After the summer bulls, markets corrected themselves – but more than that, the selling was highly concentrated in the tech sector. The tech-heavy NASDAQ is now leading the on the fall, having lost 11.5% since September 2.
JPMorgan strategist Marko Kolanovic points out that much of the market is now well-positioned for a rebound. Kolanovic believes that stocks will head back up in the last quarter of the year.
“Now we think the selloff is probably over. Positioning is low. We got a little bit of a purge, so we think actually market can move higher from here,” Kolanovic noted.
Acting on Kolanovic’s outlook, JPMorgan’s stock analysts are starting to point out their picks for another bull run. These are stocks that JPM believes they may double or better over the coming year. Running the tickers through TipRanks’ database, we wanted to find out what makes them so compelling.
NexTier Oilfield Solutions (NEX)
The first JPM pick is NexTier, a provider of oilfield support services. The oil industry is more than just production companies. There are a slew of companies that provide drilling expertise, fluid technology for fracking, geological expertise, pumping systems – all the ancillary services that allow the drillers to extract the oil and gas. That is the sector where NexTier lives.
Unfortunately, it’s a sector that has proven vulnerable to falling oil prices and the economic disruption brought on by the coronavirus pandemic crisis. Revenues fell from Q1’s $627 million to $196 million in Q2; EPS was negative in both quarters.
But NexTier has a few advantages that put it in a good place to take advantage of a market upturn. These advantages, among others, are on the mind of JPM analyst Sean Meakim.
“Admittedly we’re concerned about the sector disappointing the generalist ‘COVID-19 recovery’ crowd given the asymmetry of earnings beta to oil, but with 1) a solid balance sheet (net debt $17mm), 2) our outlook for positive (if modest) cash generation in 2021 (JPMe +$20mm), 3) a pathway to delivering comparably attractive utilization levels and margins, and 4) the cheapest valuation in the group (~20% of replacement), we think NexTier stands out as one of the best positioned pressure pumpers in our coverage,” Meakim opined.
In line with his optimism, Meakim rates NEX an Overweight (i.e. Buy) along with a $5 price target. His target suggests an eye-opening upside potential of 203% for the coming year. (To watch Meakim’s track record, click here)
Similarly, the rest of the Street is getting onboard. 6 Buy ratings and 2 Hold assigned in the last three months add up to a Strong Buy analyst consensus. In addition, the $3.70 average price target puts the potential twelve-month gain at 124%. (See NEX stock analysis on TipRanks)
Fly Leasing (FLY)
The next stock on our list of JPMorgan picks is Fly Leasing, a company with an interesting niche in the airline industry. It’s not commonly known, but most airlines don’t actually own their aircraft; for a variety of reasons, they lease them. Fly Leasing, which owns a fleet of 86 commercial airliners valued at $2.7 billion, is one of the leasing companies. Its aircraft, mostly Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 models, are leased out to 41 airlines in 25 countries. Fly Leasing derives income from the rentals, the maintenance fees, and the security payments.
As can be imagined, the corona crisis – and specifically, the lockdowns and travel restrictions which are not yet fully lifted – hurt Fly Leasing, along with the airline industry generally. With flights grounded and ticket sales badly depressed, income fell – and airlines were forced to cut back or defer their aircraft lease payments. This is a situation that is only now beginning to improve.
The numbers show it, as far as they can. FLY’s revenue has fallen from $135 million in 4Q19 to $87 million 1Q20 to $79 million the most recent quarter. EPS, similarly, has dropped, with Q2 showing just 37 cents, well below the 43-cent forecast.
But there are some bright spots, and JPM’s Jamie Baker points out the most important.
“[We] conservatively expect no deferral repayments in 2H20 vs. management’s expected $37m. Overall, our deferral and repayment assumptions are in line with the other lessors in our coverage. We are assuming no capex for the remainder of the year, consistent with management’s commentary for no capital commitments in 2020 […] Despite recent volatility seen in the space, we believe lessors’ earnings profiles are more robust relative to airlines,” Baker noted.
In short, Baker believes that Fly Leasing has gotten its income, spending, and cash situation under control – putting the stock in the starting blocks should markets turn for the better. Baker rates FLY an Overweight (i.e….
Read More: J.P. Morgan Says These 3 Stocks Could Surge Over 100% From Current Levels