Why American Eagle Outfitters (AEO), Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp (CTSH) and ON Semiconductor Corp (ON) Are 3 of Today’s Best Stocks

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U.S. markets began the new week with a modest bounce, as traders looked ahead optimistically to this Friday’s employment report, as well as keying in on what several central bank members will have to say about interest rates in upcoming speeches. Traders seem to be looking for economic news that is slightly positive — such as a slightly better-than-expected 2.1% gain in U.S. factory orders — but not so strong as to initiate a rate hike within the near future.

Why American Eagle Outfitters (AEO), Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp (CTSH) and ON Semiconductor Corp (ON) Are 3 of Today's Best StocksThe S&P 500 was up 0.3% to near all-time highs, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2% and the Nasdaq tacked on 0.2% as well. Blazing the way forward were American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO), Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp (NASDAQ:CTSH) and ON Semiconductor Corp (NASDAQ:ON), which finished Monday among the day’s best stocks.

American Eagle Outfitters (AEO)

American Eagle pushed more than 3% higher today after RBC Capital Markets initiated coverage on the clothing and accessories retailer with an “outperform” rating and a $20 price target.

Several other analysts have also initiated coverage or raised their price targets recently on AEO stock, including Susquehanna and Guggenheim.

AEO stock has been steadily rising for months, up about 40% since bottoming in early December.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp (CTSH)

CTSH stock blasted 6% higher after reporting a first-quarter earnings beat. Cognizant earned 71 cents per share, topping analyst forecasts by a penny, and revenues that grew 20% year-over-year to $2.91 billion just beat estimates for $2.89 billion.

Cognizant also raised its full-year guidance for revenue of at least $12.24 billion, up from $12.21 billion.

Two analysts — one from William Blair and one from JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) — both reiterated “outperform” ratings on CTSH stock.

Monday’s gains helped stop roughly two months of bleeding since shares peaked around $64 in March.

ON Semiconductor Corp (ON)

ON stock was electric today, rising well more than 5% after reporting its own Q1 beat. Earnings of 20 cents per share were ahead of analysts’ estimates for 17 cents a share. Revenue was up 23.3% year-over-year to $870.8 million, beating the consensus estimate of $860.82 million.

In addition, ON Semiconductor CEO Keith Jackson announced that the company has now repurchased company stock with an approximate value of $120 million, over the first four months of the repurchase program, which is part of a four-year plan to repurchase $1 billion. That should support ON stock quite nicely going forward.

ON stock, which gapped back above the 50-day moving average today, is up about 60% since last December.

As of this writing, Ethan Roberts does not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

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Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2015/05/american-eagle-outfitters-aeo-cognizant-technology-solutions-corp-ctsh-semiconductor-corp-3-todays-best-stocks/.

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