Wall Street: investment opportunities emerge after sharp fall in August

While volatility on the stock market has been the order of the day, today the fear index shows the same calm that prevailed during the rest of the summer.

In this tensely calm environment, where uncertainty persists, investors are looking for opportunities among US stocks that have bottomed out with this correction, but still maintain a buy recommendation. FactSet has identified several of these opportunities, which offer upside potential to recover from the recent crash.In recent weeks, many companies have seen declines of more than 20% from their 2024 highs, with some, mainly in the technology and artificial intelligence sectors, even plummeting by as much as 50%.

Wall Street: Buying opportunities

In this context, nine values ​​stand out: Wall Street has a clear buy recommendation: three belong to the S&P 500, three to the Nasdaq 100 and three to the Russell 2000, allowing investors to diversify into key sectors of the US economy.

These values ​​are: Delta Airlines, Halliburton, Schlumberger, DexCom, CrowdStrike, Marvell, DoubleVerify, LiveRamp and SchrodingerThe selection is designed to create a portfolio that includes benchmark U.S. companies with growth projections, such as the two oil companies and the airline in the S&P 500.

The Nasdaq 100 is home to the true growth stocks, which have been the main driver of the gains on the US stock market during the first half of 2024. Although some experts are wary of the second-half results, especially in companies linked to artificial intelligence, the general consensus is that these companies still have great growth potential. Costs associated with AI could impact their ability to generate free cash flow, but these companies’ valuations have remained intact.

As for the Russell 2000Wall Street’s small-cap stocks, those with a market capitalization of more than $4 billion, also present buying opportunities. The selection of these companies was based on a minimum of eight analysts’ monitoring, focusing on technology companies.

Inside the S&P 500airlines and oil companies have been some of the sectors hardest hit by recent corrections, although most are now trading above pre-August 5 crash levels. One example is Delta Airlines, which has corrected more than 25% from its annual highs. Despite concerns about rising fuel costs and fears of a U.S. recession, Delta Airlines’ results have been solid, with margins not seen since before the pandemicwhich keeps its buy recommendation intact with a target price of $59.2 per share, implying a potential of almost 52%.

Halliburton and Schlumberger, meanwhile, offer room for improvement of more than 40%, according to the market consensus compiled by FactSet, with target prices of $43.7 and $65.6, respectively. Although low natural gas prices have affected their profit margins, expectations for 2025 are more optimistic. In addition, both companies offer a dividend yield of more than 2.2%.

It should be remembered that the big Wall Street tech companies, including those They are not part of the Magnificent Sevenhave presented results that reinforce the belief that artificial intelligence is key to their growth. Although fears persist that the costs associated with AI will reduce benefits, technology continues to lead the rise in US equities.