JPMorgan added two new names to its list of top stocks as April begins — Bank of America and CarMax . The firm’s focus list includes its top equity ideas targeted around growth, income, value and short strategies. JPMorgan has an overweight rating on Bank of America, while used vehicle platform CarMax is rated underweight. Analyst Vivek Juneja added Bank of America as a value idea. However, his price target of $35 implies that shares could fall 8% from their Thursday close. Shares of Bank of America have risen 12% in 2024. Juneja thinks the stock has the potential to rise further due to several factors. “We believe Bank of America’s stock has lagged peers partly due to concerns about net interest income — we expect net interest income trends to hold up better than previously expected led by deposits, which should allow its stock performance to catch up,” he wrote. The analyst also sees the bank benefiting from a pickup in capital markets activity this year. “Bank of America should benefit relatively more than peers from continued growth in trading and investment banking activity as it continues to invest in those businesses and likely continues to outperform peers in some of these areas,” he added. On the other hand, analyst Rajat Gupta views CarMax as a short idea, with his $60 price target suggesting approximately 31% downside from where the stock closed on Thursday. CarMax has popped nearly 12% this year. “After the recent rally, driven more by macro headlines around tax refunds and interest rates rather than fundamentals, which remain choppy, risk-reward is now squarely skewed to the downside, in our view,” the analyst wrote. Here are some of the top picks that made JPMorgan’s list: Growth stock Danaher is one returning name to the list. Analyst Rachel Vatnsdal’s $300 price target suggests that shares of the medical products firm could rally an additional 20% on top of their 7% year-to-date rise. A returning value name is Caterpillar , up 24% this year. Analyst Tami Zakaria’s $385 price target corresponds to a further 5% rally from the stock’s Thursday close. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
