4 Top Consumer Stocks To Watch This Week
Consumer stocks are trending again these days. These stocks generally fall into either the consumer discretionary or consumer staple sectors. Consumer discretionary stocks are inherently cyclical investments, meaning they rise and fall with broader economic trends. These stocks were among the hardest hit when the coronavirus pandemic flipped the market last year. Fast forward to today, we see vaccines are starting to roll out, so there is optimism this year for the sector.
Consumer staples, on the other hand, are companies whose businesses are less sensitive to economic cycles, like manufacturing and distributors of food and beverages. For instance, this would include companies like Target (NYSE: TGT) and Kroger (NYSE: KR). These consumer stocks were arguably safer investments to make in the stock market during the pandemic. It could likely be due to more people spending time at home, with things like grocery shopping and essentials being a necessity.
Following months of declines, the U.S. consumer confidence index increased moderately in January. The index gives an idea of how the overall economy is performing. As things begin to look optimistic, will this be the right time for investors to jump into consumer stocks again? For these reasons, here is a list of top consumer stocks to consider buying or completely avoiding this week.
Top Consumer Stocks To Buy [Or Sell] Now
- China Liberal Education Holdings Limited (NASDAQ: CLEU)
- Fisker Inc. (NYSE: FSR)
- FAT Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: FAT)
- Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT)
China Liberal Education Holdings Limited
China Liberal Education or CLEU is an educational service provider that is based in Beijing. It aims to provide students in China with the tools to excel in a global environment. The company also provides a wide variety of educational services and products intended to address the needs of students and partnering schools. These would include joint academic programs, overseas study consulting, and technology consulting services. CLEU stock has been up by over 60% year-to-date.
In CLEU’s latest financials posted in December, the company posted revenue of $2.27 million, a 20.8% increase to a year earlier. Ms. Ngai Ngai Lam, Chairwoman, and CEO of China Liberal commented, “We are pleased with our results for the first half of 2020 as our revenue increased 20.8% compared to the same period of last year, which positions us well to meet or exceed our projections for fiscal 2020. Our focus has always been long-term growth as we execute on our business strategy, which calls for increasing market share, diversifying offerings, and expanding sales networks. Through leveraging our keen and accurate understanding of the market and customer demand, we independently developed and successfully launched AI-Space, an all-in-one machine designed to provide highly integrated visualization solutions for various application scenarios with strict reliability requirements.” With so many exciting things happening to the company, will you consider buying CLEU stock?
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Fisker Inc.
Fisker is an electric vehicle automaker that is based in California. The company was founded by Henrik Fisker, best known for designing luxury cars like the BMW Z8 and Aston Martin DB9. The company is revolutionizing the automotive industry by developing next-generation electric vehicles. The company’s shares have surged by over 20% since Friday. This came after Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jones initiated coverage of Fisker with an overweight rating and a price target of $27.
In a company presentation in December, it posted an update of its flagship Fisker Ocean. Fisker intends to build the most sustainable vehicle in the world, using a vegan interior, recycled materials, and an optional solar roof. Fisker Ocean will have a top-line all-electric mileage of 350 miles, competing with the likes of Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA). The company also says that It will also be design-focused and has an ‘asset-light’ business model. This would improve time to market because Fisker does not need to build and maintain a factory. Additionally, it will also lower the company’s break-even point. Rather than building its own factory, which could cost up to $1 billion in upfront costs, Fisker has contracted with auto supplier Magna International (NYSE: MGA) to build Ocean and its other upcoming models. With that in mind, will you consider adding FSR stock to your portfolio?
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FAT Brands Inc.
FAT Brands is a leading multi-brand restaurant franchising company. It strategically develops, markets, and acquires restaurant concepts around the globe. The company is behind popular brands like Fatburger and Johnny Rockets. It has over 700 restaurants worldwide. FAT Brands also boasts a strong brand pipeline for future acquisitions and has a scalable management platform. The company’s share price has been up by over 30% since Friday.
In the company’s third-quarter fiscal in November, FAT Brands reported total revenue of $4.1 million. Its systemwide sales growth was 52.8% quarter-over-quarter CEO Andy Wiederhorn had this to say, “Despite the pandemic, the third quarter proved to be transformative for FAT Brands as we successfully closed the acquisition of Johnny Rockets, completed the public offering of our Series B Preferred Stock, and expanded our whole-business securitization facility with the closing of the $40 million M-2 tranches of our Series 2020 facility. Johnny Rockets adds substantial scale to our platform with 325 locations around the world, 129 franchise partners, and $316 million in FY 2019 system-wide sales.” All things considered, will you have FAT stock as a top consumer stock to buy this week?
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Walmart Inc.
Last on this list is retail giant, Walmart. Walmart is one of the largest retailers in the world. Each week, over 265 million customers and members visit its over 11,400 stores in 26 countries and e-commerce websites. The company continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy, and employment opportunities. WMT stock currently trades at $144.47 as of Friday’s closing. The company will announce its fourth-quarter fiscal on Thursday.
In the company’s latest financials posted in November, Walmart reported total revenue of $134.7 billion, which is a 5.2% increase year-over-year. Its comparable sales increased by 6.4% over that same period, with strength across key categories like general merchandise, health, and wellness & food. The company also continues to enjoy substantial e-commerce sales growth, at 79% for the quarter. To top things off, its international net sales were an impressive $29.6 billion and had a consolidated operating income of $5.8 billion. With such impressive financials, will you consider owning WMT stock?
