Stocks in Play - January 29th 2025

TLDR Stocks in Play: EAT, NXT, FFIV, QRVO

Stocks in Play - January 29th 2025

TLDR Stocks in Play: EAT, NXT, FFIV, QRVO

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) Nextracker (NXT) (Rating: B, Multi-Day)

Industry Group: Electronic Technology, Market Cap: $5.6b, Float: 134m, Short Interest: 8.4%, Days to Cover: 4.3, Exchange: NASDAQ

Catalyst: Big EPS Beat ($1.03 vs est. $0.58), Solid Beat on Revs, Big Beat on Gross Margins, Large increase on order backlog. Raised Full Year Guide. 2023 IPO that has never really went anywhere. Main issue is that it’s not a growth company. I think it can have a multiday move here however if you look back through the chart it can be quite choppy and gappy. That being said it has reasonable short interest. Solid SIP candidate today.

2) Brinker Int. (EAT) (Rating: B+, Multi-Day)

Industry Group: Restaurants, Market Cap: $6.8b, Float: 44m, Short Interest: 12.8%, Days to Cover: 4.3, Exchange: NYSE

Catalyst: Huge EPS Beat ($2.80 vs est. $1.79), Strong Revs Beat, Revs 26% YoY, Raised FY25 Guide EPS & Revs beating analyst estimates as well as their own. Relatively high short interest and low float. Stock is certainly not neglected but this is still a very strong beat and raise. Multi day potential and the only reason it isn’t a Top Pick for January is that we are not anywhere near early in it’s cycle. Operator of Chili’s Grill & Maggiano’s Little Italy.

Honorable Mention to: FFIV - Solid Beat on EPS, Revs & GMs. Company gave bullish commentary on AI & Cloud spend. Raised Full Year Guide however lowered the Q2 Guide slightly. Stock is not neglected. QRVO - Ripped after earnings and then collapsed on the call last night when Guide was flat. But there were a lot of positives on Gross Margin which was a key issue for Investors. This was a recent SIP Pick with activist investor Starboard taking a position. I’m watching this for a test of the $78 level this morning and potential to bounce with buyers coming in.

Market Awareness

We have big tech earnings tonight. Advantest & ASML earnings should be bullish for the Market today, notably the AI trade and it’s looking like Monday was big overreaction shakeout. Big Tech earnings potentially have the power to change that but I think they will report as expected and probably beat with the exception of possibly Tesla (as a guess). I think the AI Stocks may consolidate slightly today in anticipation of those big earnings tonight from META, TSLA, MSFT despite the bullish ASML news.

I am back to business as usual today. We have the FED also which could create volatility. Plenty of opportunities. As always will be watching for a VIX Spike to step aside and Sit on Hands. I’m also conscious that we may get some Trump Tape Bombs today or tomorrow also. The Tariff talk is being ratcheted up and that will cause sell offs if anything concrete is announced.

After Hours I’m Watching: META, TSLA, MSFT, IBM, (Earnings)

Tomorrow Morning I’m Watching: MBLY, CMCSA, UPS, MA, CAT (Earnings)

Top Pick Watchlists:

Sources & Services I Use in my Trading:

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.

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