There is a ton of uncertainty in the world of investing right now. First, new strains of COVID-19 have become a current threat to the entire economy. Second, many companies still struggle with supply chain issues. Finally, analysts expect interest rates to rise any minute. However, despite all this turmoil, some companies started the season out loud. This is indispensable good news for investors. Let’s take a look at some of these top trending stocks and see why investors are excited about them.
NOTE: I am not a financial advisor and I only offer my own research and commentary. Please make your own due diligence before making any investment decisions.
What Creates Top Trending Stocks?
When you hear the word “trending”, most think of a viral post on social media. These are the posts that everyone talks about and shares with each other. Honestly, trending stocks are not that different.
There are many factors that can lead to a stock starting to trend. Stocks can also trend for good and bad reasons. For example, a stock may start to trend in a good way because it announces a new service (Walt Disney Company and Disney Plus). A stock can also start trending in a bad way due to a CEO scandal (Activision and Bobby Kotick). A stock may start to trend for reasons unrelated to the company (i.e., The GameStop Short Squeeze).
The most important thing is to know why a stock is trending, whether the news is good or bad, and how to react to it.
For this article, I focus on stocks that recently crushed their earnings reports in Q4 2021. These stocks are all trending because they are performing better than investors expected. Let’s see.
No. 4 Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE: LEVI)
Levi’s was founded in 1853. When things seem bleak, it’s a good idea to invest in companies that have existed since 1853. They have a very good ability to get through tough times.
Most likely, even 169 years later, Levi’s still remains. In Q4 2021, Levi’s posted decades of records for revenue and profitability. Chip Bergh, President and CEO, attributed this success to several factors. First, he praised Levi’s strong brand equity. This allows to maintain control over pricing and curb excessive discounts. He also mentioned that Levi’s is expanding its direct-to-consumer business. This DTC division has a higher margin than Levi’s traditional business. This helped to increase Levi’s profitability.
For Q4 2021, Levi’s reported revenue is $ 1.7 billion. It’s up 22% since 2020 and 7% since 2019. Levi’s also beat its earnings per share (EPS) expectations (2.43%) and earnings expectations (0.32%).
In better news, Levi’s has set very high growth expectations for 2022. It forecasts growth of 11-13% for next year. Chip added, “As good as this past year has been, I’m confident the future will be even better.”
On better news, Levi’s dividend went up. This is usually the real sign of security for investors. This shows that the business has so much money that it can give back to investors. In total, Levi’s paid $ 104.4 million in dividends in 2021.
No. 3 Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA)
Tesla is rarely not one of the top trending stocks. Often, Tesla is just trending because of Elon Musk and his antics. This time, however, Tesla is trending because of the massive news. That is, it broke its earnings report.
Of all the industries, electric vehicles are one of the hardest hit by supply chain issues. There are so many pieces (literally) that go into making a car. These pieces come from all over the world. This leads to a massive supply chain. Additionally, the average EV uses 2,000 processing chips. This means the EV industry also has to fight the continuing global chip shortage. Quite surprisingly, Tesla was able to navigate these issues without a problem.
In Q4 2021, Tesla produced 305,000 vehicles. It also delivered 308,000 vehicles in Q4 and 936,000 for the year. This resulted in $ 17.72 billion in revenue in Q4. This was enough to beat its earnings expectations (6.49%) and EPS expectations (6.88%). In total, Tesla reported annual total revenue of $ 4.8 billion. This is a 135% year-over-year (YOY) increase.
Notably, Elon Musk spent a good portion of the call on revenues not discussing electric cars. Instead, his focus is a new humanoid robot called the Tesla Bot. Musk described the Tesla Bot as, “the most important product Tesla makes this year.” He sees this as a potential answer to the current labor shortage.
No. 2 ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW)
ServiceNow is a cloud computing company. It focuses on managing workflows for IT, employees, creators, and customers. Importantly, ServiceNow creates digital experiences to make life easier for your company. Of all the top trending stocks, ServiceNow is the most comforting. Let me explain…
In recent months, the technology sector has been defeated. bad. This is the hardest reach for tech stocks since the 2008 Financial Crisis. Many former famous names like Peloton, Roku, and Fiverr dropped 70% or more of their highest all. This is the case for most of the Nasdaq. This is why the ServiceNow earnings report is so important. ServiceNow sells critical software for businesses. It also works with 80% of Fortune 500 companies. If ServiceNow’s business slows down, it could be a very bad sign for the overall economy. Fortunately, that is not the case.
In Q4 2021, ServiceNow reported revenue of $ 1.5 billion. This is a 29%increase since 2020. It was also enough to beat its revenue expectations (2.1%) and EPS expectations (0.59%). The management team at ServiceNow also expects this growth to continue until 2022. They predict revenue growth of 26% for 2022.
This income came at the perfect time. ServiceNow is one of the few tech stocks that has gotten any green day recently.
Top Trending Stocks No. 1 Intel (Nasdaq: INTC)
Intel falls into a similar category as ServiceNow. It is one of the largest companies in the world and sells a wide variety of business solutions. Consequently, the slowdown in Intel’s business can be viewed as a bad sign for the overall economy. Fortunately, Intel has recently beaten revenues. It also helps us round out this list of top trending stocks.
Intel reported Q4 revenue of $ 19.45 billion. This is enough to beat revenue expectations (6.4%) and EPS expectations (19.75%). Notably, Intel is trading at a price-to-profit ratio of less than 10 so far. This means that it is valued incredibly cheaply for the amount of money it earns. Most Intel -sized companies trade with P/E ratios closer to 20 or 30.
One reason why Intel is trading cheap may be due to investor uncertainty. Intel recently acquired a new CEO (Pat Gelsinger) in February 2021. He is currently investing heavily to help Intel increase its production capacity. The company plans to reveal more detailed plans on Feb. 17, 2022. To read more about Intel, check out my Intel stock forecast.
I hope you found this article valuable in analyzing some of the top trending stocks to buy. Please base all investment decisions on your own due diligence.
About Teddy Stavetski
A University of Miami grad, Teddy studied marketing and finance while also playing four years on the football team. He has always had a passion for business and used his experience from several personal projects to become one of the top business writers on Fiverr.com. When he’s not hammering words on paper, you’ll see him hammering notes on the piano or traveling somewhere randomly.