Stocks in Play - December 17th 2024

TLDR Stocks in Play: TEVA, SEDG, MITK, AMTM

Welcome to today's Stocks in Play report. Below are the key stocks to watch, along with brief x-ray and analysis.

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1) Mitek Systems (MITK) (Rating: B-, Single-Day)

Industry Group: Information Technology Services, Market Cap: $438m, Float: 44m, Short Interest: 8.4%, Days to Cover: 7.55, Exchange: NASDAQ

Catalyst: Big EPS Beat ($0.33 vs est. $0.17), Beat Revs, Revs growing 15% YoY, FY25 Revs Guide in-line. MITK are the company that provides real-time ID services for banks - such as cheque scanning, facial recognition etc. They have had filing issues in the last few years with poor governance. This is a solid report for them, highly neglected stock. Low Dollar volume stock however so may not grab attention in this frothy market. Under the radar AI company, Profitable and good FCF.

2) Amentum Holdings Inc. (AMTM) (Rating: B, Multi-Day)

Industry Group: Aerospace & Defence, Market Cap: $5.79b, Float: 135m, Short Interest: 2.4%, Days to Cover: 1.7, Exchange: NYSE

Catalyst: Recent IPO, Slight Beat on EPS ($0.28 vs est. $0.26), Slight beat on Revs, Beat on Forward Guide on EPS and Revs. This company is a recent merger so the numbers are relatively hard to decipher. Strong FY25 Guide. Company involved in Nuclear, so hot theme. This is a stock I highlighted when running through recent IPOs. I think it is interesting today and considering the amount of contracts they have won in 2024 could be a good one to monitor going forward. $45b backlog.

Honorable Mention to: TEVA - Teva And Sanofi Announce Primary Endpoints Met In Phase 2b Trial Of Duvakitug In Ulcerative Colitis And Crohn's. Nice move pre market on volume. SNY also works. SEDG - Huge 34% short interest, Goldman Sachs upgraded from Sell to Buy. Could be enough to ignite this stock. Extremely depressed stock and sector past few months.

Market Awareness

Can I get some extra froth with that? Big moves yesterday. Quiet news morning today. I am not looking for much in the run to Christmas, solid tight trading. Singles. I think we continue to run into the new year then flush in some format. Really good multi day SIPs are likely done for the year, companies aren’t going to make any world changing announcements over Christmas apart from the last few Earnings this week. Will continue to delay entry until at least 30 mins into the market, this is serving me really well. I find the best moves with easy RR are happening later in the day more and more. 

Market Thoughts

We are having some wild moves and the feeling of Dec 20/Jan 21 are similar. That being said we participate until the music stops. I will be finishing trading for the year on Friday and it feels like the big boys will certainly be doing the same if they haven’t already called it quits for the year. Speculative stuff is flying - Drone Stocks, Quantum Computing etc. All of these companies are just like SPACs of 2020/21 (some of them are the SPACS from 2020!). They will almost all go back to zero. It’s good to remember that. At times like this it’s so important to stick to the process and trade consistently. You may underperform the YOLO people but they WILL get destroyed in the end. Just keep climbing the stairs one step at a time and control risk. Put the pedal to the floor when you can but don’t get your head turned by FOMO. You will be thankful in the long term.

Tomorrow Morning I’m Watching: AMTM (Earnings)

Top Pick Watchlists:

• Top Picks - November 2024

  • LONG: ALAB, HNST, SNOW, ESTC, RKLB, SMTC, URBN, PLTR, GAP, TSLA, SE, RDDT, DESP

  • SHORT: TGT

• Top Picks - December 2024 

  • LONG: CRDO, MRVL, OKTA, FIVE, RBRK, AVGO

Sources & Services I Use in my Trading:

• Finviz - Short Interest, Float, Articles, Fundamentals (Free)

• Benzinga Pro - News Source + News Squawk + Earnings Data (Paid)

• Tradingview - Charting & Scanning (Paid)

• Koyfin - Fundamental Data (Paid)

• EarningsWhispers - Earnings Calendar (Free)

• Tradersync - Trade Journal (Paid)

_{PS: There are many ways to trade stocks in play. It does not have to be the one that keeps going straight up and sometimes it doesn’t even have to be day one of the catalyst. Everyone must find a setup, timeframe and method that works for them. This list is supposed to educate on the criteria I use and the methods in which I find Stocks in Play. Yours may differ and that is completely okay.}