The overall market is on a less-than-firm footing now. A handful of the blue chip stocks that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI 0.56%), however, are poised to start reflecting their underlying companies' long-term resilience. Here's a closer look at the three top prospects from this group that you may want to add to your portfolio sooner than later.
1. Boeing
There's no denying Boeing (BA -0.24%) has been through the wringer over the past few years. First, it was the tragic design flaws that led to the grounding of its 737 MAX model. Then, just when it looked like the company might push past that challenge, the COVID-19 pandemic materialized, decimating demand for air travel and severely crimping demand for new aircraft.
The world is easing its way back to normal though, and on average, airlines' fleets are now about four years older than they were when the pandemic caused them to put orders on hold. Their aircraft replacement plans can't be postponed for much longer.
And those purchases aren't being put off anymore. Alaska Airlines just placed its biggest-ever order for Boeing-made planes, Delta recently requested 100 new 737 MAX jets, and United Airlines is reportedly mulling a triple-digit order for new widebody aircraft. Indeed, U.K.-based aerospace industry news outlet ADS reported that in the third quarter, total aircraft orders were the highest they've been since 2015, with Boeing accounting for 256 of them. That brings the company's backlog up to 5,236 passenger jets -- which amounts to years' worth of revenue. For perspective, Boeing delivered a little over 300 aircraft through the first three quarters of the year.
Driving this swell of demand for new aircraft is the post-COVID-19 rebound in air travel. Global consultancy Bain & Company estimates that the worldwide air travel and logistics market will be worth $525 billion this year. That's still shy of 2019's figure of $666 billion, but Bain forecasts that the market should exceed that level next year en route to resuming its pre-pandemic growth pace.
Connect the dots. Boeing's industrywide long-term expectation for the delivery of 41,170 passenger jet deliveries between now and 2041 is anything but out of line. In that light, the stock's 61% pullback from 2019's high to its current price doesn't make much sense.
2. IBM
International Business Machines (IBM 0.06%) may have missed out on some of its initial opportunities to capitalize on things like cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity when those markets were relatively new a decade ago. The company's making up for lost time now, though. Not only does it have strong plays in all of those arenas now, IBM is quickly becoming a powerhouse in hybrid cloud computing, which supports them all.
This success isn't necessarily easy to see in the company's recent quarterly reports. IBM has no specific hybrid cloud business unit, and even if it did, last quarter's top-line growth of 6% was fairly modest.
Dig deeper though, and the picture looks brighter.
IBM's hybrid cloud success isn't well-defined for good reason. The company sells what are largely turn-key solutions to complex technological problems built upon this tech. More than mere platforms, it offers combinations of hardware, software, and consulting that all support one another. As CFO Jim Kavanaugh explained at an investor conference earlier this year, "when we land a hybrid cloud platform, there's an economic multiplier on top of that, $3 to $5 a software for every dollar of platform we land, $6 to $8 of services for every dollar of platform we land." Some of IBM's specialties subject to this multiplier model include application management, automation, and the aforementioned cybersecurity and artificial intelligence offerings.
Its growth may still seem a bit muted, but that's to be expected. This business model is still relatively new, as is the underlying hardware and software, and they haven't yet had to chance to reach their full growth potential. They're moving faster than you might think, however. Last quarter's modest 6% growth? If you strip out the adverse impacts of foreign currency fluctuations and the strong dollar, IBM's top line actually grew 15% year over year.
Investors may start pricing in this strength soon too. In fact, the stock's recent rally suggests the market's already starting to figure out all the bullish details.
3. Visa
Credit card company Visa (V -0.59%) is another Dow 30 stock poised to start soaring before the end of the year, and it should continue rising well after 2022 ends.
It's easy to entertain doubts about this particular pick. The global economy isn't exactly firing on all cylinders, and a full-blown recession may be in the cards. Consumers and corporations are expected to clamp down on their spending in such an economic environment.
Except consumers rarely actually clamp down. They certainly haven't done so yet, despite the headwinds we've seen this year so far. Last quarter's revenue was up a hefty 19% year over year for Visa, capping off a 22% increase for the fiscal year ending in September. The total number of transactions the company handled was up 10% for the three-month stretch and higher to the tune of nearly 12% for the year. The year's total transaction figure was a whopping 33% higher than it was in pre-COVID fiscal 2019.
The driving force behind this growth isn't more discretionary spending -- that may well be on the verge of drying up. It's the decreasing use of cash to buy goods and services. The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco's most recent look at U.S. consumers' payment preferences indicated that cash was only used to make 20% of 2021's purchases, extending a downward streak that has dialed cash's use back from 31% of purchases in 2017. While the numbers are different overseas, the trend isn't. Don't be surprised to see cards continue to displace cash for the purchases of even the most basic things.
The analyst community clearly remains optimistic about Visa's near-term and distant futures. While its top-line growth is on pace to slow to only 9% this year, sales growth is expected to reaccelerate to more than 12% next year, pulling profits higher with it. This year's weakness in the stock offers investors a great chance to plug into Visa's persistent progress.
