With the Nasdaq composite at one point in June sinking almost 35% below a 16,212 peak set last November, some investors may think now is a time to buy. But among thousands of stocks, where should they start? This story showcases five Nasdaq stocks to watch right now.

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The IBD approach emphasizes several simple yet historically proved and powerful factors that lead to long-term success. And they go beyond simply investing in a healthy stock market environment.

If you want to achieve market-beating returns, first do this. Reserve your precious capital for just companies with truly strong fundamentals. This means aiming at Nasdaq-listed companies with outstanding records of profit growth, return on equity, profit margins and sales increases. These factors make up both the C and the A in CAN SLIM, IBD’s seven-point investing paradigm.

Second, seek only those Nasdaq stocks that outperform the rest of the pack. If you confine your search to those stocks whose price performance proves superior to at least 80% or 90% of the entire market or more on a rolling 12-month basis, then you’re really focused on stocks that have the potential to break out to new highs and make major price runs.

Third, get on the side of institutional investors that are actively accumulating shares over months and even years. Their long-term power on Wall Street can never be overstated. IBD’s Accumulation/Distribution Rating will help investors in that regard. Monitor the quantity and quality of institutional ownership; this helps you assess the I in CAN SLIM.

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Nasdaq Stocks To Watch: Screening For Winners

To select five stocks, MarketSmith screener allows users to pick companies within IBD’s database that rate highly in terms of Earnings Per Share Rating, Relative Strength Rating and SMR letter grade, which stands for sales, profit margins and return on equity. A simple screen set up on MarketSmith demands that stocks show an 85 EPS score or higher, at least an 85 for RS, and an A grade (on a scale of A to E) for SMR.

Plus, stocks that did not have either an A or B for Accumulation/Distribution Rating didn’t make the cut. This rating analyzes price-and-volume action in a stock over the past 13 weeks. An A or B grade indicates fund managers are net buyers of the stock. A C grade points to a neutral amount of institutional buying vs. selling.

Finally, each stock had to hold a 95 Composite Rating, which combines all of IBD’s key ratings with recent price action.

5 Nasdaq Stocks To Watch

Amid the bear-market decline, just 11 companies made the cut two weeks ago. But with the market rebounding, this screen is likely to increase in stocks. For now, we highlight some notable fundamental, technical and mutual fund ownership elements for each stock as follows.

Stock No. 1: Funko (FNK) had been building a yearlong large cup base since May of 2021. It boasts a 99 Composite Rating, 90 for EPS and a 98 for Relative Strength.

A trendline drawn across the highs within the base shows an early entry point near 22. After a broad market smackdown on June 28, FNKO  backtracked near that key level. In the process, the stock built a nearly seven-day-long handle before it reached the cup’s left-side peak of 27.20.

This handle created a proper buy point of 25.18, or a dime above the handle. Last week, shares lifted above this prime entry point, creating a buy opportunity. The 5% buy zone goes up to 26.44.

A handle pinpoints a final shakeout of uncommitted shareholders and clears the deck for a potential big move up as institutions seek shares in a big way.

According to MarketSmith, the stock two weeks ago triggered the RS line blue dot alert, another bullish sign of the stock’s underlying strength.

Earnings per share at the designer and manufacturer of pop culture-related items in the past three quarters grew 26%, 31% and 42% vs. year-ago levels. Sales jumped 40%, 48% and 63% over the same time frame. On a 12-month trailing basis, sales have topped $1.1 billion.

Analysts polled by Wall Street expect earnings to rise 34% to $1.90 a share this year, which would be the highest in at least eight years.

Among Nasdaq stocks to watch, Funko ranks as a small cap with a market value of $1.3 billion, 50.8 million shares outstanding and a float of 18.1 million.

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Consumer Spending Themes

Nasdaq Stocks To Watch, No. 2: International Money Express (IMXI) struggled on its breakout on May 4 in a base-on-base construction. Shares surpassed a 22.08 prime entry, but finished well below it the same session. Then IMXI lost support at the 50-day moving average.

The stock stabbed through the 50-day moving average multiple times in the past three months. Such action resembles a double bottom that offers a new buy point of 21.48.

Following a solid rally last week, IMXI has powered past this timely entry and is nearly getting extended past the 5% buy zone.

Earnings per share have grown 39%, 25%, 33% and 26% vs. year-ago levels. The top line expanded 37%, 26%, 28% and 21% over the same time frame. Sales also topped $100 million on a quarterly basis for four quarters in a row.

The number of mutual funds owning stock in the Miami-based specialist in money transfer and remittance services has increased for at least seven straight quarters, to 297 at the end of the first quarter this year from 149 in Q2 of 2020.

International Money Express hosts a 97 Composite, a 96 EPS and 97 RS. Few strong Nasdaq stocks are hailing from the financial services sector.

Stock No. 3: Telecom Sector Leader

Stock No. 3: Clearfield (CLFD) is carving out a wide-and-loose cup with handle of its own. This means that volatility is exceptionally high, making it tougher to make profits on the future breakout. According to MarketSmith, CLFD holds an extremely high beta of 2.20.

Nonetheless, the IBD-style buy point for now is 69.34. And this past week, shares vaulted past this entry, staging a breakout. Volume did not increase vs. the prior week, but ended above the stock’s average trading over the past 10 weeks.

Due to the solid weekly action, Clearfield’s ratings jumped to a 99 Composite, 99 EPS and 98 RS. The relative strength line made new highs, a strong sign of outperformance. The Accumulation/Distribution Rating improved to a B and is bullish.

Great breakouts occur in heavy volume, especially on the actual breakout day itself. But they also tend to succeed when the prior price action is tight and controlled. This indicates few willing sellers are hanging around the stock.

Just look at Clearfield’s tight weekly action seen in the last week of June 2020 and the first three weeks of July before CLFD leapt 24% in massive turnover during the week ended July 24.

That’s a massive breakout.

The maker of fiber optic telecom equipment and components is rare in its sector. Fundamentals are very strong.

Earnings per share have catapulted 120%, 57%, 475%, 440%, 100%, 141%, 226% and 144% vs. year-ago levels in the past eight quarters. Analysts surveyed by FactSet see the bottom line soaring 86% in fiscal 2022, ending in September, to $2.74 a share.

Sales have lifted 19%, 14%, 40%, 45%, 49%, 66%, 89% and 80% in the past eight quarters.

How To Select, Buy And Sell Stocks For Long-Term Profits Consistently: Read This Column

Nasdaq Stocks To Watch: Final Two

Stock No. 4: Ulta Beauty (ULTA) staged a bullish breakaway gap twice in a row on May 26 and 27 after a robust earnings report.

Now, a new cup with handle appears to be forming. The new entry point is 429.58, or the highest price within the handle plus 10 cents.

Great stocks ascend past their 50-day moving average before staging a breakout. ULTA is doing the opposite for now.

What about the handle that began forming on May 31 and generated a 426.93 buy point? It yielded a June 8 breakout that lasted only a day.

Ulta’s bottom line bulged 54% to $6.28 a share as sales rose 21% to $2.35 billion. That 21% increase came on top of a 65% revenue boost in the year-ago quarter.

The cosmetics, hair care and personal care products retailer enjoyed a tremendous run and helped lead the market out of the ashes of the 2008-2009 Great Recession.

Ulta owns a 96 Composite, 89 EPS and 85 RS Rating. At the end of Q1 2022, 1,875 funds held shares, a 24% jump vs. 1,511 in Q1 2021. Plus, fund ownership has risen every quarter since the fourth quarter of 2020 (when it was 1,468).

Use The IBD Stock Screener To Find More Top Stocks To Watch

Five Nasdaq Stocks To Watch: No. 5

LPL Financial (LPLA) is building a new base that shows the elements of a cup with handle. But LPL’s pattern shows flaws.

For instance, the handle within the base shows a decline of almost 15% from head to toe (using intraday high and intraday low). You’d normally like to see the handle make a correction of no more than 8% to 12%, especially since the correction within the pattern exceeds 25%.

The correct buy point, for now, stays at 204.47. Drawing a trendline across the base’s highs may offer a lower entry point near 195.

Another point of concern? Within the current pattern, all of the biggest weeks in terms of volume came on down weeks in price. However, the week ended June 3 saw LPLA shares fall a trifling amount, even as turnover exploded to 7.59 million shares. That suggests institutional support. A chartist may even view that week’s action as a support week.

Also, the relative strength line has jumped into new highs, signaling strong outperformance vs. the S&P 500.

Earnings estimates are superb. The Street sees profit rising 38% this year to $9.66 a share, then vaulting 61% to $15.51 a share next year. Both consensus estimates recently got a boost.

The financial advisory giant boasts a five-year EPS growth rate of 28%. Sales have shown a growth acceleration phase since the second quarter of 2020, going from a 2% dip that quarter to gains of 3%, 9%, 17%, 39%, 38%, 32% and 21%.

LPL shows a 94 Composite score and a 93 Relative Strength Rating.

Please follow Chung on Twitter: @saitochung and @IBD_DChung

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