It’s hard to tell where the markets are heading right now. Are we on the path to recovery or is there more pain head? Is a recession at the gate or can it be averted?
Going by one indicator, a recession is indeed in the cards, according to J.P. Morgan’s head of global equity strategy Mislav Matejka.
Whenever jobless claims have exceeded by 10% or more their current three-month average, a recession has materialized. And that has just occurred.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s time to pack up the portfolio. In fact, the indicator is actually a bullish signal for stocks. Whenever it has flashed, the other consequence has been an 11% uptick, on average, for the S&P 500 over the next year.
Further boosting confidence, Matejka thinks the central bank will relax its monetary policy soon. “The Fed could undertake a much more balanced policy view post September,” Matejka explained, “as some of the inflationary pressures continue abating.”
Against this backdrop, Matejka’s analyst colleagues at the banking giant have homed in two lesser-known stocks which they think are poised to charge ahead. Are they alone in believing so or do they have the backing of other experts in the analyst community? With the help of the TipRanks database, we can certainly find out.
Bowlero (BOWL)
The first J.P. Morgan pick we’ll look at is American bowling center operator Bowlero. With roughly 300 centers, the majority of which are U.S.-based, the company is the largest ten-pin bowling center operator in the world. That’s not the only big thing about the company; while most U.S. bowling centers have an average of 21 lanes, Bowlero’s have an average of 40. Its family of brands includes Bowlero, Bowlmor Lanes, and AMF, and combined their lanes cater to over 26 million guests every year. Not to mention, in 2019, the company acquired the Professional Bowlers Association which came with thousands of members and a global fan base in the millions.
The company has yet to report its fiscal fourth quarter results (June quarter) but we can get a feel for the business’s performance by…
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