Stocks in Play - December 4th 2024

TLDR Stocks in Play: CRM, OKTA, PSTG, MRVL, HOOD, CPNG, NUCLEAR

Welcome to today's Stocks in Play report. Below are the key stocks to watch, along with brief x-ray and analysis. Testing out some color coding for news also. Just to highlight more important metrics on a beat or miss to note.

Sent early today because I am expecting a visit from my Internet provider to install Fibre Broadband! So will miss earnings from DLTR & CHWY at 8am EST.

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1) Okta Inc. (OKTA) (Rating: B+, Multi-Day, Top Picks December🐶 )

Industry Group: Packaged Software, Market Cap: $15.5b, Float: 157m, Short Interest: 1.8%, Days to Cover: 1.4, Exchange: NASDAQ

Catalyst: Strong Beat on EPS ($0.67 vs est. $0.59), Beat on Revs, 14% YoY Rev Growth, Beat on Operating Margins, RPO Beat (3.65b vs $3.5b), Solid Beat on Q4 Guide for Revs & EPS. OKTA is a popular GARP (Growth at Reasonable Price) name along with ‘‘turnaaround’’ thesis following their data breaches in the last few years. This earnings is quite positive and I expect it to have a sustained move upward from here. We are nicely at the $100 Psychological number also.

2) Pure Storage (PSTG) (Rating: C+, Multi-Day)

Industry Group: Computer Peripherals, Market Cap: $17.5b, Float: 299m, Short Interest: 3%, Days to Cover: 3, Exchange: NASDAQ

Catalyst: Strong EPS Beat ($0.50 vs est. $0.42), Slight Revs Beat, Solid Operating Margins Beat (20% vs est. 17.35%), RPO 16% YoY, ARR 22% YoY CEO Noted a big contract win with Top 4 Hyperscaler as quoted below. Guidance is okay, slight Revs beat but a miss on Operating Margins. Nice technical setup breaking a 6 month consolidation with this gap up. Not making my top monthly picks because of Guide but still a good candidate for a sustained move.

3) Marvell Technology Inc. (MRVL) (Rating: B, Multi-Day, Top Picks December🐶 )

Industry Group: Semiconductors, Market Cap: $94.3b, Float: 855m, Short Interest: 2.4%, Days to Cover: 2, Exchange: NASDAQ

Catalyst: Slight Beat on EPS ($0.43 vs est. $0.41), Revs Beat, Beat on Operating Margins, Slight Miss on Gross Margins. Strong Beat on Revs Guide & EPS. MRVL feed from the same trough as yesterdays top pick CRDO. I think MRVL will have a sustained upside move from here guide is always most important and I think it was strong enough here even though the stock is sitting at all time highs.

4) Salesforce (CRM) (Rating: C+, Multi-Day )

Industry Group: Packaged Software, Market Cap: $316.8b, Float: 930m, Short Interest: 1.4%, Days to Cover: 2.4, Exchange: NYSE

Catalyst: Beat on Revs, Miss on EPS due to One Offs (Would have beat otherwise), Beat on Operating Margins, Strong Beat on cRPO (RPO within next 12 months), EPS Guide slight miss due to one offs also. The main bullish moves here came with Benioffs bullish talk in conference call. Lot’s of mentioning of AI and hyperbole about it being the biggest thing ever. The results are strong but it’s a big slow mover, currently +13% Pre Market, not sure how much more it can go here.

Honorable Mention to: CPNG - The political crisis that occurred yesterday in South Korea seems to have been resolved or at least fizzled out with the martial law rescinded. CPNG is my proxy of choice for this. They are South Korea’s top online retailer. HOOD - first ever Investor Day today starting at 11am EST. Expect some press releases prior to that with announcements. Webcast Here. NUCLEAR - Bloomberg headline regarding META Seeking New Nuclear Reactors to Run Data Centers. (Bloomberg) Here is a Watchlist of Nuclear Stocks I have.

Market Awareness

Plenty of Bullish results last night in Tech. I think we can see a strong day in the markets off the back of this. However there is a speech by Powell today at 13:45EST which may obstruct things. Muted day yesterday. Still Bullish overall. Delayed reactions still working and Day of Stocks in Play making strong moves.

After Hours I’m Watching: S, AEO, FIVE  (Earnings)

Tomorrow Morning I’m Watching: DG (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

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.}