The index may look overbought, but these 5 stocks could still be a good bet now according to two experts.
Despite months of volatility spurred on by geopolitical concerns and a once hawkish, now dovish Fed, the Nasdaq 100 rose past its October high to hit a new record this week. But that doesn’t mean buying the index’s tech names is off the table.
That’s according to Blue Line Futures President Bill Baruch, who says that stocks like chipmaker Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) could see more upside from here.
“I think Intel had the most constructive pullback to those December lows, which was a double bottom,” Baruch told CNBC on Tuesday, while also saying that “A close out above $58 is very, very bullish.” The stock closed at $58.60 on Wednesday.
Moving on to Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), the stock rose nearly 2% on Wednesday after it and Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) reached an agreement to end their bitter yearslong patent dispute. The deal includes a one-time payment to Qualcomm, and the two companies agreed to “dismiss all litigation between [them] world wide.” The deal, which was effective April 1, also includes a six-year licensing agreement and two-year extension option for Qualcomm to supply chips to Apple.
According to Baruch, the real test for Apple stock would be to see if it can push above the $200 price level. Apple closed at $203 on Wednesday.
“There is some strong resistance at $200. It’s a big battle ground there. But the [average directional index], which shows whether a stock is trending or not, is picking up force,” Baruch said. “I think that, ultimately, Apple has the potential to really work hand in hand with the Nasdaq in a breakout. And don’t doubt it that Apple would be the fuel that really could drive a second-half move in the Nasdaq upon breakout and really outpace other stocks.”
Michael Binger, the president of Gradient Investments, would prefer to wait for a pullback before buying most tech stocks, but says that investors looking to make an investment in the space now should consider Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL, GOOG) for its online advertising business and its “long runway of growth.”
“It’s not the cheapest stock in the world, but the growth warrants that multiple,” Binger said.
His other picks are PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) and under-the-radar biotech company BioMarin (NASDAQ: BMRN).
“I think PayPal is a great name and one of the leading companies in that space to own. It’s had an aggressive move, so any move below $100, I would step in full force,” Binger said.
As for BioMarin, Binger likes it because it “is a biotech company that actually has revenue.”
“These revenues are growing 15% on a year-over-year basis,” Binger noted. “They tend to spend a lot of money, but they’re doing so because they have what we consider a very interesting pipeline of new drugs that are coming on the market.”
Orphan-drug specialist BioMarin has seven drugs indicated for rare diseases already on the market and two promising treatments in late-stage trials, including a one-time, potentially curing gene therapy treatment for Hemophilia A called Valrox.
“All in all, I would look at Google, I would look at BioMarin and I would look at PayPal on a pullback in this kind of overbought space right now,” Binger concluded.