Hi there, Fools. I’m back to highlight a few stocks that are performing especially well of late. As a quick reminder, I do this because stocks with positive momentum are usually driven by an improvement in fundamentals; tend to keep rising over the short-term; and can often protect your portfolio against a larger stock market downturn.
So, without further ado, let’s get to this week’s list of winners. While the market has been tumbling in recent weeks, these gravity defying stocks have been doing just fine.
Corus of applause
Kicking things off is Corus Entertainment (TSX: CJR-B), whose shares are up 22% over the past month versus a loss of 6% for the S&P/TSX Composite Index.
The media company has struggled in recent years due to cable-cutting customers moving toward cheaper online streaming services, but there’s some turnaround light in sight. In its Q4 report last month, adjusted EPS came in at $0.19 — Bay Street consensus was $0.15 — as revenue stayed relatively flat at $379.1 million. Moreover, free cash flow clocked in at $96 million.
If management can keep lowering its restructuring and broadcasting costs — they declined 42% during the quarter — there’s a good chance the stock will keep climbing.
Golden selection
Next up, we have Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX)(NYSE: ABX), which is up an impressive 21% over the past month versus a 1% decline for the S&P/TSX Capped Materials Index.
Barrick’s run-up is no surprise, as investors usually flock to gold during times of market chaos. But quarterly results last week gave Bay Street even more reason to be optimistic. In Q3, Barrick posted adjusted EPS of $0.08, easily topping the consensus estimate of $0.05. And while revenue declined 8% to $1.84 billion, it also managed to beat expectations.
Looking ahead, management expects Q4 gold production of roughly 1.25 million ounces.
Given the recent surge in gold prices, now might be a good time to bet on Barrick’s upswing.
Portfolio construction
Rounding out our list of gravity-defiers is North American Construction Group (TSX: NOA)(NYSE: NOA), whose shares are up a solid 19% over the past month versus a loss of 7% for the S&P/TSX Capped Industrials Index.
The heavy construction company has been on fire in recent years, and it doesn’t look like the momentum is slowing. In its Q2 results released Wednesday, revenue increased 21% to $84.9 million. Meanwhile, adjusted operating margin expanded to 22.5% versus 16.4% in the year-ago period, reinforcing the synergistic upside of recent acquisitions.
Looking ahead, management thinks it could post 2019 EPS of $1.60. That would put the stock’s forward P/E at an attractive 9.3 — meaning that it’s cheap enough to keep climbing.
The Foolish bottom line
There you have it, folks: three stocks that are bucking the market’s recent downtrend. As always, don’t view them as formal recommendations. Instead, think of them as a starting point for further research.
Thorough research is always required, particularly when dealing with red-hot momentum plays that can pull back at any time.
Fool on.
