With equities ending May higher, Piper Sandler says everything is going right for a handful of stocks. The firm’s “triple select” list for May screened for stocks that could benefit from the alignment of a confluence of research markers, including a favorable macroeconomic backdrop, strong company fundamentals and complementary chart analysis. All of the stocks on Piper Sandler’s list are rated overweight. The list comes as stocks notched a winning May, despite some pressure during the shortened Memorial Day trading week. Investors sent equities higher on Friday after the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of inflation increased in-line with expectations in April . All three major benchmarks have earned their sixth-straight winning month in the past seven. M & T Bank Regional bank M & T made the Piper Sander list, with analyst Frank Schiraldi highlighting the stock’s reversal of a long downward trend and its fresh 52-week high reached on May 15. Shares have climbed nearly 10% in 2024. MTB YTD mountain M & T Bank stock has climbed nearly 10% in 2024. “As we continue to be comfortable with M & T’s credit, especially as the bank has de-emphasized and shrunk [commercial real estate] over the last few years, we believe the relative discount presents opportunity to own shares,” Schiraldi said. “We look at M & T as a highly profitable bank with significant excess capital that will again be relatively aggressive on buybacks,” the analyst added. Oracle Database software and technology firm Oracle also made the cut. Shares have added about 11% in 2024. ORCL YTD mountain Oracle stock has added about 10% in 2024. “Oracle Corporation ranks among the best in its sector on cash flow return on equity, and is above average in its historical EPS growth while also seeing net positive revisions to EPS estimates,” analyst Brent Bracelin noted. The analyst added that Oracle has yet to fully capitalize on a growing artificial intelligence tailwind. While the company’s cloud infrastructure has lagged its peers in the infrastructure as a service (IaaS) market, Bracelin noted “AI cluster demand continues to far outstrip supply with accelerated compute the currency of the future.” Tractor Supply Shares of retailer Tractor Supply have surged more than 32% in 2024. Shares reached a 52-week high on May 20, which analyst Peter Keith listed as a key tailwind. TSCO YTD mountain Tractor Supply Co stock has soared more than 31% in 2024. Moreover, Keith singled out the company as benefiting from exceptional cash flow profitability, which he says is best in class among peers in the hard line and leisure segment. “Tractor Supply Company possesses the attributes that the macro select model is targeting as prime for the current backdrop,” the analyst said. Keith added that he concurs with company management that any deflationary pressure this year will likely be “minimal,” which eliminates “a key overhang investors have been watching for.”
