These were February's biggest stock winners. Here's where analysts see them going next
Some stocks on Wall Street that made sizable gains in February could still have more room to run, while others may be losing steam. The three major averages are on pace to end the month higher, even as the S & P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average have whipsawed from all-time highs hit last week. Some of the biggest gainers over the past month were artificial intelligence favorite Nvidia as well as Meta Platforms , both of which soared on the heels of better-than-expected quarterly results. What’s more is that analysts expect both technology stocks to climb even more. But other stocks that saw strong moves through February such as Constellation Energy and Axon Enterprise could be poised to cool from a steady run, as analyst price targets imply a strong downward move in the next 12 months. Here’s a look at the top 20 stock gainers in the past month and where consensus analyst price targets imply they’re heading next, based on the CNBC Pro Stock Screener tool. All consensus targets and stock moves are as of Feb. 28. Chipmaker Nvidia notched a 24% gain in the past month, and analyst consensus price targets call for nearly 9% upside ahead. The company reported a blowout fiscal fourth quarter that saw Nvidia beat Wall Street expectations on the top and bottom lines. Nvidia also noted a staggering 265% revenue increase from a year earlier, due in large part to a booming AI segment and demand for its chips. NVDA mountain 2024-02-01 Nvidia stock. Looking ahead, Citi’s Chris Danely is staying long on Nvidia, along with AMD and Broadcom, citing the burgeoning opportunity in AI. “The AI market continues to grow and our checks indicate [total addressable market] expansion with government agencies, universities and large/medium businesses all buying AI chips,” he wrote in a report Thursday. Meta also still has some room to grow, with analysts seeing another 4% upside in the next 12 months. Shares have gained nearly 21% over the past month. Meta’s better-than-expected fourth quarter , as well as plans to issue its first-ever dividend, helped supercharge the stock in February. META mountain 2024-02-01 Meta Platforms stock. Bank of America analyst Justin Post thinks Meta’s efforts to capture more of the generative AI opportunity, by both developing its own chips and computing products, can stoke further growth for shares ahead. He added that integrating AI and machine learning will help Meta expand user engagement as well as grow advertising revenue. For Constellation Energy , however, analysts posit the stock could slip more than 24% in the next 12 months. Over the past month, the stock popped more than 41%. CEG mountain 2024-02-01 Constellation Energy stock. Mizuho Securities analyst Anthony Crowdell said in a Feb. 21 report that Constellation’s growth prospects “remain more opaque” compared to peers in the renewable energy sector. That’s because new provisions in the Treasury Department’s update to its tax credit for clean hydrogen production may exclude legacy nuclear projects, which could affect Constellation, Crowdell wrote. He is neutral on the stock but raised his price target to $132 from $116.
