Top Stocks To Buy Today As Markets Drop But Outlook Remains Positive

Not one single catalyst sent the indices slightly down on Friday outside of maybe frothiness and overheating. The February rally has been sharp and swift, and stocks just can’t sustain this type of pace. It’s only natural. The sentiment and the underlying positive catalysts still remain, though. Earnings have been outstanding, the stimulus is imminent, COVID` numbers are falling, and vaccines could be available to the masses by April. Today’s market declines were relatively mild in the grand scheme of things, and all these indices continue to hover near record highs while on track to close the week with gains. The Dow Jones dropped 30 points, the S&P 500 fell 0.2%, and the Nasdaq
NDAQ
declined 0.2%. For investors looking to make the most of this market, the deep learning algorithms at Q.ai have crunched the data to give you a set of Top Buys. Our Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) systems assessed each firm on parameters of Technicals, Growth, Low Volatility Momentum, and Quality Value to find the best Top Buys. 

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Apple Inc (AAPL)

Apple
AAPL
is our first Top Buy today. Apple has the largest market-cap in America, and is one of the most valuable companies in the world. Everyone knows that Apple is a giant when it comes to producing consumer electronics products, computer software, and online services. But sometimes people forget that Apple is the world’s largest technology company by revenue and the world’s third-largest mobile phone manufacturer after Samsung and Huawei. Our AI systems rated Apple C in Technicals, B  in Growth, B in Low Volatility Momentum, and C in Quality Value. The stock closed down 0.19% to $135.13 on volume of 62,358,017 vs its 10-day price average of $135.16 and its 22-day price average of $134.82, and is up 4.57% for the year. Revenue grew by 7.15% in the last fiscal year and grew by 10.75% over the last three fiscal years, Operating Income grew by 12.02% in the last fiscal year and grew by 4.73% over the last three fiscal years, and EPS grew by 12.4% in the last fiscal year and grew by 23.71% over the last three fiscal years. Revenue was $274515.0M in the last fiscal year compared to $265595.0M three years ago, Operating Income was $66288.0M in the last fiscal year compared to $70898.0M three years ago, EPS was $3.28 in the last fiscal year compared to $2.98 three years ago, and ROE was 73.69% in the last year compared to 49.36% three years ago. Forward 12M Revenue is expected to grow by 0.49% over the next 12 months, and the stock is trading with a Forward 12M P/E of 30.73.

MORE FROM FORBESApple (AAPL)

Intl Business Machines Corp (IBM)

Intl Business Machines Corp
IBM
, more commonly known as IBM, is our next Top Buy. IBM is a longtime technology and consulting company, and has continued to evolve and pivot its operations with the changing times. It has gotten significantly more involved in cloud computing and blockchain technology as of late. Our AI systems rated IBM D in Technicals, B in Growth, B in Low Volatility Momentum, and B in Quality Value. The stock closed down 1.09% to $120.91 on volume of 5,349,598 vs its 10-day price average of $119.88 and its 22-day price average of $122.06., and is down 1.14% for the year. Revenue was $73620.0M in the last fiscal year compared to $79591.0M three years ago, Operating Income was $6814.0M in the last fiscal year compared to $12231.0M three years ago, EPS was $6.23 in the last fiscal year compared to $9.52 three years ago, and ROE was 26.38% % in the last year compared to 50.34% three years ago. The stock is also trading with a Forward 12M P/E of 10.96.

MORE FROM FORBESIBM (IBM)

Altria Group Inc (MO)

Altria Group
MO
, one of the world’s largest producers and marketers of tobacco, cigarettes and related products is our next Top Buy. As Altria aims to diversify its product offering and improve its pricing power, the stock has gone on a nice run. Our AI systems rated Altria C in Technicals, A in Growth, B in Low Volatility Momentum, and B in Quality Value. The stock closed down 0.55% to $43.31 on volume of 6,608,793 vs its 10-day price average of $42.36 and its 22-day price average of $41.99, and is up 6.05% for the year. Revenue was $20841.0M in the last fiscal year compared to $19627.0M three years ago, Operating Income was $11514.0M in the last fiscal year compared to $9834.0M three years ago, EPS was $2.4 in the last fiscal year compared to $3.68 three years ago, and ROE was 95.56% in the last year compared to 46.07% three years ago. The stock is also trading with a Forward 12M P/E of 9.45.

MORE FROM FORBESAltria Group (MO)

Verizon Communications Inc (VZ)

Verizon Communications
VZ
 is our fourth Top Buy. Verizon is one of the largest telecom companies in the US, and is the second largest telecom company in terms of revenue after AT&T
T
and Verizon also reported strong earnings this past quarter. Our AI systems rated Verizon F in Technicals, B in Growth, A in Low Volatility Momentum, and C in Quality Value. The stock closed down 0.66% to $54.6 on volume of 17,287,076 vs its 10-day price average of $54.84 and its 22-day price average of $55.99, and is down 7.22% for the year. Revenue was $128292.0M in the last fiscal year compared to $130863.0M three years ago, Operating Income was $28798.0M in the last fiscal year compared to $30991.0M three years ago, EPS was $4.3 in the last fiscal year compared to $3.76 three years ago, and ROE was 27.78% in the last year compared to 32.27% three years ago. The stock is also trading with a Forward 12M P/E of 10.78.

MORE FROM FORBESVerizon Communications (VZ)

Sykes Enterprises Inc (SYKE) 

Our final Top Buy today is Sykes Enterprises
SYKE
. Sykes Enterprises is a company that provides business process outsourcing services, IT consulting, and IT-enabled services, such as technical support and customer service. Our AI systems rated the company C in Technicals, C in Growth, A in Low Volatility Momentum, and A in Quality Value. The stock closed up 1.94% to $43.59 on volume of 164,032 vs its 10-day price average of $41.24 and its 22-day price average of $41.22, and is up 14.29% for the year. Revenue grew by 4.35% in the last fiscal year and grew by 6.24% over the last three fiscal years, Operating Income grew by 28.11% in the last fiscal year and grew by 29.35% over the last three fiscal years, and EPS grew by 73.22% over the last three fiscal years. Revenue was $1614.76M in the last fiscal year compared to $1586.01M three years ago, Operating Income was $92.58M in the last fiscal year compared to $91.7M three years ago, EPS was $1.53 in the last fiscal year compared to $0.76 three years ago, and ROE was 7.53% in the last year compared to 4.24% three years ago. Forward 12M Revenue is expected to grow by 3.75% over the next 12 months, and the stock is trading with a Forward 12M P/E of 15.1.

MORE FROM FORBESSykes Enterprises Inc (SYKE)

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