Forge are down 62% this year, but analyst Devin Ryan says the stock is too cheap to ignore. Forge went public while merging with a SPAC in Dec. 2020. "Forge is building a highly differentiated, technology-enabled marketplace that we believe is well-positioned to benefit from strong secular tailwinds, supporting the growth of private markets over the long-term," Ryan said. JMP had high praise for Forge, comparing it to financial services company Charles Schwab. Ryan said that while Schwab's concentration is in the public markets, Forge is building a "one-stop shop" for private market investors. Many companies are staying in the private market longer, too, Ryan added, and that makes Forge's moat for growth quite large. Ryan noted that Forge is coming from a very strong competitive position. The company's data set is also almost unmatchable as private market data is hard to come by, according to the firm. "Data on the private markets has historically been difficult to source and access, but Forge is uniquely positioned to provide high-quality data given its history and relationships in the space," JMP wrote. CrowdStrike Shares of CrowdStrike finished the week lower, but at least one Wall Street analyst says the stock still has big upside. "Robust cross-selling dynamics continue to drive growth," Bank of America analyst Tal Liani said after CrowdStrike's second-quarter results. CrowdStrike's subscriber numbers remain impressive, Liani wrote, and retention was even higher than management expected. "Underlying demand remains strong for the core offerings as well as for the emerging products with ending ARR (annual recurring revenue) for this category growing 129% YoY to $219mn," he said. Other catalysts include international expansion and "increased adoption for identity and cloud security modules," according to the analyst. Taken together, CrowdStrike offers "best in class" exposure to the sector. "CrowdStrike's platform is one of the few 100% cloud-based architectures and is uniquely positioned to displace incumbents with its platform breadth, including advanced detection and remediation capabilities," he wrote. Home Depot and Lowe's- Atlantic Equities, Overweight rating "Further evidence of sector's unique positioning. Home Depot (HD) and Lowe's (LOW) robust 3-yr comp trends, despite cautious commentary from multiple suppliers, are indicative of the companies' unique positions as diversified home improvement retailers, primarily exposed to big ticket project demand and repair & maintenance activity. ... .The current risk-rewards are therefore attractive, and we reiterate our Overweight ratings." Northrop Grumman- RBC, Outperform rating "Space, strategic systems drive upside and positive sentiment. We believe NOC is uniquely positioned among defense primes to see above industry growth due to its strong position in space and strategic markets ... We expect industry fundamentals and execution to support elevated expectations ... NOC is best positioned to benefit from the re-capitalization of the U.S. nuclear forces." Vizio- Stephens, Buy rating "VIZIO is a uniquely positioned TV hardware/CTV operating system software pure-play. ... .The Company's 20+ year history, reputable brand name and deep, long-standing relationships with key retailers has solidified a consistent ~15% market share position among TV OEM. ... .We believe Amazon is out of position and the Company's CTV operating system is market share loser over time." Forge Global Holdings- JMP, Market outperform rating "Forge is building a highly differentiated, technology-enabled marketplace that we believe is well-positioned to benefit from strong secular tailwinds, supporting the growth of private markets over the long-term. ... .Ultimately, similar to Schwab in the public markets, we believe Forge is building a one-stop service provider for private market participants. ... .Data on the private markets has historically been difficult to source and access, but Forge is uniquely positioned to provide high-quality data given its history and relationships in the space." CrowdStrike- Bank of America, Buy rating "Robust cross-selling dynamics continue to drive growth. ... .Underlying demand remains strong for the core offerings as well as for the emerging products with ending ARR for this category growing 129% YoY to $219mn. ... .CrowdStrike's platform is one of the few 100% cloud-based architectures & is uniquely positioned to displace incumbents with its platform breadth, including advanced detection & remediation capabilities. ... .Favor CrowdStrike's best-in-class subscription growth & net retention rates & expect the company's SaaS model & new offerings to deliver sustainable high growth as the company invests to gain market share."

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