3 summer stock winners riding this fall (hay)

You are reading Entrepreneur United, which is the international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. This story originally appeared in MarketBeat

As autumn approaches, summer picnics and beach days will soon be replaced by autumn hay carts and Halloween celebrations.

If you are a stock investor, you may plan to take your portfolio to new heights of trading in the last few months of this year. Since many stocks are trading at close to historical highs, it is difficult to find the next wave of outstanding stocks.

Fortunately, the mantra “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” often applies to the stock market. As momentum traders will tell you, sometimes the best strategy is to simply ride the nearest winner.

Here are three stocks that performed well in the summer, and they may continue to rise as the number of days in the fall decreases.

Will Moderna stock continue to rise?

From Memorial Day to Labor Day, Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) The stock price soared 125%. This is more than twice the return of the next closest S&P 500 stock.

Moderna has become a household name during the pandemic and is one of the three COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States. This has brought incredible financial success to the company, and the results of the previous quarter clearly demonstrated this. Revenue in the second quarter was $4.4 billion, which was 65 times the revenue in the same period last year. Earnings per share (EPS) was a staggering $6.46, compared with a loss of $0.31 per share the previous year.

Although approximately three-quarters of Americans have been vaccinated at least once, Moderna still has a lot of room for growth in the future. The FDA recently approved a third dose of COVID vaccine for people with compromised immune systems. In Europe, Moderna vaccine has been recommended for children 12 years and older. Messenger RNA vaccines are also being evaluated for young people in other parts of the world, and further approvals may significantly expand Moderna’s market.

Moderna has locked in a purchase agreement worth up to 20 billion U.S. dollars next year and has begun to obtain purchase orders for 2023. Unfortunately, with the emergence of new variants, COVID-19 has no clear signs of ending. Therefore, Moderna’s stock price rise has no end in sight, and the company is positioned to remain on the front line of the battlefield.

Is Albemarle a good lithium game?

Albemarle (NYSE: ALB) It is another stock that broke out this summer and has risen 45% since June. This chemical manufacturer has become a major player in the booming lithium market, and this metal is in great demand as a raw material for electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

Since the beginning of 2021, the price of lithium carbonate has doubled as electric vehicle battery manufacturers scramble to ensure the supply of silver-white elements to meet the needs of electric vehicle manufacturers. Albemarle’s better-than-expected second-quarter results were mainly due to the strong lithium business and the increase in bromine sales.

In the short term, Albemarle is expected to benefit from more aspects. As battery manufacturers cut their lithium inventories, they need to replenish their inventories to keep up with the pace of electric vehicle manufacturing as the global economy improves. In the long run, as global automakers speed up their electric vehicle plans in accordance with government requirements, Albemarle will benefit from the growth in demand for lithium.

According to Mordor Intelligence, the lithium market is expected to grow at a rate of 10% from 2021 to 2026. As one of the leading companies in the market, Albemarle and its share price will continue to rise.

Is ServiceNow stock still worth buying?

ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW) Due to the strong performance in the first half of the year, the stock has risen 43% in the past three months. The growing interest in the company’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) products for businesses in all industries has led to some strong revenue growth, including 32% in the previous quarter.

The catalyst that brought the stock to a record high this summer still exists. All types of enterprises tend to use a hybrid work model, so they need cloud-based software solutions that can automate and track IT workflows. This makes them more efficient and cost-effective. This trend seems to continue, which means that banks, consumer products companies, healthcare organizations, etc. will continue to seek help from ServiceNow.

In fact, as companies embrace digital transformation, ServiceNow is still in the early stages of long-term growth opportunities. Its core service management applications will continue to be a strong source of subscription revenue, except for 5% of the company’s total revenue. It is expected that the form of new product launches and entry into new product categories will further increase. Overseas expansion will also be a key theme worthy of attention, with approximately 70% of sales currently coming from US customers.

ServiceNow’s stock price of more than $600 should not deter investors. As we learned this summer, even high-priced stocks can bring excess returns. Following the wind, several analysts called the stock a buy, and now is a good time to take advantage of the trend.