The latest retail company to report earnings has continued the trend of failing to report guidance. And that’s once again spooked the market into a selloff. With where stocks are at right now, the move has created some opportunities to buy near the lows of the year. The latest player?Target (TGT). The company earned $2.73 per share for the last quarter of 2020, a massive jump from the $1.65 per share in the fourth quarter of 2019. Yet despite those massive numbers, including a 21 percent jump in revenue, the market didn’t like the lack of guidance for the quarter ahead. Neverthele...

The digital age, driven by software and other technology, still requires some physical gadgetry to work. That physical tech requires certain components to work, which in turn are driven by certain commodities used in manufacturing. One space that has gotten a large amount of attention is lithium. It’s a key element for the technology in the latest generation of rechargeable batteries, particularly those for electric vehicles. So it’s no surprise that with a pullback in recent weeks, shares ofAlbemarle (ALB) are starting to look attractive, garnering a new analyst upgrade. The lithium...

Most companies looking to survive in the past year moved heavily towards ecommerce sales. However, a few companies have a business model known as the “found treasures.” They offer steep discounts compared to the non-sale price, but the catch is that buyers have to find them by scrounging through a physical store. One such play isRoss Stores (ROST). Shares are just now climbing back to pre-pandemic levels. And shares look like a bargain as shoppers look forward to perusing those treasures once again. With an earnings drop of 64 percent in the past year, it’s clear how steep the damage...

Earnings season continues to offer traders a number of new buying opportunities in great names. That’s even the case when a company declines due to technical reasons rather than fundamental ones. Take the case ofPlug Power (PLUG). The hydrogen energy company sold off following an earnings miss. The miss occurred as the company recognized charges from the vesting of warrants. The warrants vested faster than expected in part due to the rising stock price. Talk about being punished for being successful! That sounds a bit like the market getting ahead of itself. But with warrants vested,...

Payment processing companySquare (SQ) has had a tremendous year. But the market wasn’t too impressed by the company’s recent earnings numbers. While it beat on both revenue and profit expectations, the rate of growth appears to be slowing. That’s led to a selloff in shares, adding to losses from the tech selloff earlier in the week. However, those numbers overlook some more powerful trends in place. For instance, the company saw its revenue derived from Bitcoin rise from over $100 million to over $1 billion. That’s a massive jump. And the company itself bought some more Bitcoin for i...

One lingering trend from the pandemic is more uncertainty than usual from companies when they report their quarterly earnings. Any time a company decides not to provide forward guidance, the market will take the stock down—even if it probably doesn’t deserve it. Take, for instance,Home Depot (HD). The home improvement retailer beat on earnings and revenue expectations—with revenue up 25 percent in the past year. Yet shares dropped as the company didn’t offer guidance. Besides the strong beat, the company is also raising its dividend payout right now. That’s the healthiest sign of all...

Tech companies are able to reap massive profit margins thanks to scale and costs. For instance, the cost of writing a piece of software is fixed. If a company can sell an additional copy, its marginal cost of production is minimal. That’s also true of other tech services as well. It’s why a number of companies building out their cloud capabilities are able to reap massive profit margins. That’s why it’s no surprise thatOracle (ORCL), a Silicon Valley giant, has been making big moves in the space. The company hasn’t quite fallen on hard times, but it has been an underperformer in tech...

There’s always a good profit to be had in the “picks and shovels” of any trend. Companies that provide infrastructure or supplies can profit from a number of ways that other firms may not be able to do. One trend is rising food prices, which you may have noticed at the shelves of your local grocery store. Rising crop prices are pushing up the final cost of food as well. Investing directly in agricultural commodities is a headache for a stock investor, but there’s a better solution with a company likeDeere (DE). The maker of agricultural equipment such as tractors reported better-than...

Markets continue to see some big moves in individual companies reporting earnings. Or, more accurately, in companies making announcements in conjunction with earnings. For instance,Walmart (WMT) reported solid earnings thanks to rising ecommerce sales, and boosted its share buyback program to $20 billion. Yet shares sold off anyway, as the firm came in light with guidance for the year ahead. It also didn’t help that the company announced a higher wage for 425,000 workers. The wage raise will increase the company’s average hourly rate to $15 per hour from $14. That’s about in line wit...

Earnings season continues to create new trading opportunities for investors. While the explosion of e-commerce trends over the past year is likely to slow, the gains made are likely to hold. So when a company warns on guidance, any selloff can create a buying opportunity. Case in point?Shopify (SHOP). The company saw stronger-than-expected earnings in the fourth quarter of 2020, yet shares sold off on lower guidance for 2021. That’s the market’s mistake. The selloff in shares creates a buying opportunity here. The company has recently flipped to profitability in the past year as well...