Top 3 Energy Stocks to Buy Now As Oil Hits Recent Highs

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&l;img class=&q;dam-image getty size-large wp-image-943813452&q; src=&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/dam/imageserve/943813452/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q; data-height=&q;684&q; data-width=&q;960&q;&g; MIAMI, FL - APRIL 09: A gas pump nozzle is seen at a gas station as reports indicate that the price of gas continues to rise on April 9, 2018 in Miami, Florida. AAA forecasts the national gas price average will be as much as $2.70/gallon this spring and summer. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400&q;&g;With the holiday weekend quickly approaching, rising gas prices will impact each and every one of us. Oil prices spiked on the news of the OPEC deal, rising by more than 3% on Tuesday, June 26th with WTI being back above $70 per barrel for the first time in over a month. &l;/span&g;&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400&q;&g;This&l;/span&g;&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400&q;&g; does not bode well for the Trump administration or everyday consumers of gasoline.&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400&q;&g;The U.S. Energy Information Administration stated that, &a;ldquo;historically, retail gasoline prices tend to gradually rise in the spring and peak in late summer when people drive more frequently&a;rdquo;. Increased demand with the same amount of supply drives up prices and with the demand for gasoline reaching highs in summer months, the prices have followed suit. A change had to be made to stop the rising prices of oil globally, and OPEC seemed to have an answer.&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400&q;&g;On Friday, June 22, OPEC tried to offset the rise in price and agreed to increase production to pump 1 million extra barrels of crude oil per day. This move should have helped contain the recent rise in global energy prices but instead had the unanticipated effect of a price increase. The production increase ended up being 600,000 barrels instead of the anticipated 1 million, which was shy of how much the market was expecting. According to the Wall Street Journal, this difference is an outcome of some OPEC members being unable to sufficiently boost crude oil production such as Venezuela, Iran and Iraq.&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400&q;&g;The OPEC deal is on investors minds, but they must not forget the impact of&a;nbsp;the U.S. opting out of the Iran deal in early May. On May 23, Democratic senate leader Chuck Schumer stated that President Trump&a;rsquo;s decision to pull out of the Iran deal has led to higher oil prices and have directly hurt middle and lower class consumers. On Tuesday June 26th, &l;/span&g;&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400&q;&g;the U.S. State Department urged companies to cut Iranian crude oil imports to zero by November 4th backed by the threat of U.S. sanctions. The combination of the OPEC deal and Iran &l;/span&g;&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400&q;&g;sanctions have driven oil to recent highs.&l;/span&g;&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400&q;&g;

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&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400&q;&g;On the back of oil hitting new levels, we have listed some of our top energy stocks. We believe these three stocks have strong fundamentals. Two of the stocks, Penn Virginia and Carrizo, have the potential to benefit from rising energy prices. Delek, as a refiner, can make a profit regardless of the volatility in the oil industry and is a good hedge if the price of oil retreats going into the fall months. &l;/span&g;

&l;span&g;The foundation of our recommendations is to identify companies that perform best and worst on the collective basis of value, growth, EPS revisions, profitability, and LT momentum. The CressCap systematic trading model gathers data daily on 6,500 companies globally and assigns academic grades (A - F) for each financial metric. These grades are scored relative to its region/sector.&l;/span&g;

&l;img class=&q;size-large wp-image-289&q; src=&q;http://blogs-images.forbes.com/stevencress/files/2018/06/Screen-Shot-2018-06-28-at-6.03.21-AM-1200x533.jpg?width=960&q; alt=&q;&q; data-height=&q;533&q; data-width=&q;1200&q;&g; Expand to see how our directional recommendations are computed: CressCap uses a multi-factor model to select the best-performing stocks. Our data is updated daily and the academic grades (A - F) for each financial metric are scored and ranked on a regional/sector relative basis. The foundation of our recommendations is to identify companies that possess the collective investment style of Value, Growth, EPS Revisions, Profitability and LT Momentum. Academic grades of C or better indicate that each metric scores well compared to the peer sector

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&l;b&g;Carrizo Oil &a;amp; Gas, Inc. &l;/b&g;&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400&q;&g;(CRZO-US):&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400&q;&g;Carrizo Oil &a;amp; Gas, Inc. is a Houston-based energy company actively engaged in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas from resource plays located in the United States. This company is a buy based on its financial metrics, backed by strong fundamentals&l;/span&g;&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400&q;&g;. The strengths of this stock include its impressive EPS revisions grade of A-, along with its strong performance in growth with the 2 year forward EPS growth rate crushing sector performance at 281.78% compared to sector 1.86%. The momentum is a given a CressCap grade of A, with a notable performance in its long term momentum far outperforming the sector at 70.24% to 18.14%. In a recent interview with CNBC, Carrizo CEO Chip Johnson stated that in the past year, as of June 2018, Carrizo has brought down its leverage to 2.6x and predicts that it will be down to 2x in early 2019. He also emphasized that the Chinese ramping up sanctions about trading with the United States does not worry him, because the world always needs oil, and if he doesn&a;rsquo;t sell it to China, it will sell in Europe. By moving the company to Texas, it faces less trouble with regulations as it previously had because it is not in populated area. The outlook on the stock is favorable, with a YTD performance up 30.87%. We view this stock as a good opportunity in the energy sector.&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400&q;&g;&l;b&g;Delek US Holdings, Inc.&l;/b&g;&l;/span&g;&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400&q;&g;&a;nbsp;(DK-US)&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400&q;&g;Delek US Holdings, Inc. is a Tennessee based downstream energy company with assets in petroleum refining, logistics, convenience store retailing, asphalt and renewables. The value of this company is favorable with an A- ranking. The P/Sales ratio suggests that the stock is trading cheaply at .50 compared to the sector at 2.56. Financial analysts have a promising outlook on this company, with EPS revisions grade of A-, with a conclusion that the EPS revisions are increasing favorably. The poor profitability score of this stock is due to its less than exciting performance in both EBIT and operating margin, but in our eyes, this is offset by its impressive performance in both ROI and ROE, both producing CressCap grades of A-. This company has as great value, accompanied by strong fundamentals, and should be viewed as a great opportunity in the energy sector to investors.&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400&q;&g;&l;b&g;Penn Virginia Corporation&l;/b&g;&l;/span&g;&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400&q;&g;&a;nbsp;(PVAC-US):&l;/span&g;

&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400&q;&g;The Penn &l;/span&g;&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400&q;&g;Virginia Corporation is an independent oil and gas company engaged in the onshore exploration, development and production of oil, NGLs and natural gas. The company is in the 94% sector percentile and its EPS revisions continue to be revised higher for FY1 and FY2. CressCap currently has a buy recommendation on this stock, accompanied by an A+ grade and impressive financial metrics. Profitability for this stock looks strong, with both the operating and EBIT margin outperforming the sector at 64.38 to 44.85 and 34.64 to 12.36 respectively. The momentum of this stock looks promising, with the short-term, mid-term and long-term price momentum all outperforming the sector, receiving a CressCap grade of A or higher. The current P/E FY1 ratio for this stock is 9.18 compared to the sector at 16.71, which suggests that the stock is very undervalued. The 2 year forward sales growth rate is given a CressCap grade of A+, reflecting the company&a;rsquo;s impressive growth, outperforming the sector, 256.67% to 34.29% respectively.&a;nbsp;&l;span&g;The CressCap grade of A+ for momentum is also notable with the price increase of the stock at 134.81% over the past 52 weeks.&l;/span&g;&a;nbsp;The company&a;rsquo;s strong financial metrics, coupled with its continued increase in price, make this stock a good buy in the eyes of financial analysts.&l;/span&g;

&l;b&g;Written By: Steven Cress (&l;/b&g;&l;a href=&q;mailto:steven.cress@cresscap.com&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;nofollow noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;&l;b&g;steven.cress@cresscap.com&l;/b&g;&l;/a&g;&l;b&g;) &l;/b&g;

&l;span&g;For additional information, feel free to send questions to&a;nbsp;&l;a href=&q;mailto:info@cresscap.com&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;nofollow noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;info@cresscap.com&l;/a&g;&a;nbsp;or view our website&a;nbsp;&l;/span&g;&l;a href=&q;http://www.cresscap.com/&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;nofollow noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;&l;span&g;www.cresscap.com&l;/span&g;&l;/a&g;&l;span&g;. Please&a;nbsp;&l;/span&g;&l;a href=&q;https://cresscap.com/disclaimer/&q; target=&q;_blank&q; rel=&q;nofollow noopener noreferrer&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;&l;span&g;click here&l;/span&g;&l;/a&g;&l;span&g;&a;nbsp;to view CressCap Investment Research&a;rsquo;s full disclaimer.&l;/span&g;&l;/p&g;

Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Own Right Now

tags:PHH,SLCA,CERS,BG,PTNR,YUM,ATRI,COT,OSUR,KOSS,

Kellogg, the food manufacturer that owns Pringles and Pop-Tarts, confirmed Tuesday that it will discontinue advertising on Breitbart.com, the far-right news and commentary site that was formerly run by a top aide of President-elect�Donald Trump, Steve Bannon.

The site has come under fire on social media in recent days as consumers, angered at what they say is its racist, sexist and anti-Semitic content, publicly name its advertisers. Bannon worked as executive chairman of Breitbart News�until he left to run Trump's campaign. He was scheduled to return to Breitbart, but earlier this month, Trump named Bannon his chief strategist, stirring more of the site's critics to call out its content and appeal to its advertisers.

"We regularly work with our media buying partners to ensure our ads do not appear on sites that aren't aligned with our values as a company,"�Kellogg spokesperson�Kris Charles in a statement. "This involves reviewing websites where ads could potentially be placed using filtering technology to assess site content. As you can imagine, there is a very large volume of websites, so occasionally something is inadvertently missed. In this case, we learned from consumers that ads were placed on Breitbart.com and decided to discontinue advertising there."

Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: PHH Corp(PHH)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

  Orix (NYSE: IX) and PHH (NYSE:PHH) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends, risk and institutional ownership.

• [By Max Byerly]

  PHH (NYSE:PHH) is scheduled to be announcing its earnings results after the market closes on Tuesday, May 8th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of ($0.94) per share for the quarter.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Media headlines about PHH (NYSE:PHH) have been trending somewhat positive recently, Accern Sentiment reports. Accern rates the sentiment of media coverage by monitoring more than twenty million blog and news sources. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of -1 to 1, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. PHH earned a news impact score of 0.17 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave news coverage about the credit services provider an impact score of 45.9794154743809 out of 100, indicating that recent media coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the company’s share price in the next few days.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  PHH (NYSE: PHH) and Orix (NYSE:IX) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc.(SLCA)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tyler Crowe]

  U.S. Silica Holdings (NYSE:SLCA) has long been the standout company in the frack sand business. Its size and financial strength allowed it to weather the drop in oil prices better than its peers and positioned it well for the recent growth phase. This past quarter, the company expanded its universe by acquiring another mineral mining business, but it is taking some risk in doing this. Thankfully, demand for frack sand remains high, as evidenced by the company's most recent earnings results.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  U.S. Silica (NYSE: SLCA) and Fairmount Santrol (NYSE:FMSA) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation and dividends.

• [By Lisa Levin] Companies Reporting Before The Bell United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $1.51 per share on revenue of $14.62 billion. The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $0.46 per share on revenue of $7.31 billion. Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $2.07 per share on revenue of $11.93 billion. Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $1.11 per share on revenue of $31.22 billion. Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $3.42 per share on revenue of $11.28 billion. The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE: SHW) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $3.15 per share on revenue of $3.94 billion. Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $5.92 per share on revenue of $3.15 billion. 3M Company (NYSE: MMM) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $2.52 per share on revenue of $8.26 billion. JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ: JBLU) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $0.2 per share on revenue of $1.75 billion. Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $1.13 per share on revenue of $5.49 billion. Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE: HOG) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $0.88 per share on revenue of $1.25 billion. Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $0.3 per share on revenue of $2.50 billion. Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $1.88 per share on revenue of $13.28 billion. The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $2.77 per share on revenue of $6.75 billion. Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $0.07 per share on revenue of $2.16 billion. PACCAR Inc (NASDAQ: PCAR) is projected to
• [By Max Byerly]

  Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of U.S. Silica Holdings Inc (NYSE:SLCA) by 78.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,339 shares of the mining company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,045 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in U.S. Silica were worth $698,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: Cerus Corporation(CERS)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) SVP Carol Moore sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.72, for a total value of $504,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 46,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $311,559.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

• [By Lisa Levin] Gainers Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: LTRPA) shares jumped 31.6 percent to $12.18 following TripAdvisor Q1 earnings beat. ZAGG Inc (NASDAQ: ZAGG) rose 26.5 percent to $14.55 after the company posted better-than-expected Q1 earnings. OPKO Health, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPK) shares gained 25 percent to $4.0234 following Q1 beat. Axon Enterprise, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAXN) jumped 23.5 percent to $55.12 following a big Q1 beat. The company raised its fiscal 2018 sales growth guidance from 16-18 percent to 18-20 percent. Penn Virginia Corporation (NASDAQ: PVAC) gained 23.3 percent to $59.00 after reporting Q1 results. TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) rose 22.5 percent to $47.51 after the company reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter on Tuesday. Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) shares surged 21.7 percent to $3.36. Amazon.com's partnership with Sears started in 2017 with an agreement to sell Kenmore-branded appliances online. On Wednesday, the companies announced an extension of their relationship to now include tire delivery and installations. EP Energy Corporation (NYSE: EPE) jumped 21.3 percent to $2.68 following Q1 results. LendingClub Corporation (NYSE: LC) surged 20.4 percent to $3.395 following better-than-expected Q1 earnings. Superior Industries International, Inc. (NYSE: SUP) gained 19 percent to $15.82 after reporting Q1 results. Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: BLCM) shares rose 18.5 percent to $8.13 following Q1 results. Twilio Inc. (NYSE: TWLO) rose 18.3 percent to $52.47 after the company posted strong quarterly results. Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ: CERS) shares jumped 18.3 percent to $6.47 following quarterly results. IEC Electronics Corp. (NYSE: IEC) shares climbed 17 percent to $4.68 after reporting better-than-expected quarterly earnings. New Relic, Inc. (NYSE: NEWR) rose 16.8 percent to $90.10 following Q4 results. Gulfport Energy Corporation (NASDAQ: GPOR)
• [By Cory Renauer]

  Shares of Cerus Corporation�(NASDAQ:CERS),�a biomedical products company, are on the move following a healthy first-quarter earnings report. Strong demand for its platelet kits encouraged the company to boost forward guidance. Investors liked what they heard and pushed the stock 16.5% higher as of 12:47 p.m. EDT on Wednesday.

Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: Bunge Limited(BG)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WWW.GURUFOCUS.COM]

  For the details of Burren Capital Advisors Ltd's stock buys and sells, go to http://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Burren+Capital+Advisors+Ltd

  These are the top 5 holdings of Burren Capital Advisors LtdMonsanto Co (MON) - 77,300 shares, 36.53% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 26.41%NXP Semiconductors NV (NXPI) - 49,500 shares, 23.46% of the total portfolio. New PositionDell-VMWare Tracking Stock (DVMT) - 57,930 shares, 17.17% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 5.52%Time Warner Inc (TWX) - 30,800 shares, 11.8% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 3.77%Bunge Ltd (BG) - 25,050 shares, 7.5% of
• [By Zacks]

  It goes without saying that companies that export huge amounts of farm products to China stand to be the winners. Shares of The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANDE) jumped 1.6%, while Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG) increased 0.4% on Monday.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Bunge Ltd (NYSE:BG) insider Jerry Matthews Simmons, Jr. sold 4,122 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.30, for a total value of $289,776.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $707,780.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: Partner Communications Company Ltd.(PTNR)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

  Partner Communications (NASDAQ: PTNR) and Deutsche Telekom (OTCMKTS:DTEGY) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, risk and dividends.

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Thursday afternoon, the health care shares rose 1.79 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Partner Communications Company Ltd. (NASDAQ: PTNR), up 8 percent, and Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE: CEL) up 7 percent.

• [By Money Morning News Team]

  Partner Communications Co. Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTNR) is an Israeli-based mobile network operator, as well as an Internet and telephone provider. Founded in 1999, Partner was formerly operating under the umbrella of the French telecommunications company "Orange" until 2016.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Partner Communications (NASDAQ: PTNR) and Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong (OTCMKTS:HTHKY) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, dividends and institutional ownership.

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Thursday morning, the telecommunication services shares rose 1.06 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Globalstar, Inc. (NYSE: GSAT), up 5 percent, and Partner Communications Company Ltd. (NASDAQ: PTNR) up 4 percent.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Deutsche Telekom (OTCMKTS: DTEGY) and Partner Communications (NASDAQ:PTNR) are both utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability and risk.

Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: Yum! Brands, Inc.(YUM)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado reduced its position in shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) by 6.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,869 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,827 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $5,097,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

• [By Max Byerly]

  In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Brian R. Niccol sold 2,294 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.90, for a total value of $194,760.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 10,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $862,584. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian R. Niccol sold 945 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.90, for a total value of $75,505.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 10,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $861,721.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

  COPYRIGHT VIOLATION NOTICE: “Yum! Brands (YUM) Given News Sentiment Rating of 0.13” was posted by Ticker Report and is the sole property of of Ticker Report. If you are accessing this report on another site, it was illegally stolen and reposted in violation of international trademark & copyright law. The legal version of this report can be read at https://www.tickerreport.com/banking-finance/3377799/yum-brands-yum-given-news-sentiment-rating-of-0-13.html.

  About Yum! Brands

• [By ]

  These figures should be a relief for Niccol, who joined the company from Yum! Brands' (YUM) Taco Bell in February. While he was largely welcomed by investors and received industry affirmation, some critics were skeptical of his franchising background, operational savvy and the disparity in ethos between Chipotle and Taco Bell.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Burney Co. increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) by 475.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 44,278 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,582 shares during the quarter. Burney Co.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $3,769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

• [By ]

  However, Cramer did have some positive advice about dealing with China. "The one thing I tell people is that if you want surefire China trades: you go long Yum Brands (YUM) and short Yum China (YUMC) , as they have similar growth rates and similar price to earnings multiples, but only one can be brought low by the [People's Republic of China]."

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Stifel Financial Corp lessened its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 9.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 595,695 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 62,381 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $50,723,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: ATRION Corporation(ATRI)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  ATRION (NASDAQ: ATRI) and Obalon Therapeutics (NASDAQ:OBLN) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, earnings, risk and dividends.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  BidaskClub upgraded shares of Atrion (NASDAQ:ATRI) from a strong sell rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Thursday morning.

  Shares of ATRI stock opened at $604.05 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.94 and a beta of 0.63. Atrion has a 52 week low of $516.85 and a 52 week high of $694.00.

Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: Cott Corporation(COT)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Cott (NYSE:COT) (TSE:BCB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 3rd. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the Zacks’ consensus estimate of ($0.02). Cott had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 1.79%. The firm had revenue of $560.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $563.81 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.07) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. sell-side analysts anticipate that Cott will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Cott (NYSE:COT) (TSE:BCB) was upgraded by analysts at Jefferies Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a $17.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Group’s price target indicates a potential upside of 6.25% from the stock’s previous close. Jefferies Group also issued estimates for Cott’s Q2 2018 earnings at $0.06 EPS, Q3 2018 earnings at $0.14 EPS, Q4 2018 earnings at $0.01 EPS and FY2020 earnings at $0.38 EPS.

Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: OraSure Technologies, Inc.(OSUR)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on OraSure Technologies (OSUR)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Lisa Levin]

   

  Losers Heat Biologics, Inc. (NASDAQ: HTBX) shares tumbled 48.59 percent to close at $1.275 on Thursday after the company priced its $18,000,000 public offering. InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: NVIV) fell 38.77 percent to close at $8.26 on Thursday. Check-Cap Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHEK) shares tumbled 27.43 percent to close at $8.81. Achaogen, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAO) dropped 24.76 percent to close at $11.06 in reaction to a disappointing update from an FDA AdCom panel. The FDA panel voted favorably for the company's Plazcomicin for treatment of adults with complicated urinary tract infections, but also voted against the therapy to be used as a treatment for bloodstream infections. Anika Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANIK) shares declined 24.68 percent to close at $34.80 after the company posted downbeat quarterly results. LSC Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: LKSD) shares fell 24.22 percent to close at $12.64 following wider-than-expected Q1 loss. Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE: CAH) fell 21.42 percent to close at $50.80 following downbeat quarterly profit. Horizon Global Corporation (NYSE: HZN) dropped 20.42 percent to close at $6.00 following downbeat quarterly earnings. Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc. (NYSE: HOS) slipped 20.11 percent to close at $2.90 following wider-than-expected Q1 loss. Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ESPR) fell 19.28 percent to close at $36.93. Esperion Therapeutics stock lost roughly a third of its value Wednesday after the company reported mixed Phase III results for its leading drug candidate, bempedoic acid. JP Morgan downgraded Esperion Therapeutics from Neutral to Underweight. Laredo Petroleum, Inc. (NYSE: LPI) declined 17.77 percent to close at $8.98 after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q1 earnings. The Habit Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ: HABT) dipped 16.1 percent to close at $8.60 after the company reported downbeat quarterly results. Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. (N
• [By Joseph Griffin]

  OraSure Technologies (NASDAQ:OSUR) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.00.

Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: Koss Corporation(KOSS)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin] Gainers Loxo Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ: LOXO) rose 17.1 percent to $163.30 in pre-market trading as the company disclosed that LOXO-292 Phase 1 trial abstract was selected for 'Best of ASCO'. CytomX Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTMX) rose 11.5 percent to $27.15 in pre-market trading after the company announced presentations at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting. Check-Cap Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHEK) rose 12.3 percent to $5.47 in pre-market trading after reporting narrower-than-expected Q1 loss. Flotek Industries, Inc. (NYSE: FTK) shares rose 7.1 percent to $3.62 in the pre-market trading session. Baozun Inc. (NASDAQ: BZUN) shares rose 5.8 percent to $47.65 in pre-market trading after reporting Q1 results. World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWE) rose 5.5 percent to $46.00 in pre-market trading. Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE: WPZ) rose 5.3 percent to $40.50 in pre-market trading after The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE: WMB) announced agreement to acquire all public equity of Williams Partners in a $10.5 billion deal. Koss Corporation (NASDAQ: KOSS) shares rose 4.6 percent to $2.72 in pre-market trading after surging 12.55 percent on Wednesday. Enphase Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENPH) rose 4.5 percent to $5.85 in pre-market trading after gaining 5.66 percent on Wednesday. Farmer Bros. Co. (NASDAQ: FARM) rose 4.1 percent to $27 in pre-market trading after climbing 7.90 percent on Wednesday. Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE: KOS) rose 4 percent to $7.70 in pre-market trading.

   

• [By Lisa Levin] Gainers Stellar Biotechnologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SBOT) rose 32 percent to $2.89 in pre-market trading after the company disclosed that it achieved robust viral clearance for its manufacturing process. Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: BW) rose 17.7 percent to $3.03 in pre-market trading after an amended 13D filing from Steel Partners Holdings shows a raised stake in the company from 6.99 million shares to 29.98 million shares, or a 17.8 percent stake. AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACRX) shares rose 12.7 percent to $3.55 in pre-market trading after the company announced the FDA acceptance of NDA for DSUVIA. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE: WSM) shares rose 11.7 percent to $54.95 in pre-market trading. after the company reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter. The company also raised its FY18 earnings and sales guidance. Bilibili Inc. (NASDAQ: BILI) shares rose 9.3 percent to $13.59 in pre-market trading after announcing Q1 results. Stein Mart, Inc. (NASDAQ: SMRT) rose 8.1 percent to $3.46 in pre-market trading after reporting strong Q1 earnings. Universal Corporation (NYSE: UVV) rose 8.1 percent to $52.35 in pre-market trading after reporting fiscal Q4 results. Marinus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNS) rose 8.1 percent to $5.65 in pre-market trading after gaining 6.30 percent on Wednesday. CEL-SCI Corporation (NYSE: CVM) rose 6.1 percent to $3.30 in pre-market trading after climbing 9.51 percent on Wednesday. TransEnterix, Inc. (NYSE: TRXC) rose 6 percent to $3.10 in pre-market trading after reporting a loan deal for $40 million in term loans with Hercules Capital. Stage Stores, Inc. (NYSE: SSI) rose 5.6 percent to $3.40 in pre-market trading following Q1 results. Koss Corporation (NASDAQ: KOSS) shares rose 5.2 percent to $2.42 in the pre-market trading session after falling 2.54 percent on Wednesday.

   

Is Competition Heating Up in the AI Chip Market?

While the concept of artificial intelligence (AI) has been around for decades, it was the technological innovations of the past several years that brought the concept to reality. The combination of big data, faster processors, and more sophisticated algorithms moved AI from the drawing board into the boardroom, with companies big and small assessing the best way to use this nascent technology to gain a competitive advantage.

NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA)�pioneered the graphics processing unit (GPU) and has reaped the rewards of the recent emphasis on AI as much as any other company. NVIDIA was instrumental in providing the processors necessary to achieve the AI advances that are taking the world by storm. Researchers found that the GPU's ability to handle computationally intensive tasks -- enabling image rendering -- also provided the processing necessary to advance AI systems.

The company's shear dominance of the field set off an arms race among technology companies to find the next generation of AI processor, in essence to "build a better mousetrap." Those that succeed could be the next big winner in a field that's only just getting started.

NVIDIA DGX-2 AI supercomputer in a box. Image source: NVIDIA.

In "search" of a better solution

Companies have taken different approaches in the race to find a better solution than the GPU. One of the biggest potential competitors has been Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG). The search giant was among the pioneers in AI research�and one of the first to introduce a competing solution.

In mid-2016, the company revealed the first generation of the tensor processing unit (TPU), which the company described as "a custom ASIC we built specifically for machine learning."�Google claimed that the TPU was 15 to 30 times faster and 30 to 80 times more power efficient compared to "contemporary CPUs and GPUs."�

Google just introduced the third generation of its TPU, which has eight times the computing power of its second-generation predecessor.�Until recently, Google only has been using the TPU internally, but announced in February that the chips would be available in limited quantities on Google Cloud for developers and researchers, as well as for rent to its cloud customers.

At this point, the TPU is not available for sale, so it doesn't represent a direct threat, though it could slow the pace at which Google buys NVIDIA GPUs for its data centers.

Google's Tensor Processing Unit AI chip. Image source: Google.

Monkey see, monkey do

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) made the decision long ago that it would focus on a customizable processor for its Azure Cloud known as a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a chip that can be programmed by a customer after manufacturing. Recent reports, however, indicate that Microsoft has been hiring chip designers who specialize in AI.

A Microsoft spokesperson told CNBC that the jobs would be part of the company's efforts to design cloud hardware in its Project Olympus initiative. "That group has been working on server design, silicon and AI to enable cloud workloads for some time," the representative said.�

Microsoft has been chasing Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) in cloud computing, coming in a distant second. This effort seems designed to increase its competitiveness in the space. The recent hires seem to indicate that this development process still is on the drawing board, posing no immediate challenge to NVIDIA's supremacy in the space.

Image source: Getty Images.

The cloud pioneer

Amazon pioneered the concept of modern cloud computing and has raced to stay ahead of competition from Google and Microsoft. Several years ago, the company acquired Annapurna labs, which developed networking chips for smart home products, routers, and streaming devices.�

More recent reports suggest that Amazon is targeting two areas close to home. The company wants to design processors that would accelerate responses from its Alexa-powered Echo smart speakers, which currently rely on chips from Intel.�The company also has been interested in building custom chips for Amazon Web Services (AWS) for use in its data centers, though at this point, there's no indication that those ambitions have been realized.

NVIDIA is still the king -- for now

While the race is on across the tech industry to develop a "GPU killer," none has emerged to challenge NVIDIA's brainchild. The company isn't resting on its laurels waiting to be dethroned and has continued the breakneck pace of innovation that's led to its current fortunes.

NVIDIA's data center revenue, which includes chips used in AI, has produced eight successive quarters of year-over-year growth exceeding 70%, though it has recently slowed from the triple-digit pace. Thus far, no single competitor has emerged to challenge NVIDIA's dominance in the AI market, and for now, competitors seem content to "chip" away at its lead.

Salesforce Doesn't Disappoint High Expectations In the First Quarter of 2018

Shares of enterprise software provider salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) spiked higher after a stellar start to 2018 was reported and the outlook for the full year was raised. CEO Marc Benioff has put together an impressive track record of clearing his own high bar and raising it again, and this quarter was no exception. With a couple of fresh strategic moves complete, Salesforce is on track to meet its aggressive ambitions in the next few years.

Putting the numbers in context

Revenue increased 25% year over year to $3.01 billion, and operating cash flow was up 19% to $1.47 billion. Full-year revenue guidance was raised to $13.075 billion to $13.125 billion (previously $12.6 billion to $12.65 billion). Operating cash flow for the year is expected to increase 14% to 15% from 2017.

What's so impressive about Salesforce's numbers is its size. Growth rates tend to slow the bigger a company gets, but this software giant is showing no signs of letting up anytime soon.

Metric

FY 2014

FY 2015

FY 2016

FY 2017

FY 2018

FY 2019 Guidance

Revenue	$4.07 billion	$5.37 billion	$6.67 billion	$8.39 billion	$10.5 billion	$13.075 billion to $13.125 billion
Year-over-year change	33%	32%	24%	26%	25%	24% to 25%

Fiscal years end in January of the year given. Chart by author. Data source: Salesforce quarterly earnings reports.

Credit homegrown software developments as well as ambitious acquisitions plugged into the Salesforce ecosystem for the fast growth. A wide array of offerings -- which span customer relationship management, marketing, and commerce -- are helping attract new customers and helping the internal sales team cross-sell to existing customers. Its latest software acquisition, app and data integrator service MuleSoft, was used to start up a new segment called Platform Cloud that serves the multi-billion dollar digital transformation industry that is under way.

Image source: Getty Images.

The money is following software

That new segment will be a nice addition, but Salesforce's other software offerings are still going strong, too. Paired with a 36% increase in "remaining contract price" to $20.4 billion -- defined as revenue under contract but not yet billed -- it looks like the company has plenty of momentum.

Segment

Q1 FY 2019 Revenue

Year-Over-Year Change

Sales Cloud	$965 million	16%
Service Cloud	$848 million	29%
Platform and Other	$575 million	36%
Marketing and Commerce Cloud	$422 million	41%

Chart by author. Data source: Salesforce quarterly earnings.

It may seem improbable with a market cap of over $95 billion as of this writing, but Salesforce's stock could still have plenty of room to run. Plenty of businesses are still adopting its services in the U.S., but only 30% of revenues came from abroad last quarter. That percentage is growing fast, though. International revenues grew 43% over the same period a year ago.

The bottom line isn't of primary concern at this point with the company in high-growth mode, but for what its worth, it's increasing too. Full-year adjusted earnings per share, which backs out items like stock-based compensation, should be $2.29 to $2.31. It was $1.35 in 2017. Based on that figure, the forward price-to-earnings ratio for the current fiscal year is 57.4. Over half a century's worth of profits is a steep price to pay, but if Salesforce can keep going at its current pace and worry about profitability down the road, it could nevertheless be an acceptable price.

It's a big world, and this last report just demonstrated that Salesforce is still early on in tapping its full potential.