Each week, Industry Focus: Financials host Jason Moser and Fool.com contributor Matt Frankel, CFP, discuss two stocks they're watching. And for the first time, both are looking at stocks outside of the financials sector.
Frankel thinks Amazon's (AMZN 3.95%) payment platform has lots of untapped potential, and the stock's recent 25% plunge is overdone. Moser, on the other hand, is watching Tiffany & Co. (TIF +0.00%) as it approaches its earnings report, as this could provide a glimpse of how the American consumer is doing.
A full transcript follows the video.
This video was recorded on Nov. 26, 2018.
Jason Moser: Matt, it's about that time this week. We're going to wrap things up with our one to watch. What is the stock that you'll be watching this week?
Matt Frankel: It's not really a financial sector stock. I'm looking at Amazon. We talked about them quite a bit. They're down roughly 25% from the highs. I think their new payments system is going to have some traction. Like I said, I personally think that PayPal and the others are going to lose a little bit of their growth trajectory because Amazon has a big existing customer base for this to really play well with. And not just because of that. I think Amazon is a good value. I thought Amazon was a pretty decent value at about $2,000 a share. I really think it's a good value now. There's talk of them offering some kind of co-branded checking account product. Maybe they'll be a financial sector stock after all. I love Amazon this week!
Moser: Time will tell, I put nothing past them. That's a good one! I'm going to go with Tiffany, ticker TIF, this week. I know this may seem a little bit of an odd pick, because it's not directly a financial. But I've covered Tiffany for a number of years now. What I have found is that Tiffany is a very good indicator of how the economy is doing and how the market thinks the economy is going to be doing in the coming quarters. You know what we're in right now? It's what I like to call the Larry David economy. Everything is pretty, pretty, pretty good. And I hope that will continue. But I think on Wednesday, when Tiffany's earnings come out, we'll get a better idea.
Management recently had raised guidance last quarter, which was impressive. They're going to be investing a lot in their New York flagship store in the coming year. That really does matter for a company like Tiffany that depends on that physical presence. What they do that I think is so phenomenal, they really protect that brand so well. It's a luxury brand. They don't resort to fire sales. You're not going to find big Cyber Monday, half off deals with Tiffany. They protect that brand and do a very good job. When times are good, like they are right now, the stock feels it, and it looks like it's feeling it right now. When times get a little tough, certainly, the stock feels it again. Honestly, that's where investors need to consider potentially investing in a business like this, when times get a little bit tougher.
I'm sure on Wednesday, we'll get a better idea of what management sees coming around for the next full year, certainly the holiday quarter guidance. A lot of things you can glean from this luxury retailer in Tiffany's. We'll keep an eye on it.
