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HEXO (NYSE: HEXO) released its earnings report for the third quarter of fiscal year 2020 on June 11, and the pot grower managed to impress investors for a change. During this quarter, HEXO's net revenue of 22.1 million Canadian dollars increased by 70% year-over-year and 30% se

We can sometimes overcomplicate investing. But it can -- and should -- be pretty simple. Find a well-run company with great growth prospects. Buy the stock. And sit back while it appreciates over the long run. Investors looking for income only have to add one more step: Make sur

Although around 35 million people are still waiting for their first coronavirus stimulus check, the majority of Americans have now received COVID-19 payments authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). Many have already spent this money, lar

Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) is living the dream that most biotechs aspire to achieve. In late 2018, the company pulled off what was at the time the biggest initial public offering (IPO) in biotech history. Its messenger RNA technology captured the imaginations -- and pocketbooks -- o

The COVID-19 crisis has had a huge economic impact ever since U.S. case numbers started climbing in March. Not only have millions of Americans lost their jobs in its wake, but investment and retirement plan portfolios have taken their share of beatings.

Do you think the stock market could crash again? Join the club. A Bank of America survey of 200 fund managers in May found that over two-thirds of them see the current rebound as only a "bear market rally."

There's little question that we're going to be talking about 2020 for a long time to come. The unprecedented coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has completely upended societal norms and ravaged the economic landscape. In a four-month stretch, the unemployment rate has

After a prolonged bull rally, volatility once again rules the markets. The S&P 500 finished the week in the green, but Friday June 19’s session saw dramatic swings due to technical factors as well as alarming headlines related to a COVID-19 resurgence and a slowdown in the economic recovery.  

Against this backdrop, what investors want, what will really bring back the animal spirits of the marketplace, is long-term stability. They aren’t looking to day trade; they are looking to park their money and watch it grow. Fiscal stimulus policies have pushed interest rates down to near zero. Treasury bonds are yielding less than 1%. This leaves the stock market. Fortunately, Wall Street pros believe compelling plays are still out there. 

Today, we’ve pulled up three stocks from the TipRanks database that have sparked the interest of Wall Street’s analysts. These are stocks that have impressed the analysts, who have responded by noting their solid upside potential and clear investment value for the long haul, with each ticker earning a “Strong Buy” consensus rating. For all three, an analyst has noted the long-term potential in the headline. Let’s find out why they’re so compelling. 

Sportsman’s Warehouse (SPWH) 

Based in Utah, Sportsman’s Warehouse operates 95 retail locations in 25 states. The chain specializes in outdoor gear and clothing, for a clientele heavily involved in camping, fishing, hunting, and shooting. 

The first thing to note, when assessing SPWH as an investment, is the recent stock performance. SPWH shares have climbed an astounding 145% over the last three months. The stock does not pay a dividend, but the recent share appreciation delivers a fine return. 

The next thing to note is that the company beat the forecast in its most recent quarterly report. This win came despite it being an outdoor apparel and equipment chain during the lockdowns of recent months. Some points to note: SPWH operates in rural regions, where the coronavirus pandemic was less severe, and the calendar Q2 is, for seasonal reasons, the company’s slowest. In this most recent quarter, SPWH posted a 1-cent profit instead of the 6-cent loss expected. 

5-star analyst Ryan Sigdahl, of Craig-Hallum, calls SPWH in his headline, “One Of The Best Positioned Retailers In The Near And Long Term.” Going into detail, he elaborates: “We believe SPWH is one of the best positioned specialty retailers in the current environment (COVID and social unrest) as it has spurred demand for necessities and personal protection, but it is also one of the best positioned over the medium term with several key competitors de-emphasizing/exiting the ‘hunting’ category (market share opportunity) and increased participation in outdoor recreation. Shelter-in-place restrictions have driven increased interest in camping, hiking and fishing, and we don’t think these trends will change anytime soon.” 

Sigdahl’s Buy rating on the shares is supported by his new $16 price target, which was raised from $12. This indicates confidence in a robust 28% upside potential for the coming year. (To watch Sigdahl’s track record, click here) 

With 4 Buy ratings, the Strong Buy analyst consensus view on SPWH is unanimous. The stock has risen sharply in recent weeks, but the analysts have set their sights higher, and see room for continued growth. Shares are selling for $12.48 apiece, and the average price target of $14.88 implies a one-year upside potential of 19%. (See Sportsman’s Warehouse stock analysis on TipRanks) 

Ciena (CIEN) 

Next up is a telecom company, the world leader in optical connectivity. Ciena is a major name in networking equipment and software services. The company boasts an $8.2 billion market cap, over 2,000 patents, and 1,500 customers, as well as a presence in 35 countries. Ciena’s products include software for analytics and intelligence, control and automations, and programmable infrastructure. 

This is another company that has strongly outperformed the markets in recent months. CIEN shares are up 49% over the last three months, gaining on the company’s usefulness as millions of workers switched to remote work and telecommuting. Like many companies, Ciena did see a dip in Q1 earnings, but that was mitigated by two related points: calendar Q1 is the lowest earning quarter in the company’s cycle, and earnings bounced back strongly in Q2. That most recent quarter showed non-GAAP profits of 76 cents per share, which was well above the estimates. 

Covering the stock for J.P. Morgan, 4-star analyst Samik Chatterjee calls it an “attractive long-term investment,” and rates CIEN a Buy. His $63 price target, raised from $53, implies an upside potential of 17% for the coming 12 months. (To watch Chatterjee’s track record, click here)  

Fleshing out his opinion, Chatterjee writes, “We recommend CIEN shares as our top pick within Networking Equipment coverage given favorable positioning with: 1) secular growth for the underlying optical industry levered to growing bandwidth needs; 2) benefit from accelerating bandwidth needs in a post-COVID-19 normal; 3) continued share wins from well-established technology leadership…” 

CIEN shares have 16 recent analyst reviews, including 12 Buys and 4 Holds, giving the stock a Strong Buy consensus rating. Rapid share appreciation recently has pushed the trading price close to the price target – but the stock still shows a healthy 14% upside potential. Shares are trading for $53.62, and the average price target is $61.27. (See Ciena stock analysis on TipRanks) 

Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) 

Last on our list, Science Applications, is a Washington DC consulting firm and government contractor. Like all of the ‘Beltway Bandits,’ SAIC is heavily dependent on the Federal government for revenues; fortunately for the company, that’s a well that typically does not run dry. SAIC provides engineering, scientific, and technology expertise to governmental service agencies.  

While shares are down since the start of 2020, SAIC has gained 54% over the last three months. 

Aside from share appreciation, SAIC also offers investors a reliable dividend payment. The company recently declared its next payment, at 37 cents per share, to go out in July. SAIC has been keeping the dividend reliable, and slowly growing the payment, for the past seven years. The current payment provides a yield of 1.8%. While this doesn’t sound like much, it beats the tech sector peer average by a full half-percentage point. 

SAIC has been able to weather the coronavirus storm, at least in part by winning several new US government contracts in recent months. The company won a $655 million contract with the Air Force, and a $325 million contract with the Department of Homeland Security, in February. Both contracts are IDIQ – indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity. In May, the company signed a $650 million national security contract, and earlier this month, it signed a contract for torpedo testing with the US Navy. 

The run of new contracts gives SAIC a stable foundation going forward, which has not escaped the notice of the analysts. Josh Sullivan, 5-star analyst with Benchmark, says that the “Record IDIQ Contracts Supports Long-term,” and in his comments writes, “2021 FCF outlook improved to $500 million from $450 million… the record IDIQ wins in the quarter supports the long-term momentum…” 

Sullivan puts a Buy rating on SAIC, with a $105 price target to suggest room for 31% upside potential. (To watch Sullivan’s track record, click here) 

8 Buy ratings and just a single Hold give SAIC shares a Strong Buy from the analyst consensus. The average price target is an even $100, and indicates an upside potential of 24% for the coming year. (See Science Applications International stock analysis on TipRanks)

Stocks posted modest gains last week as major parts of the U.S. economy reopened following COVID-19 shutdowns. Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) and the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) gained roughly 2%, and the indexes are down only modestly so far in 2020.

Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) has long been an investor favorite for a few reasons. In December, the company increased its dividend for 2020 by 9.8%, which now yields 3.2%. Bristol Myers has a long and reliable history of increasing its dividend, having done so four times in

Warnings abound about impending Social Security benefit cuts if the program's finances aren't fixed in the coming years. While an automatic benefit cut could become necessary in 2035 when the program's trust fund runs dry, action on the part of lawmakers to fix this issue doesn'

YouTube had a head start in streaming. The service was founded in the mid-2000s and hit the big time when it was acquired by tech giant Google -- now called Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) -- in 2006. YouTube was here before services like Netflix's streaming service and

Compound overtook MakerDAO Saturday as the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol with the most value locked.

As of June 20, Compound has $484 million in cryptocurrency locked, while MakerDAO has $481 million, according to DeFi Pulse. The COMP token is trading at $220.25 as of this writing, according to CoinGecko. It’s all time high price has been $231.

On June 15, Compound users began earning the application’s new governance token, COMP, for all cryptocurrency lent to others on the app and also for all borrowed. Users rushed to get the first disbursements of COMP because the liquid supply on the market is so limited.

Related: Market Wrap: Bitcoin Spot Volumes Are Weak While Options and DeFi Strengthen

This drove many users to supply Compound with considerably more capital, and in most cases, for those users to turn around and borrow against that capital, so they could earn COMP both for borrowing and lending.

To date, MakerDAO has been the dominant platform in DeFi since DeFi Pulse began, so much so that the website has tracked “Maker Dominance,” the percent of all value locked in DeFi that’s held by MakerDAO. The site now lists “Compound Dominance,” which stands at 34.39%.

Last Sunday, before COMP distribution began, there was $97.7 million on Compound and $480.5 million on MakerDAO.

It will take four years for the token supply allocated for users to be completely distributed. Most tokens are held by the founders, team and investors, though in most cases this supply is subject to a vesting period. Compound’s most recent funding round was $25 million led by Andreessen Horowitz.

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Americans aren't feeling very confident about the state of the stock market. In fact, according to a report from Allianz for Life conducted at the end of May, around 54% of respondents feared the market hadn't yet hit bottom.

Every investor hopes the stock market will bring them life-changing wealth.

Preparing for retirement can be stressful and complicated for workers, but it's a necessity. One way to make sure you're as ready as you can be is to listen to the advice of current retirees regarding what's important. 

The Bank of Thailand is developing a prototype payments system which would rely on a central bank digital currency (CBDC). 

The central bank announced Thursday that it would target businesses, and would design a payment system that could be integrated with the procurement and financial management system of Siam Cement Group, Thailand’s oldest cement manufacturer, and its suppliers. 

The bank said the digital currency prototype is being developed by Digital Ventures, a fintech-facing venture capital wing of the Siam Commercial Bank that invested in Ripple in 2016.

Related: US Fed Chair Says Private Entities Should Not Help Design Central Bank Digital Currencies

According to the statement, the project will also include a feasibility study on the payments system. The CBDC project will begin next month and is expected to conclude by the end of the year. 

“The project marks an important step in broadening CBDC’s scope and adoption to wider audiences, starting with large corporates,” said the press release published on the Bank of Thailand’s website.

The Bank of Thailand said that it expects the CBDC prototype to build on the knowledge put together under Project Inthanon. Inthanon was launched in 2018, and is a collaborative project between the Bank of Thailand, and eight leading Thai financial institutions, to bolster technological readiness in Thailand’s financial sector. 

Bank of Thailand’s prototype comes at a time when central banks across the world have been toying with the idea of CBDCs. A recent job posting on the Bank of Canada’s website revealed the Candaian central bank’s plan to develop a CBDC, and a report from April showed that one of China’s major state-owned banks was conducting trials on a test interface developed for the country’s CBDC. 

Related Stories

• Thailand to Raise $6.4M With Sale of Blockchain-Based Bonds
• In the Wildcat Era of Stablecoins, Commercial Banks Have New Rails to Ride
• Canada’s Central Bank Is Serious About Designing a CBDC, Job Posting Reveals

Over the past month or so, U.S. air travel demand has started to recover in a meaningful way from the COVID-19 pandemic. Of course, demand remains far below normal levels. This Wednesday, the TSA screened just 441,829 passengers: 17.3% of the number screened a year ago. Yet that

There's no other retirement savings vehicle quite like the Roth IRA. The Roth IRA rewards those willing to accept deferred gratification, as it doesn't give you an upfront tax break but gives you tax-free treatment of your income and gains as long as you keep your investments in

Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) has inked a deal to acquire Mapillary, a Swedish company building a global street-level imagery platform.