4 Solid Stocks to Buy

Cryptocurrencies have been suffering lately after a solid 2023 and first quarter. Bitcoin (BTC), in particular, was a leader, seeing the world’s most popular cryptocurrency reach an all-time high of $73,750 in March.

But the rise seems to have stalled since then and cryptocurrencies are suffering; Bitcoin has been trading below $70,000 for most of May. June was no different. On June 13, Bitcoin fell below $67,000 and traded at $67,100 before recouping some of its losses.

There are many factors behind this latest decline in Bitcoin. The Bitcoin halving event in April was one of the key reasons behind the price pullback of the cryptocurrency.

The halving event, which occurs every four years, reduces the block reward by 50% with the goal of limiting the total Bitcoin supply to 21 million coins. This decrease in the rate of new Bitcoin supply generally increases demand for cryptocurrencies and often leads to price increases.

Bitcoin was expected to gain momentum after the halving event ended, but it did not happen. Additionally, Wall Street’s rally stalled in April due to rising concerns about rising inflation and possible interest rate hikes.

Although inflation eased in April and May, easing fears of a new interest rate hike, the lack of clarity regarding the Fed’s interest rate cut plans hurt investors’ confidence. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said after the FOMC meeting that the Fed has seen only one rate cut this year; This was significantly below the three rate cuts envisioned at the March meeting.

Powell also said that although inflation fell sharply last year, it remained sharply above the Fed’s 2% target. Therefore, the Fed is likely to keep interest rates higher for longer.

Higher interest rates negatively impact growth assets such as technology stocks, consumer discretionary stocks, and cryptocurrencies.

But even then, experts believe that Bitcoin has tremendous potential and the recent decline is temporary. Bitcoin has gained 45.5% since the beginning of the year, after rising more than 207% in 2023.

Our choices

We’ve narrowed our search to four crypto-focused stocks with strong potential for 2024. Each of our picks carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy), or 3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

NVIDIA Corporation NVDA is a global leader in visual computing technologies and the inventor of the graphics processing unit, or GPU. Over the years, NVDA’s focus has evolved from PC graphics to AI-based solutions that now support high-performance computing, gaming and virtual reality platforms.

The story continues

NVIDIA has an earnings growth expectation of 106.2% for this year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has moved 12.6% higher over the past 60 days. NVDA is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1.

Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. IBKR is a global automated electronic broker. IBKR operates, processes and trades cryptocurrencies. IBKR’s commodity futures trading desk also offers clients the chance to trade cryptocurrency futures.

Interactive Brokers Group has an earnings growth expectation of 14.6% for this year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has increased 2% over the past 60 days. IBKR currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

Robinhood Markets, Inc. HOOD operates a financial services platform in the United States. Its platform allows users to invest in stocks, exchange-traded funds, options, gold and cryptocurrencies. HOOD buys and sells Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin and other cryptocurrencies using the Robinhood Crypto platform.

Robinhood Markets’ expected earnings growth rate for the current year is over 100%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has increased 110.3% over the past 60 days. Robinhood Markets currently has a Zacks Rank #2.

Coinbase Global, Inc. COIN provides financial infrastructure and technology to support the global cryptocurrency economy. COIN provides a primary financial account for consumers in the crypto space, a marketplace with liquidity for institutional cryptoasset transactions, and technology and services for developers to build crypto-based applications and securely accept cryptocurrencies as payment.

Coinbase Global’s expected earnings growth rate for this year is over 100%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has moved 219.1% higher over the past 60 days. Coinbase is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today you can download the Top 7 Stocks of the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (IBKR): Free Stock Analysis Report

NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA): Free Stock Analysis Report

Coinbase Global, Inc. (COIN): Free Stock Analysis Report

Robinhood Markets, Inc. (HOOD): Free Stock Analysis Report

Click here to read this article on Zacks.com.

Zacks Investment Research