It's not even 2024 yet, and investors want to know where next year's S&P 500 growth will come from. And some found a few stocks they say won't take long to put up impressive growth numbers.
Ten stocks, including Nvidia, Extra Space Storage and Las Vegas Sands, are expected to post 30% or much higher revenue growth in the first quarter of 2024, says an Investor's Business Daily analysis of data from S&P Global Market Intelligence and MarketSmith.
Such strong growth will be highly prized as it's so rare. S&P 500 companies' profit growth is expected to dip to 3.2% from 4.1% in the fourth quarter of 2023, says John Butters of FactSet. Analysts think S&P 500 profit will rise 6.7% in the first quarter, but will clearly look for higher growth.
"While investors are preparing to celebrate next year's soft landing, economic data doesn't appear to be cooperating," said Jack Ablin of Cresset Asset Management.
Gearing Up For 2024
Markets anticipate the future. And for that reason, 2023 is already considered ancient history as investors look to 2024.
And so far, analysts don't exactly expect a banner year. S&P 500 company's are seen reporting just 5.5% higher revenue in all of 2024, FactSet says. That's better than the 2.4% revenue growth they're calling for in 2023. But still a far cry from double-digit growth.
Fortunately, though, investors will still be able to find stellar growth in the first quarter of 2024, if analysts are correct.
Nvidia To Light It Up Again In 2024
AI pioneer Nvidia is one of the top S&P 500 stocks this year: It's up 230%. And big revenue growth is a top reason. Analysts are looking for a repeat performance in 2024.
The company's revenue is expected to hit $18.2 billion in the first quarter of 2024. It that materializes it would mark 153.6% growth from the first quarter of 2023. That's the highest expected first-quarter growth among any S&P 500 companies. That's even stronger growth than Nvidia's expected 100% revenue jump in 2023.
No other S&P 500 companies' expected revenue comes anywhere close to Nvidia. But self-storage cash cow Extra Space Storage is second best. Analysts think the company's revenue in the first quarter of 2024 will rise nearly 72% to $744.1 million. That's an acceleration from the also impressive 50% revenue growth in 2023.
Meanwhile, one of the fastest S&P 500 growers of 2023, casino Las Vegas Sands, is expected to keep it up in the first quarter. Analysts think the company's first-quarter revenue will hit $2.9 billion in the first quarter of 2024, up nearly 39% from the same year-ago period.
Of course, all this is based on estimates. But it's clear that analysts may have subdued growth forecasts for most S&P 500, but not all.
S&P 500 Companies Seen Growing Most In First Quarter Of 2024
| Company | Ticker | First quarter 2024 rev. % growth | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA | 153.6% | Information Technology | |
| Extra Space Storage | 71.5% | Real Estate | |
| First Solar | 67.5% | Information Technology | |
| Newmont | 61.5% | Materials | |
| ONEOK | 55.3% | Energy | |
| Qorvo | 44.6% | Information Technology | |
| Las Vegas Sands | 38.7% | Consumer Discretionary | |
| Xylem | 37.4% | Industrials | |
| Lamb Weston Holdings | 33.6% | Consumer Staples | |
| Hess | 31.0% | Energy |
