There were plenty of stocks hitting new highs last week, despite the market's rough and tumble turbulence through the month of May. Some of those companies are just getting started.
I scanned through the list to come up with a few stocks that I think are headed for a fall yesterday. Now it's my turn to play the bullish optimist.
A new high doesn't have to be a peak.
Let's go over a few highfliers that I see headed higher.
|
Stock |
6/8/10 |
High |
Low |
|---|---|---|---|
|
LAN Airlines (NYSE: LFL) |
$18.32 |
$19.39 |
$11.14 |
|
K12 (NYSE: LRN) |
$22.34 |
$25.82 |
$15.28 |
|
Renaissance Learnings (Nasdaq: RLRN) |
$14.15 |
$16.97 |
$8.34 |
|
GeoEye (Nasdaq: GEOY) |
$30.48 |
$33.22 |
$21.23 |
|
salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) |
$88.00 |
$96.35 |
$35.27 |
Source: Yahoo! Finance.
Let's go over the reasons to warm up to these market-bucking winners.
LAN Airlines
Air carriers have been a historically crummy sector to invest in, but LAN provides a little Latin American sizzle. The Chilean airline has been consistently profitable over the past few years, despite the ups and downs of fuel prices and economic cycles.
Closer to home, even perennial darling Southwest (NYSE: LUV) broke down with a rare quarterly deficit a year ago. LAN hasn't dipped into the red.
LAN's also projected to be in a steady ascent from here. After earning $0.68 a share last year, analysts see the carrier landing a profit of $1.07 a share this year and $1.31 a share next year.
K12 and Renaissance Learning
These two companies don't just share similar ticker symbols. They are both growing companies providing grade schools with computer-based support. Renaissance provides assessment technology, while K12 provides an online curriculum.
They are both rocking these days. K12 rang up net income of $0.42 a share last year. Analysts see earnings clocking in at $0.68 a share this year and $0.84 a share come 2011. Renaissance's line over those same three years is $0.68, $0.75, and $0.85.
Despite similar profit targets for next year, K12 commands the higher share price because of its headier growth.
Back in April, Renaissance's founder CEO announced that he would be stepping down. No worries. Renaissance Learning is in a good groove. It had even hiked its dividend two days earlier.
GeoEye
We all enjoy the dazzling high-def snapshots of our planet from above, and GeoEye mans the satellites and aircraft that make it possible.
Its latest quarter was a blowout. GeoEye came through with an adjusted profit of $0.52 a share, blowing past Mr. Market's expectations of $0.36 a share. This shouldn't come as a surprise to those paying attention, since analysts have been underestimating the company's earnings power through the past few quarters.
U.S. government contracts account for all but a third of GeoEye's revenue, though it's hard to quibble about the need for diversification when the top line soars by 78%.
salesforce.com
There's always money to be made when you provide companies with a cheaper and more convenient way of doing things. salesforce.com was the star of cloud computing before it was even a buzzword. Offering companies enterprises solutions stored on its own servers provides a cost-effective and portable platform that has made its product a hit even during the recessionary downturn.
This is no longer a company gliding beneath the radar. It commands an $11 billion market cap. It was recently sued by Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), something that Mr. Softy doesn't like to do publicly unless it's not seen as a bully.
The shares also aren't cheap, fetching a hefty 76 times this year's projected profit and a still chunky 58 times next year's estimate. However, it's the star in a booming industry, toiling away in a sector that is never shy about acquiring disruptors at reasonable premiums.
