The stock market saw one of its best month of 2022 in July. The year-to-date losses of the major indices have been mostly recouped. Traders remain optimistic despite the Federal Reserve’s last hefty interest rate increase. This isn’t as awful as headline gross domestic product (GDP) statistics may suggest, and inflation may be nearing its high.
Investors may be excused for assuming that the finest values of the 2022 bear market have already been missed with the strong rebound. Nevertheless, these 3 stocks have all traded down or flat for the month of July and therefore provide the possibility to catch up with the market moving forward.
Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS)
As one of the world’s top cloud security companies, Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS) has operations all over the globe. Unfortunately, Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS) has been hit hard by macro pressures in the cybersecurity business, which is also expected to be severely affected by a downturn in the economy. As a result, Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS) shares are down 49.14 percent year to year as of August 1.
Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS) is a favorite of Wall Street investors, who believe the company can withstand a recession. To keep his Buy recommendation on Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS), Truist analyst Joel Fishbein cut his price objective from $275 to $250 in July. Fishbein believes that cybersecurity expenditure will stay strong despite the current macroeconomic uncertainties. However, analysts warn that a shrinking labor market might negatively influence the company’s performance in a downturn.
As of August 1, Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS) announced that the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program has authorized Zscaler Internet Access, the company’s suite of AI-powered security technologies. There is currently just one solution for Edge Trusted Internet Connections 3.0 that has gotten the highest level of FedRAMP authorisation.
At the end of the 1st quarter of 2022, 39 hedge funds had invested $1.42 billion in Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS). There were 31 jobs valued $1.74 billion in the previous quarter, a decrease from the previous quarter’s 31 positions.
D E Shaw increased its shares in Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS) by 42 percent in the 1st quarter of 2022, bringing the total to $312.95 million. Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZStop )’s shareholder, D E Shaw, holds 1.29 million shares as of March 31. Telecommunications companies, such as Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ), had a difficult month in July. In addition, AT&T Inc. (T) has cautioned that some of its customers have not paid their bills on time, among other issues. There was a little improvement over AT&T’s results, but investors were still disappointed. 5G rollout advantages have emerged sluggish, and the tailwind from quarantine days has faded. However, nothing has changed. Paying phone bills is still a need; smartphones are now as vital as anything else.
Yet Verizon stock is at an all-time low. Moreover, there are now nearly 9 times expected future profits on the shares now being sold. As a result, the dividend yield has risen to 5.5%. That’s a remarkable deal in today’s market.
Raytheon Company (RTX)
Ukraine’s economic woes have faded from investors’ minds this summer because of concerns about inflation and recession. That’s evident in decline in defense stock prices, which rose sharply in the spring. However, there hasn’t been any change in the long-term forecast, albeit there has been an increase in military equipment orders from Raytheon and other vendors due to the ongoing crisis in Eastern Europe.
Meanwhile, the situation in the vicinity of Taiwan remains tense. Countries from Japan to Europe have pledged to increase their military budgets in the years to come. A positive prognosis for military contractors in the long run and positive outcomes in the near term may be seen. Raytheon reaffirmed its full-year 2022 projection and raised its outlook for the current fiscal year to cap off a strong second quarter. Raytheon is still a fairly priced blue-chip company at less than 20 times projected profits in the future.
Shell Corporation PLC (SHEL)
In July, Shell released a stunning set of results. In the second quarter of 2021, the company made $11.5 billion, compared to $5.5 billion in the same time as the previous year. The fundamentals of the energy sector remain robust, notwithstanding recent volatility. For example, Shell has done a commendable job developing its renewable energy and carbon-free operations. When lawmakers provisionally agreed on a new climate measure in late July, this puts it in a position to gain from it possibly. Short-term fluctuations in the price of oil are the attention of traders.
In contrast, Shell’s long-term prospects are fantastic. Investors get their part of the profits as well. There was a $7.4 billion investment in dividends and stock repurchases in the past quarter alone.
