3 Stocks That Are Leaving Analysts Speechless

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Stocks leaving analysts speechless are companies that most of those on Wall Street rate as strong buy. While there isn’t an S&P 500 company that gets all strong buys across the board, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, a number of them have nearly perfect consensus among analysts’ opinions.

Of the index’s members, only seven have a majority of buy ratings, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Broadening the search to include all the stocks from the S&P Composite 1500, the number rises to 17, or 12 if you exclude the Magnificent 7. To make the cut, a stock must get a buy rating from 75% of the analysts covering it. Only quality needs apply.

Here are three stocks leaving analysts speechless.

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Uber Technologies (UBER)

The Uber logo is displayed on a smartphone on top of a map background.
The Uber logo is displayed on a smartphone on top of a map background.

Source: Proxima Studio / Shutterstock.com

Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER) has a buy rating from 90.2% of the 51 analysts covering its stock. Its target price is $90, 12.5% higher than where it’s currently trading.

If you made a bet on the ride hailing business a year ago, you’ve more than doubled your money, as it’s up nearly 162%.

Of course, Uber is much more than ride hailing. It also has Uber Eats and a freight business. The three segments: Mobility, Delivery and Freight generated $19.93 billion, $12.20 billion and $5.25 billion in revenue, respectively, in 2023. In total, its total value of transactions was $37.38 billion, an increase of 15% from 2022.

The only downside to its performance in 2023 was the 17% decline in freight revenue due to a challenging freight market. As a result of the steep drop, the segment lost money on an EBITDA basis in the past year.

In terms of profitability, Uber’s business overall got much stronger in 2023, with EBITDA being up $618 million YoY. Adjusted EBITDA margin as a percentage of Gross Bookings was 3.4%, up from 2.2% in Q4 2022.

Roth Capital Partners analyst Rohit Kolkarni likes the company’s $7 billion share repurchase program.

“Uber’s buyback authorization announcement was ‘surprisingly large,’ Kulkarni said. ‘We see this as a sign of confidence in the company’s ability to predict profitable growth, generate significant cash flows, and control incremental dilution,’” CNBC reported in February.

Mastercard (MA)

A close-up shot of Mastercard credit or debit cards.
A close-up shot of Mastercard credit or debit cards.

Source: Alexander Yakimov / Shutterstock.com

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) has a buy rating from 87.5% of the 40 analysts covering its stock. Its target price is $510, 6% higher than where it’s currently trading.

Except for several corrections over the past five years, its 105% gain has been relatively pain-free for its long-time shareholders. It also managed to outperform its Visa (NYSE:V), its biggest rival, by 24 percentage points.