There’s a bunch of buy-rated stocks that have plenty more room to run, according to Bank of America. The firm says these companies are a must-own heading into the final weeks of 2024. They include: ServiceNow, Citigroup, Booz Allen Hamilton and Affirm. Citigroup Don’t sleep on this banking giant, analyst Ebrahim Poonawala said recently. “The investor perception (rightly so, in our view) of Citi being much more globally exposed relative to peers also appears to have hurt stock performance in the aftermath of Trump’s win,” Still, investment bank says the stock is a table-pounding buy. Poonawala says he sees a slew of positive catalysts in the months ahead as the incoming Trump administration could be a boon to shares. “Our expectations for a more balanced/predictable regulatory environment should serve as a significant positive for Citigroup,” he wrote. The stock is up 40% in 2024. “Time to revisit Citi,” he said succinctly. Booz Allen Hamilton Don’t sleep on shares of the management consulting conglomerate and government contractor, analyst Mariana Perez Mora said in a recent note to clients. “In our view, BAH is at the forefront of enabling cyber and AI implementation to meet increasingly complex mission requirements for a variety of government customers,” she wrote. Booz also remains well positioned as a “tech enabled workforce drives growth across defense, intel, and civil” industries, according to Perez Mora. The firm acknowledged that investor’s remain concerned around margins following the company’s most recent earnings report. Those concerns appear overdone, now, however as cost controls and hiring have bounced back. “Given the high-quality work BAH continues to do, we expect to see strong margins continue,” she said. Meanwhile, Booz shares are up nearly 14% this year. “Firing on all cylinders: civil, intel, defense,” she went on to say. Affirm Affirm’s “fundamentals firing on all cylinders,” the firm wrote of the fintech payment platform. Analyst Jason Kupferberg says the company has a slew of growth catalysts in the months to come and enjoys a “scarcity value” being the only publicly traded buy-now pay-later company at the moment. “We believe the value proposition of BNPL [buy now, pay later] for both consumers and merchants remains robust and expect BNPL to continue taking share within the broader e-commerce market,” he wrote. Kupferberg also praised the company’s differentiated offering in addition to having robust relationships with many major U.S. merchants. Further, the firm believes that Affirm can thrive if interest rates go down and that it’s a beneficiary of an easing regulatory environment. “Given these dynamics, we see upside potential to near-term estimates,” the analyst said. Shares are up 46% in 2024. Citi “Time to revisit Citi. … .The investor perception (rightly so, in our view) of Citi being much more globally exposed relative to peers also appears to have hurt stock performance in the aftermath of Trump’s win. … .Our expectations for a more balanced/predictable regulatory environment should serve as a significant positive for Citigroup.” Booz Allen “Tech enabled workforce drives growth across defense, intel, and civil. … .”In our view, BAH is at the forefront of enabling cyber & AI implementation to meet increasingly complex mission requirements for a variety of government customers. … .Given the high-quality work BAH continues to do, we expect to see strong margins continue. … .Firing on all cylinders: civil, intel, defense.” Affirm “Fundamentals firing on all cylinders. … .Given these dynamics, we see upside potential to near-term estimates. … .Scarcity value coupled with new growth catalysts. … .We believe the value proposition of BNPL for both consumers and merchants remains robust and expect BNPL to continue taking share within the broader e-commerce market.” ServiceNow “Reiterate Buy/top pick. Growth businesses are firing on all cylinders. Solid execution and end customer demand across the broad ServiceNow application suite drove another solid beat and raise quarter. … .What is impressive is that incremental growth is also coming from the newer customer and employee workflow offerings delivering sustainable growth in key growth segments. This suggests ServiceNow has made the right investment in categories that are resonating with customers today and over the longer term.”
