DD - Unconventional Upside: 3 Stocks Defying the Norm for Extraordinary Returns
2024-06-14 06:15:00 ET
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
Many companies are taking risks in the current market and being rewarded for them. Whether striking unconventional partnerships, acquiring a competitor, or breaking up their business, many companies are surprising analysts and investors with bold moves aimed at revitalizing their business and securing their future.
For investors, opportunities for stocks to buy can be found in companies that are taking risks and forging their own path. Markets regularly gyrate on surprise news about a company and the offbeat steps it is taking. The resulting volatility can allow investors to make successful trades and profit . The key is to take advantage of opportunities when they arise. Here is unconventional upside: three stocks defying the norm for extraordinary returns.
Oracle (ORCL)
As these words are being typed, the stock of technology giant Oracle (NYSE: ORCL ) is up 12% . It’s at an all-time high after the software maker announced cloud computing deals with Google parent company Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG , NASDAQ: GOOGL ) and privately held OpenAI . Investors are cheering Oracle’s plan to bring its database to Google Cloud. Going forward, organizations will be able to deploy workloads in Google and Oracle cloud data centers without being subjected to data-transfer fees.
News of the cloud computing deals led investors to look past the fact the Oracle’s latest financial results completely missed Wall Street’s targets . Oracle posted EPS of $1.63, narrowly missing the predicted $1.65. Revenue totaled $14.29 billion, falling short of the expected $14.55 billion. The company’s cloud and on-premises license business declined 15% from a year earlier. Despite missing forecasts on the top and bottom lines, ORCL stock rose on the cloud news and is now up 34% on the year, putting it on my stocks to buy list.
ConocoPhillips (COP)
Oil company ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP ) is taking a leap and buying Marathon Oil (NYSE: MRO ) in a deal valued at $17 billion . The all-stock deal will grow ConocoPhillips footprint in the oil-rich Permian Basin of Texas where drilling for crude is on the rise. ConocoPhillips’ purchase of Marathon Oil is the latest consolidation in the increasingly active U.S. energy sector.
Growing through the Marathon Oil acquisition should help ConocoPhillips moving forward. The company’s stock hasn’t set the world on fire lately. Year-to-date, COP stock is down 5%. The share price peaked in early April alongside crude oil prices and has been on the downslide since. However, ConocoPhillips stock valuation looks cheap trading at 12 times future earnings estimates. And the company pays a quarterly dividend of 96 cents per share for a punchy yield of 3.43%.
DuPont (DD)
DuPont (NYSE: DD ) looks intriguing as the chemical producer plans to break itself into three separate publicly traded companies . The new companies will focus on materials with brands such as Tyvek and Kevlar, another serving the semiconductor industry, and a third that is focused on water purification. DuPont also has a brand new CEO, Lori Koch, who previously served as the company’s chief financial officer (CFO).
After the break-up , the new Dupont will be a materials company serving the medical, industrial, construction, and automotive markets. A new standalone electronics business will serve the semiconductor industry, and the water business will sell filtration and purification technologies. DuPont is following other companies that have successfully split their businesses in recent years, notably General Electric (NYSE: GE ).
DD makes the stocks to buy list after increasing 16% over the last 12 months.
O n the date of publication, Joel Baglole held a long position in GOOGL. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines .
Joel Baglole has been a business journalist for 20 years. He spent five years as a staff reporter at The Wall Street Journal, and has also written for The Washington Post and Toronto Star newspapers, as well as financial websites such as The Motley Fool and Investopedia.
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