Top Wall Street analysts say these stocks have the best long-term potential

As the world heads toward another year of the pandemic, investors must adapt to changing macroeconomic forces and trends.

Rising inflation, the Federal Reserve’s move to dial back its monetary support, and a workforce that’s been disrupted by the current spike in coronavirus cases are all affecting daily price action for stocks.

TipRanks, a financial data aggregation website, gives investors the data they need to navigate the market. Wall Street analysts are highlighting these five stocks, which they believe have staying power.

Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO) announced on Jan. 10 that it would buy FarmVille creator Zynga for $12.7 billion. The news shook up shares of both companies, with Zynga ending the day up 40% and Take-Two slumping more than 13%. Investors appear split on the deal, but one of Wall Street’s top analysts has reiterated his bullish stance. (See Take-Two Interactive Earnings Data on TipRanks) 

The analyst is Andrew Uerkwitz of Jefferies, who attributed the sell-off to miscalculations on the appropriateness of Zynga for Take-Two and fears of a possible bidding war for the game developer. However, as far as the merger itself is concerned, Uerkwitz said that simply “no one is doing the math.” 

Uerkwitz rated the stock a Buy and assigned a price target of $231.  

The analyst argued that the recent weakness in TTWO‘s share price provides for an attractive point of long-term entry for investors.  

As far as Take-Two’s core business goes, Uerkwitz is optimistic on the company’s robust pipeline and the increasing opportunities for mobile gaming led in part by more capable hardware. The fact that “data speeds, screen refresh rates, battery life, [and] chip speeds” are advancing so rapidly, more complex gaming systems can be developed for phones.  

Meanwhile, those playing the games are more familiar with using phone platforms than they have ever been before.  

On TipRanks, Uerkwitz is rated as No. 189 out of more than 7,000 financial analysts. He has a success rate of 63% when picking stocks and has returned an average of 31.8% on his ratings.  

Consumer cyclicals may be radically affected by global supply-side constraints, but the companies mitigating their impacts could be in for considerable upside once they ease out. One of those firms is Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS), which has been managing its inventory well and optimizing its supply chain. (See Dick’s Sporting Goods Insider Trading Activity on TipRanks) 

Sam Poser of Williams Trading published a report on the stock. He noted that DKS has also been experiencing elevated levels of consumer engagement and has placed a higher priority on maintaining strong vendor relationships with companies like Nike (NKE).  

Poser rated the stock a Buy and established a price target of $180.  

The analyst also mentioned that Dick’s Sporting Goods has been investing “in its people.”…