Argus has published its latest Portfolio Selector, which features its popular Focus List. Each month, Director of Research Jim Kelleher, CFA, surveys the team of Argus Research industry analysts for their timeliest recommendations out of the company's fundamental universe of approximately 500 stocks. The Focus List typically includes 30 stocks: turnover is high, as Jim typically adds three or four new stocks per month. Below are the latest additions, all of which are rated BUY at Argus.

The Portfolio Selector features the Argus Focus List, a group of 30 "best idea" stocks generated and regularly updated by Argus' analysts and investment policy committee. It also includes the director of research’s monthly investment strategy column, stock recommendations and sector picks, economic forecasts, and an asset allocation model. This month, the Focus List additions are Laboratory Corp. Of America Hl (LH); Micron Technology Inc. (MU); Oracle Corp. (ORCL); Invesco Ltd (IVZ) and the Focus List deletions are Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD); American Express Co. (AXP); Crowdstrike Holdings Inc (CRWD); Unitedhealth Group Inc (UNH).

The 1Q24 EPS season gets under way later this week, launched, as usual by the earnings reports from the big banks. In the following week, the floodgates will open, with Consumer, Healthcare, and Industrial companies all releasing results. Tech and Energy companies generally report later in the EPS period, and then the Retailers wrap things up, likely in mid-to-late May. Consensus estimates for 1Q24 growth range from mid-single-digits to high-single-digits. This follows 10% growth in 4Q EPS, according to Refinitiv. Leading sectors for 1Q24 are expected to be Communication Services (+27% EPS growth year-over-year), Technology (+21%), Utilities (+19%), and Consumer Discretionary (+17%). On the downside, earnings from the Energy and Materials sectors are both expected to decline 24%. Healthcare earnings are expected to slip 5%. For 2024, our full-year earnings estimate is $247, implying high-single-digit growth from 2023 levels. Remember, companies often exceed earnings expectations. Last quarter, just over four-fifths of companies exceeded consensus expectations; and the average beat against expectations was above 7%. Over the preceding decade, about 75% of S&P 500 companies exceeded expectations; and those companies on average topped consensus quarterly EPS estimates by about 6%.

Oracle Corp. is one of the world's largest independent enterprise software companies, with annual revenues over $50 billion. Its software products include database, middleware, application, and cloud-based software designed for general business purposes and for specific industries. In addition, Oracle provides product upgrades, maintenance releases, and patches through license update agreements, as well as extensive product support. Oracle also provides server hardware. It expanded its presence in the healthcare market with the Cerner acquisition in 2022. The company has over 100,000 employees. About 48% of revenue comes from outside the U.S.