AMD Stock, AI Play And New S&P 500 Member Lead 5 Stocks Near Buy Points

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), which is trying to up its AI game to compete against Nvidia (NVDA), leads this weekend’s watch list of five stocks near buy points. Dynatrace‘s (DT) software platform monitors IT networks, predicting and resolving issues with AI and automation. Joining AMD stock and DT are Marriott International (MAR), Las Vegas Sands (LVS) and new S&P 500 member Insulet (PODD), which makes body-worn, tubeless insulin pumps.

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LVS, whose casino properties in Macau and Singapore are recovering after the dropping of Covid restrictions, is part of the IBD Leaderboard portfolio of elite stocks. DT stock is part of the flagship IBD 50 list of leading growth stocks, as well as a new addition to SwingTrader’s portfolio.

The S&P 500 rallied strongly off its 50-day moving average in Friday stock market action. That kept the rally intact after the Federal Reserve signaled a pause in rate hikes on Wednesday. But the economic backdrop remains a concern, and bank troubles and the debt ceiling may add to volatility. So be sure to read IBD’s The Big Picture every day to stay in sync with the market direction and what it means for your trading decisions.

AMD Stock

AMD stock had a volatile week, diving 9% on Wednesday after posting smaller-than-expected declines in quarterly earnings and revenue, but issuing a below-consensus sales outlook for Q2. Still, AMD signaled a second-half acceleration led by chips for data centers as it ramps up new offerings.

On Thursday, AMD stock bounced 6% after Bloomberg reported a major collaboration on AI chips with Microsoft. While the partnership didn’t look quite as important after Microsoft challenged the Bloomberg story, AMD stock added 3.7% to 89.84 on Friday, regaining its 50-day line.

A decisive move past the 50-day could create an early entry opportunity. Look for AMD stock to reach 91.74, 10 cents above Thursday’s high, to make it a potential buy. AMD stock has an official buy point of 102.53 from a six-week consolidation, according to a MarketSmith analysis.

DT Stock

DT stock was featured as IBD Stock Of The Day on Thursday. The piece highlighted analysts’ view that the artificial intelligence and automation capabilities of its Grail platform give Dynatrace an edge over competition such as Datadog (DDOG) and Cisco Systems (CSCO).

Those capabilities are in high demand currently as companies try to optimize their cloud spending amid a difficult operating environment for tech firms. That optimization has weighed on the results of big cloud companies such as Amazon’s AWS.

DT stock rose 0.7% on Friday to 43.96, after popping Thursday on Datadog earnings. With last week’s rally off its 50-day line, breaking a trend line from its Feb. 7 recent peak and clearing its 43.42 April 19 high, DT stock is actionable now.

The official buy point from a 13-week cup base is 48.10, but given the uncertain market backdrop, that high of an entry may not be optimal.

Dynatrace was added to the S&P MidCap 400 index last September.

MAR Stock

Marriott International booked a comfortable earnings beat on Tuesday, with EPS up 67% to $2.09 and revenue rising 34% to $5.615 billion. Marriott hiked its 2023 EPS outlook to a range of $7.97-$8.42 from $7.23-$7.91. Analysts had been forecasting $7.74.

Bernstein analyst Richard Clarke hiked his price target for MAR stock to 204 from 178, raising his rating to outperform. He highlighted Marriott’s lead in revenue per available room and potential net unit growth acceleration, saying MAR stock’s discount to Hilton (HLT) is unwarranted.

MAR stock rallied 5% on earnings Tuesday, then hit resistance as it tested a 181.65 buy point from a 54-week-long cup-with-handle base. The 12-week handle is long enough on its own to be considered a base.

Investors could have viewed 175.21, cleared Tuesday, as either an early entry or a handle buy point within the 12-week consolidation.

On a weekly chart, MAR stock’s relative strength line, the blue line in IBD charts that tracks its progress vs. the S&P 500, hit a new high over the past week.

Marriott and other travel stocks have been tricky over the past year or more, signaling bullish moves and then falling back.

LVS Stock

Las Vegas Sands stock jumped into buy range on April 20 following its Q1 earnings report. More positive news about travel and gaming trends following the end of China’s Covid lockdown has continued to give LVS stock a lift.

Early last week, LVS stock touched a two-year high after Macau officials reported that gaming revenue in April vaulted 450% from a year ago to 14.72 billion patacas, or $1.82 billion — the highest level since before the coronavirus pandemic.

Las Vegas Sands has five properties in Macau and one in Singapore.

On Friday, LVS stock dipped 0.1% to 61.65, down 3.45% for the week. LVS stock has a 60.40 buy point from a cup-with-handle base. The buy zone runs through 63.42.

PODD Stock

Insulet smashed Q1 earnings estimates after Thursday’s close, with adjusted EPS of 34 cents vs. forecasts of 11 cents, though down from 40 cents a year ago. Revenue grew 21% to $358.1 million vs. estimates of $330.9 million. Trends are stronger than they appear because the results included a 98% drop in noncore drug-delivery revenue.

Insulet hiked its 2023 growth outlook to 18%-22% from 14%-19%. Sales of Omnipod insulin pumps in the U.S. are seen rising 27%-31%, up from the earlier 21%-26% outlook.

Baird analyst Jeff Johnson hiked his price target for PODD stock to 3750 from 350, keeping an outperform rating, citing domestic market-share gains and conservative guidance.

PODD stock rose 2% to 328.76 on Friday. PODD stock is in buy range above a 320.10 buy point, 10 cents above the Nov. 4 high. Before the move on earnings, PODD stock had etched out a five-weeks-tight pattern, with gains or losses of no more than 1.5%. That offers a 328.97 entry.

Insulet replaced SVB Financial Group in the S&P 500 in March.

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