The stock market is showing signs of a comeback with their all-time highs. This is coupled with the market betting on the Fed, which isn’t expected to increase interest rates further. While we cannot predict how high the bull market will go, we can look to the market leaders for overall return. So, let’s look at the top performers from the Dow Jones Industrial Average for stocks to buy during this bull market.
To get the list, I screened for the following criteria:
- Top YTD price percent change,
- YOY revenue growth should be at least 10%,
- YOY earnings growth is a minimum of 10%.
This lets me focus on the companies already performing well in terms of price percentage return and with positive financials that justify their growth. I then arranged the top three from the highest YTD price change to the lowest.
American Express Company (AXP)
Amex, which is short for American Express Company (NYSE:AXP), is a globally integrated payments company that offers customers various credit cards to different businesses, corporations, and consumers. American Express has four main operational segments.
- United States Consumer Services: handles AMEX travel and lifestyle services, including banking and non-card products.
- Commercial Services: payment and expense management, banking, and non-card financing products.
- International Card Services: offers travel and lifestyle services to international clients and manages international joint ventures with other businesses.
- Global Merchant and Network Services: provides marketing and data analytics.
AMEX’s strong brand recognition makes it one of the largest credit card issuers in the world. Its global footprint follows other card providers like Visa, Mastercard, and UnionPay.
American Express reported excellent financials in 2023. Billed business and total revenue grew 9% and 14% YOY, respectively. Net income also saw 11% growth, while diluted EPS increased by 14%. As a result of this top-tier performance, the company announced a 17% increase in quarterly dividends for 2024.
“We delivered record revenues and profits in 2023, building on the momentum we’ve achieved since we announced our growth plan in January 2022,” said Chairman and CEO Stephen J. Squeri.
The company expects similar growth in 2024, with revenue anticipated to increase by 9% to 11%. This excellent performance is shown in price action.
As we speak, AXP stock is up 28% YTD. Who knows how high it will get from here?
Amazon.com (AMZN)
The next on the list is part of the magnificent seven stocks that pushed the S&P 500 to all time highs. Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) is a tech behemoth with humble beginnings.
From an online marketplace for books to an identity synonymous with online shopping, its ventures are continuously developing, with its latest ventures focusing on AI, cloud computing, digital streaming, and quantum computing. With the strong demand for cloud and the growth of generative AI, Amazon stands at the frontline in the race for the top dog in the tech sector.
Amazon reported 12% YOY higher revenue in 2023. This good news came with another significant increase in operating income, from $12.2 billion to $36.9 billion. Each segment contributed to this growth, with all four (North America, International, AWS, and Consolidated) seeing double-digit increases.
The company’s profit turnaround is even more exciting, recovering from a $2.7 billion loss in 2022 to a $30.4 billion net income in 2023.
“This Q4 was a record-breaking Holiday shopping season and closed out a robust 2023 for Amazon,” said CEO Andy Jassy.
Amazon’s relentless pursuit of growing its business across different industries continues to pay off – so it’s no wonder AMZN stock is up 22% YTD. All this makes Amazon a likely contender if you’re looking for stocks to buy during a bull market.
Goldman Sachs (GS)
Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) is a global financial institution that operates in various segments of the financial markets:
- Asset & Wealth Management: caters to its client’s assets and product offerings to manage wealth.
- Global Banking & Markets: offers advisory, financing, hedging, and risk distribution services.
- Platform Solutions: provides credit cards and point-of-sale financing to its clients.
With its size and expertise, Goldman Sachs has grown to be a leader in the M&A space and beat other rivals. The company has had the largest market share in the M&A deals market for several consecutive years.
Goldman ended its first quarter with impressive results. Net revenues reached $14.21 billion, up 16% from the same quarter last year, and net earnings increased by 28%.
According to Goldman, most of its performance comes from the Global Banking & Markets segment, which has generated $9.73 billion in net revenues.
With a remarkable increase in net revenues across all segments and substantial growth, GS stock is up 19% YTD, and we may be seeing the signs of one of the best stocks to buy during the bull market.
On the date of publication, Rick Orford held long positions in AMZN. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
