U.S. stocks settled higher on Friday following the release of jobs data, with the S&P 500 recording gains for the ninth consecutive day to notch its longest winning streak since Nov. 2004.
All three major averages recorded gains for the second week, with the S&P 500 adding 2.9% and the Dow gaining 3% on the week. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, closed higher by 3.4% for the week.
Wall Street analysts make new stock picks on a daily basis. Unfortunately for investors, not all analysts have particularly impressive track records at predicting market movements. Even when it comes to one single stock, analyst ratings and price targets can vary widely, leaving investors confused about which analyst’s opinion to trust.
Benzinga’s Analyst Ratings API is a collection of the highest-quality stock ratings curated by the Benzinga news desk via direct partnerships with major sell-side banks. Benzinga displays overnight ratings changes on a daily basis three hours prior to the U.S. equity market opening. Data specialists at investment dashboard provider Toggle.ai recently uncovered that the analyst insights Benzinga Pro subscribers and Benzinga readers regularly receive can successfully be used as trading indicators to outperform the stock market.
Top Analyst Picks: Fortunately, any Benzinga reader can access the latest analyst ratings on the Analyst Stock Ratings page. One of the ways traders can sort through Benzinga’s extensive database of analyst ratings is by analyst accuracy. Here’s a look at the most recent stock picks from each of the five most accurate Wall Street analysts, according to Benzinga Analyst Stock Ratings.
Analyst: Jay McCanless
- Analyst Firm: Wedbush
- Ratings Accuracy: 86%
- Latest Rating: Maintained an Outperform rating on Beazer Homes USA, Inc. BZH and cut the price target from $45 to $41 on May 2. This analyst sees around 93% upside in the stock.
- Recent News: On May 1, the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results.
Analyst: Doug Anmuth
- Analyst Firm: JP Morgan
- Ratings Accuracy: 85%
- Latest Rating: Maintained an Overweight rating on Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN and boosted the price target from $220 to $225 on May 2. This analyst sees around 20% surge in the stock.
- Recent News: On May 1, Amazon.com reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter financial results.
Analyst: Lloyd Walmsley
- Analyst Firm: UBS
- Ratings Accuracy: 85%
- Latest Rating: Maintained a Buy rating on Meta Platforms, Inc. META and increased the price target from $650 to $683 on May 1. This analyst sees around 16% upside in the stock.
- Recent News: On April 30, Meta Platforms posted upbeat results for its first quarter.
Analyst: Yi Fu Lee
- Analyst Firm: Cantor Fitzgerald
- Ratings Accuracy: 84%
- Latest Rating: Maintained an Overweight rating on Udemy, Inc. UDMY and cut the price target from $11 to $9 on May 1. This analyst sees around 40% upside in the stock.
- Recent News: On April 30, Udemy posted better-than-expected first-quarter earnings, but lowered its FY25 sales forecast.
Analyst: Zachary Fadem
- Analyst Firm: Wells Fargo
- Ratings Accuracy: 84%
- Latest Rating: Maintained an Overweight rating on Wingstop Inc. WING and boosted the price target from $270 to $300 on May 1. This analyst sees around 11% upside in the stock.
- Recent News: On April 30, the restaurant franchise reported first-quarter earnings per share of 99 cents, beating the street view of 90 cents.
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