4 Stocks With Recent Price Strength Are Set To Gain Further

An investor always seeks a win-win strategy. However, finding one is easier said than done. Particularly, in the current highly volatile market, it is difficult for even an ardent investor to come up with a foolproof approach.

One could resort to commonly used techniques to find beaten down stocks that have the potential to recover faster than others, but this also runs the risk of disappointment. Finding the current winners that have the potential to gain further should be a safer strategy instead.

In the stock game, winning means reaching a higher price. So how about looking at those that have already won the game and are ready to beat the benchmark that they have already set?

Here is how to execute it:

One should primarily look for stocks that have recently witnessed a price increase. Actually, stocks backed by recent price strength have a high chance of carrying the momentum forward.

If a stock is continuously moving higher, there must be a good reason for the rise or else it probably would have fallen or remained stable. So, looking at stocks that have already won the game and are capable of beating the benchmark that they have set themselves sounds rational.

However, recent price strength alone cannot create magic, so you need to set other relevant parameters for a successful investment strategy.

Here’s how you should create the screen to shortlist the current as well as the potential winners.

Screening Parameters:

Percentage Change in Price (4 Weeks) greater than zero: This criterion shows that the stock moved higher in the last four weeks.

Percentage Change Price (12 Weeks) greater than 10: This indicates that the stock saw momentum over the last three months. This lowers the risk of choosing stocks that may have drawn attention due to the overwhelming performance of the overall market in a very short period.

Zacks Rank 1: No matter whether the market conditions are good or bad, stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) have a proven history of outperformance.

Average Broker Rating 1: This indicates that brokers are also highly hopeful about the stock’s future performance.

Current Price greater than 5: The stocks must all be trading at a minimum of $5 or higher.

Current Price/ 52-Week High-Low Range more than 85%: This criterion filters stocks that are trading near their respective 52-week highs. It indicates that these are strong enough in terms of price.

Here the four stocks that made it through this screen:

Nanometrics Incorporated (NASDAQ:NANO) is a leader in the design, manufacture, marketing and support of process monitoring systems for the semiconductor, data storage and flat panel display industries. The company beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the preceding four quarters, with an average positive surprise of 104.17%.

Post Holdings Inc. (NYSE:POST) is a manufacturer, marketer and distributor of branded ready-to-eat cereals in the United States and Canada. The company and surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate thrice in the preceding four quarters, with an average positive surprise of 345.14%.

Exa Corporation (NASDAQ:EXA) develops, markets, sells, and supports software products, and provides professional services for simulation-driven design. The company surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the preceding four quarters, with an average positive surprise of 49.26%.

Tokyo Electron Limited (OTC:TOELY) develops, manufactures, distributes, and sells semiconductor and flat panel display production equipment.

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Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance.

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