February turned out to be volatile for the stock market, with the rise in bond yields triggering a selloff among riskier investments like growth-oriented tech stocks toward the end of the month. But despite the rise in bond yields wreaking havoc on the stock market, the benchmarks managed to finish the month in the green. Some analysts by the way believe that the selloff, especially last week, was mostly due to profit-taking, thanks to big gains in the first half of last month.
Nonetheless, all eyes are now on how the stock market will fare in the month of March. Will the market spin the way it did in February and what’s in store for bond yields? Many believe that the stock market may consolidate in March but the increase in bond yields may not impact the markets anymore. No doubt, the 10-year Treasury note and the 30-year Treasury note saw their biggest monthly jump since 2016, per Dow Jones Market Data, as quoted in a
MarketWatch article
. However, let’s admit that the real adjusted yields are still negative, which should continue to encourage risk-taking in the near future.
Deutsche Bank, in fact, noted that presently there is a new generation of young and confident investors who are eager to invest in stocks more than ever. Per the survey, as pointed out in another
MarketWatch article
, 62% of the respondents consider stocks good investment, while 25% chose to remain neutral. What’s more, 53% of the respondents expect stocks to scale northward over the next three-month period and 68% believe that stocks will remain lucrative investment options over the next year.
This is because the U.S. economy is certainly looking up again. Consumer outlays improved in the month of January on a rise in income level. Incomes improved on the $600 stimulus checks provided by the government and various other munificent jobless benefits. And with outlays improving, sales of new homes also shot up in recent times. Of course, despite such promising developments, the labor market hasn’t been out of the woods. But, with both the manufacturing and service side of the economy showing signs of progress so far this year, there will be an uptick in hiring and people will return to work and drive wages.
Needless to say, hiring is expected to pick up on expanded coronavirus vaccine rollout, receding winter and more federal aid. Talking about aids, the House of Representatives has approved the Biden administration’s $1.9-trillion coronavirus stimulus package, something that was certainly the need of the hour.
5 of the Best S&P 500 Growth Stocks to Buy in March
With the economy vis-à-vis the stock market expected to chug along in March, and with real adjusted yields continuing to remain below 0%, investing in fundamentally-sound stocks positioned to move upward in the near term seems judicious at the moment.
We have, thus, selected five such stocks listed in the broader S&P 500 index that should make meaningful additions to your portfolio in March. These stocks currently possess a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) and a
Growth Score
of A or B.
Apple Inc.
AAPL
designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories. The company currently has a Zacks Rank #2 and a Growth Score of A. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has risen 10.9% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 36.3%.
Enphase Energy, Inc
.
ENPH
is a global energy technology company that delivers energy management technology for the solar industry. The company currently has a Zacks Rank #2 and a Growth Score of A. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has advanced 7.7% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 42.3%. You can see
the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here
.
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc
.
GS
is a leading global financial holding company providing investment banking, securities and investment management services to a diversified client base. The company currently has a Zacks Rank #2 and a Growth Score of A. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has climbed 14.6% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 17.2%.
Skyworks Solutions, Inc
.
SWKS
designs, manufactures, and markets a broad range of high-performance analog and mixed signal semiconductors that enable wireless connectivity. The company currently has a Zacks Rank #1 and a Growth Score of A. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has risen 37.3% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 67.5%.
Target Corporation
TGT
has evolved from a pure brick-&-mortar retailer to an omni-channel entity. The company currently has a Zacks Rank #2 and a Growth Score of A. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has moved 5.9% up over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 44.1%.
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