Oil major BP in March reported a $26 billion impairment charge after it exited its joint venture with state-owned Rosneft in Russia. Despite that, BP stock continued a stairstep climb this year and hit a two-year high in early June. Then it consolidated amid the bear market. BP stock has held up better than most however, during the recent market turbulence. And on Tuesday, the IBD Relative Strength Rating for BP stock jumped to 81, up from 75 the day before, clearing a key threshold.
The bump up to an 81 RS Rating is significant because market research shows that the market's winners tend to have an 80 or better RS Rating as they launch their biggest climbs.
BP Stock Composite Rating Near Best
Exiting the nearly 20% ownership it had held in Rosneft since 2013, and withdrawing from that company's board of directors, is just the latest in a string of changes for U.K.-based BP. It's been adjusting its portfolio, selling some assets in Canada while buying others for example. It's also investing heavily in clean energy including operating one of the world's largest renewables and green hydrogen energy hubs based in western Australia.
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Among its other key ratings, BP has a 78 EPS Rating. That OK-but-not-great rating is due to weak earnings during the early part of the pandemic. This past four quarters it's reported EPS growth ranging from 142% to over 1,000%.
Additionally, its stock has an outstanding 96 Composite Rating, of a best-possible 99. IBD's Composite Rating combines five separate proprietary ratings of fundamental and technical performance into one easy-to-use rating. The best growth stocks have a Composite Rating of 90 or better.
BP stock is trying to complete a consolidation with a 34.40 buy point. See if the stock can break out in volume at least 40% above average.
Profit Jumped 146% Last Quarter
The company recorded a 146% earnings pop last quarter, to $1.92 per share. Sales grew 40% year over year to $51.2 billion. BP expects to reports its second quarter earnings results on Aug. 2.
BP stock earns the No. 9 rank among its peers in the Oil & Gas-Integrated industry group. EQT and Imperial Oil are also among the group's highest-rated stocks.
When you're researching the best stocks to buy and watch, keep a close on eye on relative price strength.
This exclusive rating from Investor's Business Daily tracks market leadership with a 1 (worst) to 99 (best) score. The rating shows how a stock's price behavior over the last 52 weeks holds up against all the other stocks in our database.
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