7 Best Stocks to Own Right Now in 2018

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Today, we are inviting you to view our list of the seven best stocks to own for the next thirty days.

Why is it worth looking into these stocks? Some of Wall Street's most respected and most accurate research analysts have been upgrading these stocks and raising their price targets for these companies.

No, we're not talking recommendations from some no-name blogger or a junior analyst from a brokerage you've never heard of. These stocks have received multiple positive recommendations in the last 30 days from analysts that have received four star and five star rankings from MarketBeat's proprietary brokerage ranking system.

Analysts given four star and five star ratings from MarketBeat consistently issue accurate price targets and their buy recommendations often outperform the market by double digits. Buy recommendations from our current top-rated brokerage, National Securities, have gone up by an average of 47.5% in the 12 months after they were issued.

We've reviewed every research report published by these top-rated analysts in the last 90 days and have identified seven stocks that these analysts are poised for an immediate breakout.

#1 - Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU)

Upgrades from Top-Ranked Analysts: 20 (in the last 90 days)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.8
Ratings Breakdown: 25 Buy Ratings, 4 Hold Ratings, 1 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $66.9655 (9.2% Upside)

Micron Technology logoMicron Technology, Inc. provides semiconductor systems worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Compute and Networking Business Unit, Storage Business Unit, Mobile Business Unit, and Embedded Business Unit. It offers DDR3 and DDR4 DRAM products for computers, servers, networking devices, communications equipment, consumer electronics, automotive, and industrial applications; lower power DRAM products for smartphones, tablets, automotive, laptop computers, and other mobile consumer device applications; DDR2 DRAM and DDR DRAM, GDDR5 and GDDR5X DRAM, SDRAM, and RLDRAM products for networking devices, servers, consumer electronics, communications equipment, computer peripherals, and automotive and industrial applications, as well as for computer memory upgrades; and hybrid memory cube semiconductor memory devices. The company also provides NAND products, which are electrically re-writeable, non-volatile semiconductor memory, and storage devices; client solid-state drives (SSDs) for notebooks, desktops, workstations, and other consumer applications; enterprise SSDs for server and storage applications; cloud SSDs; and multi-chip package and managed NAND products. In addition, it manufactures products that are sold under other brand names; and resells flash memory products that are purchased from other NAND Flash suppliers. Further, the company provides 3D XPoint non-volatile memory products; and NOR Flash, which are electrically re-writeable and semiconductor memory devices for automotive, industrial, connected home, and consumer applications. It markets its products to original equipment manufacturers and retailers through its internal sales force, independent sales representatives, and distributors; and through a Web-based customer direct sales channel, and channel and distribution partners. The company was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Boise, Idaho.

Recent Recommendations for Micron Technology:

  • Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) had its price target raised by analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $76.00 to $100.00. They now have a "strong-buy" rating on the stock. (5/23/2018)
  • Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) had its price target raised by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $80.00 to $82.00. They now have an "overweight" rating on the stock. (5/22/2018)
  • Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) had its price target raised by analysts at KeyCorp from $72.00 to $80.00. They now have an "overweight" rating on the stock. (5/22/2018)
  • Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) had its price target raised by analysts at Cowen Inc from $65.00 to $67.00. They now have an "outperform" rating on the stock. (5/22/2018)
  • Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) had its price target raised by analysts at Deutsche Bank AG from $68.00 to $72.00. They now have a "buy" rating on the stock. (5/22/2018)
  • Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) had its price target raised by analysts at MKM Partners to $72.00. They now have a "buy" rating on the stock. (5/22/2018)
  • Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) is now covered by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada. They set an "outperform" rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. (5/16/2018)
#2 - Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX)

Upgrades from Top-Ranked Analysts: 16 (in the last 90 days)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.6
Ratings Breakdown: 31 Buy Ratings, 16 Hold Ratings, 3 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $295.2391 (-16.0% Upside)

Netflix logoNetflix, Inc., an Internet television network, engages in the Internet delivery of television (TV) shows and movies on various Internet-connected screens. It operates in three segments: Domestic Streaming, International Streaming, and Domestic DVD. The company offers TV shows and movies, including original series, documentaries, and feature films. It offers members with the ability to receive streaming content through a host of Internet-connected screens, including TVs, digital video players, television set-top boxes, and mobile devices. The company also provides DVDs-by-mail membership services. As of January 22, 2018, it had approximately 117 million members in 190 countries. Netflix, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Los Gatos, California.

Recent Recommendations for Netflix:

  • Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) was downgraded by analysts at Vetr Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating. They now have a $303.70 price target on the stock. (4/18/2018)
  • Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) had its price target raised by analysts at Wedbush from $110.00 to $125.00. They now have an "underperform" rating on the stock. (4/17/2018)
  • Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) had its price target raised by analysts at KeyCorp from $300.00 to $385.00. They now have an "overweight" rating on the stock. (4/17/2018)
  • Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) had its price target raised by analysts at CIBC from $285.00 to $370.00. They now have an "outperform" rating on the stock. (4/17/2018)
  • Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) had its price target raised by analysts at Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. from $285.00 to $370.00. They now have an "outperform" rating on the stock. (4/17/2018)
  • Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) had its price target raised by analysts at Robert W. Baird from $280.00 to $300.00. They now have a "neutral" rating on the stock. (4/17/2018)
  • Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) had its price target raised by analysts at Bank of America from $300.00 to $347.00. They now have a "buy" rating on the stock. (4/17/2018)
#3 - Nutanix (NASDAQ:NTNX)

Upgrades from Top-Ranked Analysts: 15 (in the last 90 days)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.8
Ratings Breakdown: 18 Buy Ratings, 2 Hold Ratings, 1 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $51.25 (-2.4% Upside)

Nutanix logoNutanix, Inc. develops and provides an enterprise cloud operating system software. It offers enterprise applications, virtual desktop infrastructure, virtualization and cloud, big data, remote and branch office IT, and data protection and disaster recovery solutions; and hardware platforms and software options; and support and services. The company's products include Acropolis, a hyperconverged infrastructure solution to run any application; Prism, an infrastructure management solution with one-click operations; Nutanix Calm, an application-centric IT automation solution; Xi cloud services; Nutanix Xpress that eliminates the need for clunky SANs, expensive hypervisor licensing, and complex data protection and management software; and tools and technologies. It serves education, energy and utilities, financial services, healthcare, retail, and service provider industries, as well as state and local government, and the United States federal government. Nutanix, Inc. was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

Recent Recommendations for Nutanix:

  • Nutanix (NASDAQ: NTNX) had its "buy" rating re-affirmed by analysts at Robert W. Baird. They now have a $64.00 price target on the stock. (5/25/2018)
  • Nutanix (NASDAQ: NTNX) had its price target raised by analysts at Needham & Company LLC to $65.00. They now have a "buy" rating on the stock. (5/22/2018)
  • Nutanix (NASDAQ: NTNX) had its price target raised by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada to $62.00. They now have an "outperform" rating on the stock. (5/21/2018)
  • Nutanix (NASDAQ: NTNX) had its price target raised by analysts at Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. from $65.00 to $70.00. They now have an "outperform" rating on the stock. (5/15/2018)
  • Nutanix (NASDAQ: NTNX) had its price target raised by analysts at Wells Fargo & Co from $60.00 to $65.00. They now have a "positive" rating on the stock. (5/10/2018)
  • Nutanix (NASDAQ: NTNX) had its "buy" rating re-affirmed by analysts at Robert W. Baird. They now have a $61.00 price target on the stock. (5/10/2018)
  • Nutanix (NASDAQ: NTNX) was downgraded by analysts at Vetr Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating. They now have a $52.09 price target on the stock. (4/16/2018)
#4 - Splunk (NASDAQ:SPLK)

Upgrades from Top-Ranked Analysts: 14 (in the last 90 days)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.9
Ratings Breakdown: 32 Buy Ratings, 5 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $108.6389 (-1.5% Upside)

Splunk logoSplunk Inc. provides software solutions that enable organizations to gain real-time operational intelligence in the United States and internationally. Its products enable users to collect, index, search, explore, monitor, correlate, and analyze data regardless of format or source. The company offers Splunk Enterprise, a machine data platform with collection, indexing, search, reporting, analysis, alerting, monitoring, and data management capabilities; and Splunk Cloud. The company also provides Splunk Light, which offers log search and analysis for small IT environments; and Splunk Analytics for Hadoop, a software for exploring, analyzing, and visualizing data stored in Hadoop and Amazon S3. In addition, it offers Splunk Enterprise Security that addresses security threats and information; Splunk IT Service Intelligence, which monitors health and key performance indicators of critical IT services; Splunk User Behavior Analytics that detects cyber-attacks and insider threats; Splunk Machine Learning Toolkit, an app to apply machine learning techniques and algorithms to data stored in Splunk; Splunk App for AWS that collects and analyzes data from AWS data sources; and Splunk DB Connect to get business and enterprise context. Further, the company operates Splunkbase and Splunk Answers Websites, which provide an environment to share apps, collaborate on the use of its software, and provide community-based support and education, as well as offers application programming interfaces and software development kits. Additionally, it offers maintenance and customer support, training, and consulting and implementation services. The company serves cloud and online services, education, financial services, government, healthcare/pharmaceuticals, industrials/manufacturing, media/entertainment, retail/ecommerce, technology, and telecommunications industries. Splunk Inc. was incorporated in 2003 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Recent Recommendations for Splunk:

  • Splunk Inc (NASDAQ: SPLK) had its "overweight" rating re-affirmed by analysts at FIG Partners. They now have a $127.00 price target on the stock. (5/25/2018)
  • Splunk Inc (NASDAQ: SPLK) had its price target raised by analysts at Wells Fargo & Co to $135.00. They now have an "outperform" rating on the stock. (5/25/2018)
  • Splunk Inc (NASDAQ: SPLK) had its price target raised by analysts at JMP Securities from $108.00 to $120.00. They now have an "outperform" rating on the stock. (5/25/2018)
  • Splunk Inc (NASDAQ: SPLK) had its "equal weight" rating re-affirmed by analysts at Wedbush. They now have a $124.00 price target on the stock. (5/25/2018)
  • Splunk Inc (NASDAQ: SPLK) had its price target raised by analysts at Bank of America from $124.00 to $128.00. They now have a "buy" rating on the stock. (5/25/2018)
  • Splunk Inc (NASDAQ: SPLK) had its price target raised by analysts at Deutsche Bank AG from $115.00 to $130.00. They now have a "buy" rating on the stock. (5/25/2018)
  • Splunk Inc (NASDAQ: SPLK) had its price target lowered by analysts at Wedbush from $122.00 to $118.00. They now have a "buy" rating on the stock. (5/18/2018)
#5 - Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Upgrades from Top-Ranked Analysts: 11 (in the last 90 days)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.0
Ratings Breakdown: 50 Buy Ratings, 2 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $1,707.2005 (6.0% Upside)

Amazon.com logoAmazon.com, Inc. engages in the retail sale of consumer products and subscriptions in North America and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America, International, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) segments. It sells merchandise and content purchased for resale from vendors, as well as those offered by third-party sellers through physical stores and retail Websites, such as amazon.com, amazon.ca, amazon.com.mx, amazon.com.au, amazon.com.br, amazon.cn, amazon.fr, amazon.de, amazon.in, amazon.it, amazon.co.jp, amazon.nl, amazon.es, and amazon.co.uk. The company also manufactures and sells electronic devices, including kindle e-readers, fire tablets, fire TVs, and echo devices; and provides Kindle Direct Publishing, an online service that allows independent authors and publishers to make their books available in the Kindle Store. In addition, it offers programs that enable sellers to sell their products on its Websites, as well as their own branded Websites; and programs that allow authors, musicians, filmmakers, app developers, and others to publish and sell content. Further, the company provides compute, storage, database, and other AWS services, as well as fulfillment, publishing, digital content subscriptions, advertising, and co-branded credit card agreement services. Additionally, it offers Amazon Prime, a membership program, which provides free shipping of various items; access to unlimited streaming of movies and TV episodes; and other services. It serves consumers, sellers, developers, enterprises, and content creators. The company was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

Recent Recommendations for Amazon.com:

  • Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) had its "buy" rating re-affirmed by analysts at Wells Fargo & Co. (5/4/2018)
  • Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) had its "buy" rating re-affirmed by analysts at Oppenheimer Holdings Inc.. (5/4/2018)
  • Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) had its "buy" rating re-affirmed by analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (4/30/2018)
  • Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) had its price target raised by analysts at Argus to $1,750.00. They now have a "buy" rating on the stock. (4/30/2018)
  • Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) had its "buy" rating re-affirmed by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.. (4/30/2018)
  • Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) had its price target raised by analysts at DA Davidson to $1,900.00. They now have a "positive" rating on the stock. (4/27/2018)
  • Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) had its price target raised by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. to $1,900.00. They now have an "overweight" rating on the stock. (4/27/2018)
#6 - Mastercard (NYSE:MA)

Upgrades from Top-Ranked Analysts: 10 (in the last 90 days)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.9
Ratings Breakdown: 29 Buy Ratings, 3 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $185.40 (-3.0% Upside)

Mastercard logoMastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. It facilitates the processing of payment transactions, including authorization, clearing, and settlement, as well as delivers related products and services. The company also offers value-added services, such as safety and security products, loyalty and reward programs, information and consulting services, issuer and acquirer processing solutions, and payment and mobile gateways. In addition, it provides various integrated products and services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, businesses, governments, and other organizations; programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with cards to defer payments; payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts; prepaid payment programs and management services; and commercial payment products and solutions. Further, the company provides products and services to prevent, detect, and respond to fraud and cyber-attacks, and ensure the safety of transactions. It offers payment solutions and services under the MasterCard, Maestro, and Cirrus brands. Mastercard Incorporated has a strategic partnership with Bahrain Commercial Facilities Company BSC. The company was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Purchase, New York.

Recent Recommendations for Mastercard:

  • Mastercard (NYSE: MA) is now covered by analysts at UBS. They set a "neutral" rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock. (5/17/2018)
  • Mastercard (NYSE: MA) had its price target raised by analysts at KeyCorp from $195.00 to $200.00. They now have an "overweight" rating on the stock. (5/4/2018)
  • Mastercard (NYSE: MA) had its price target raised by analysts at Bank of America from $195.00 to $210.00. They now have a "buy" rating on the stock. (5/4/2018)
  • Mastercard (NYSE: MA) had its price target raised by analysts at Nomura to $213.00. They now have a "buy" rating on the stock. (5/3/2018)
  • Mastercard (NYSE: MA) had its price target raised by analysts at Loop Capital to $208.00. They now have a "buy" rating on the stock. (5/3/2018)
  • Mastercard (NYSE: MA) had its price target raised by analysts at Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. from $182.00 to $187.00. They now have an "outperform" rating on the stock. (4/19/2018)
  • Mastercard (NYSE: MA) was upgraded by analysts at Vetr Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating. They now have a $192.25 price target on the stock. (4/10/2018)
#7 - NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA)

Upgrades from Top-Ranked Analysts: 10 (in the last 90 days)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.6
Ratings Breakdown: 24 Buy Ratings, 8 Hold Ratings, 2 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $258.6774 (3.8% Upside)

NVIDIA logoNVIDIA Corporation operates as a visual computing company worldwide. It operates through two segments, GPU and Tegra Processor. The GPU segment offers processors, which include GeForce for PC gaming and mainstream PCs; GeForce NOW for cloud-based game-streaming service; Quadro for design professionals working in computer-aided design, video editing, special effects, and other creative applications; Tesla for AI utilizing deep learning, accelerated computing, and general purpose computing; GRID provides power of NVIDIA graphics through the cloud and datacenters; DGX for AI scientists, researchers, and developers; and cryptocurrency-specific graphics processing units. The Tegra Processor segment provides processors designed to enable branded platforms - DRIVE and SHIELD; DRIVE automotive computers and software stacks, which offer self-driving capabilities; SHIELD devices and services designed for mobile-cloud in home entertainment, AI, and gaming applications; and Jetson TX 2, an AI computing platform for embedded use. The company's products are used in gaming, professional visualization, datacenter, and automotive markets. NVIDIA Corporation sells its products to original equipment manufacturers, original device manufacturers, system builders, add-in board manufacturers, retailers/distributors, Internet and cloud service providers, automotive manufacturers and tier-1 automotive suppliers, mapping companies, start-ups, and other ecosystem participants. NVIDIA Corporation was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

Recent Recommendations for NVIDIA:

  • NVIDIA Co. (NASDAQ: NVDA) is now covered by analysts at Cowen Inc. They set an "outperform" rating and a $325.00 price target on the stock. (5/17/2018)
  • NVIDIA Co. (NASDAQ: NVDA) had its price target raised by analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $300.00 to $325.00. They now have a "buy" rating on the stock. (5/14/2018)
  • NVIDIA Co. (NASDAQ: NVDA) had its price target raised by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. to $255.00. They now have an "overweight" rating on the stock. (5/11/2018)
  • NVIDIA Co. (NASDAQ: NVDA) had its price target raised by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada to $300.00. They now have an "outperform" rating on the stock. (5/11/2018)
  • NVIDIA Co. (NASDAQ: NVDA) had its price target raised by analysts at MKM Partners to $255.00. They now have a "neutral" rating on the stock. (5/11/2018)
  • NVIDIA Co. (NASDAQ: NVDA) had its price target raised by analysts at UBS from $250.00 to $266.00. They now have a "neutral" rating on the stock. (5/11/2018)
  • NVIDIA Co. (NASDAQ: NVDA) had its "buy" rating re-affirmed by analysts at Bank of America. They now have a $340.00 price target on the stock. (5/11/2018)






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