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On Friday, the stock market was rattled by the highest inflation readings since 1981. This sent investors scrambling to find safe places from persistent price pressures. There are some stocks that might fit this bill. CNBC Pro was tasked with finding companies who are winning in the fight against inflation. The names that were able to increase profit margins in the past four quarters either by increasing prices, using market power to lower costs or both. We searched the S & P 500 for the following criteria: Margin momentum: Increased gross margins (year over year) each of the last four quarters Liked by Wall Street: A majority of analysts that cover the stock say it’s a buy Set to gain: Consensus stock price target on Wall Street is at least 10% higher from here We also set a minimum gross margin level of at least 30% to root out stocks that were growing margins off a severely depleted base level. To ensure that this list includes companies with solid margins, which are constantly growing stronger, we set a minimum gross margin level of at least 30%. Many of these stocks have under-the radar names and have dominant market positions that give them pricing power. Nvidia, Micron and Broadcom made the list despite rising rates and inflation. Micron is a well-liked stock on Wall Street, with 78% having a buy rating. Visa and Synchrony Financial were among the financial stocks included in the list. The portfolio includes energy stocks such as Pioneer Natural, Diamondback Energy and ConocoPhillips. This is because of rising oil and gas prices.
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