Tech stocks are still where the best action is at.
This made us wonder: how is the top analyst on Wall Street choosing to invest?
TipRanks — a platform that ranks Wall Street analysts on financial calls — pinpoints Canaccord’s Richard Davis as the Street’s best-performing analyst. That’s an impressive honor: #1 out of over 4,800 analysts.
Looking at Davis’ bets in tech, we’ve picked three software stocks that are already crushing the market this year.
Salesforce
Salesforce leads the globe as a Customer Relationship Management platform. The business software company is already racking up strong market gains this year, almost 42% in growth. Wall Street’s confidence on the tech giant speaks for itself; Salesforce has received a whopping 23 buy ratings in the last three months. One of those bulls is notably top five-star analyst Davis.
It’s no surprise to see Davis backing the ‘Strong Buy’ stock. After all, Davis showcases a 91% success rate when betting on Salesforce. The analyst has been covering this tech giant for years. Back in 2011, Davis praised Salesforce.com as “a best in class firm with significant opportunity to extend its lead in computing.” Davis’ prediction at the time: “CRM shares will be one of the first places to which growth investors flock when the ‘risk off’ trade subsides.”
Flashing ahead to May 2018, the analyst clearly continued to be as positive as ever, especially for a company benefiting from a “sticky” consumer base. Davis rates Salesforce a Buy and recently dialed up his price target on the stock from $135 to $150.
Salesforce’s software works with a slew of applications from vendors. The top analyst sings the company’s praises. “Fundamentals in this industry are as good as I’ve seen them in a decade.” For those investors who raise an eyebrow at valuations ranging “above average,” Davis counters “they should be.”
Adobe
Software giant Adobe is “quite a juggernaut,” says the top analyst. It has been a great year for Adobe — a member of Jim Cramer’s ‘Cloud Kings’ acronym — investors with the stock already vaulting 46% in 2018. Adobe has 13 bullish analysts in its corner over the last three months and five analysts playing it safe on the sidelines. The 12-month average price target (from a pool of Street-wide expectations) showcase 5% in upside potential for the ‘Moderate Buy’ rated stock.
Davis has been recommending Adobe as an investment ever since he initiated coverage on the stock two years ago. At the time, Davis had argued against bearish sentiment, refusing to believe the idea “that Adobe’s best days are behind it.” Rather, the analyst made a bullish case that the stock was a large-cap “favorite.” Just last month, Davis boosted his bullish price target on Adobe up to $280 (9% upside potential).
Bears gave Adobe flack in June following second fiscal quarter earnings, even on the heels of a stronger than anticipated print. Davis explains for a stock that’s flown in rapid-fire growth year-to-date, “you shouldn’t be surprised if the stock takes a post print breather-despite an exemplary quarter.” Rather, it’s “model maniacs” on the Street that are “stressing out” on expectations Davis calls simply “conservative” from the Adobe team.
Davis’ history of recommending Adobe speaks for itself: he exhibits a 94% success rate. It has nicely translated to a whopping 47.2% in average profits for the analyst.
Dropbox
On the heels of 11 years as a private company, online storage and workplace software giant Dropbox (DBX) boomed after its March IPO. The tech world hailed Dropbox’s IPO as majorly anticipated, arguably the most-watched IPO event since Snap’s debut last year. In its opening moments of trading, Dropbox stock raced over 40%.
Since then, the ‘Moderate Buy’ stock has already climbed another nearly 10%. In the last three months, Dropbox has scored five buy ratings with a consensus average price target that flashes almost 14% in upside potential.
While Dropbox’s stock initially slipped after its first quarter earnings call as a public company, Davis seized this as a buyer’s advantage. The analyst dialed up his price target to $36 (15% upside potential). Davis’ move was to become an “aggressive buyer” of Dropbox’s stock, maximizing any pullback. After all, the company’s first quarter was a strong one. Dropbox outclassed on metrics across-the-board while improving upon customer additions, average revenue per user, and product innovation.
