On St. Patrick's Day, everybody's a little Irish. Alkermes, Aon, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, PDD Holdings and CRH are five companies in or near buy zones with their headquarters in Ireland. Of these companies, only CRH stock is a truly Ireland based. The rest have their official headquarters in Ireland, which offers favorable taxes for multinationals, but their main operations are elsewhere.
St. Patrick himself was born in Britain, only later redomiciling in the Emerald Isle.
Keep in mind that the stock market is in a correction, though a rally attempt is underway. Investors should be cautious about any new buys.
Aon stock is on IBD Leaderboard. PDD stock and Alkermes are on the IBD 50.
Alkermes Stock
Alkermes domiciled in Ireland following its 2011 merger with Elan. The biotech specializes in treatments for psychiatric and neurological disorders.
Fourth-quarter earnings jumped 117% vs. a year earlier, while revenue rose 14% to $430 million. That followed quarters of year-over-year declines on the top and bottom line.
Alkermes stock broke out of a long cup-with-handle base on Feb. 12 following earnings, hitting a six-year high a few days later. Shares have pulled back gradually since, with tight weekly closes. ALKS stock is just below its 21-day. A move above the March 11 high of 35.58 could offer an entry within the current shelf. The shelf is on pace to forge a flat base with a 36.45 buy point after this week.
Alkermes edged up above its 21-day line Monday.
Aon Stock
Aon is an Anglo-American insurance broker that redomiciled in Ireland in 2020, citing its desire to stay in the European Union following Brexit.
Aon earnings rose 14% in the fourth quarter, with revenue up 23% to $4.147 billion.
Shares broke out of a cup base with a 395.33 buy point in late February. Aon stock has largely held in a buy range since then, closing at 398.79 on March 14, just above its 21-day line. It's formed a three-weeks-tight pattern or high high handle with an official 412.97 buy point.
But Aon stock fell Monday, below the buy point and 21-day line.
Jazz Pharmaceuticals Stock
Jazz Pharmaceutical redomiciled in Ireland in 2012, following a takeover of Irish-based Azur Pharma.
Jazz earnings grew 31% in the fourth quarter, with revenue up 8% to $1.09 billion.
On Feb. 11, Jazz stock broke out past a flat-base buy point of 128.99, running up to a 23-month high of 148.06 on Feb. 26 following earnings. Shares have pulled back to just above the buy zone, finding support at the 21-day line. Investors could see if Jazz stock dips back into the buy zone or shows a little strength, breaking a downtrend.
Shares edged higher Monday.
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PDD Holdings Stock
PDD Holdings moved its official headquarters to Dublin in 2023. The parent of Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo and international site Temu.
Third-quarter earnings leapt 67% vs. a year earlier while revenue jumped 50% to $14.16 billion, but those marked the second straight quarter of substantial deceleration.
Q4 results are due March 20, with analysts expecting a 15% EPS gain with revenue up 29%.
PDD stock has struggled since hitting a multiyear high in May 2024, with its relative strength line peaking in late 2023. Shares have been volatile over that time. PDD stock has a consolidation with a 155.67 buy point. Investors could use 133.33 as an early entry from a handle that's too low to be proper.
On March 14, shares regained its 200-day line.
Shares advanced on March 17.
CRH Stock
To cap off this list of stocks for St. Patrick's Day, CRH is an international building materials business, but with its origin and headquarters in Ireland.
Q4 earnings rose 12% vs. a year earlier, with sales up 2% to $8.9 billion.
CRH stock broke out of a cup-with-handle base on Feb. 6, according to MarketSurge. Shares hit a record 110.97 on Feb. 18. CRH stock quickly pulled back below the 102.20 buy point and has undercut its 50-day line, but recently found support near its 40-week line.
CRH could be in the early stages of a new consolidation. A decisive move back above the 50-day line would break a trendline, not far from the now-invalid old buy point of 102.20.
Shares ticked higher Monday, moving slightly closer to the 50-day.
Please follow Ed Carson on Threads at @edcarson1971 and X/Twitter at @IBD_ECarson for stock market updates and more.
