The Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow are all trading below their 50-day moving averages as pressure on the market indexes continues. Amid this bearish background, the IBD Leaderboard now has just four new stocks to watch.
These issues join leaders Cheniere Energy and Lantheus, as well as fading entries Vertex Pharmaceuticals and UnitedHealth.
Meanwhile, Palo Alto Networks, Carlisle, DoubleVerify and Paylocity make their way onto the Leaderboard watchlist.
To gauge both support and resistance in the current environment, keep tabs on how the Leaderboard's top names and watchlist members behave around key moving averages.
For now at least, LNTH and LNG stocks remain above their 50- and 200-day lines while also testing support at their 21-day moving averages.
It's also bullish how their 50-day moving averages have been trending higher while remaining above the longer-term 200-day lines.
Compare that to recent bearish action in Vertex and UnitedHealth. While both continue to trade within buy zones, they have slipped below their 50-day lines.
These technical violations highlight uncertainty and volatility that pervade the current market environment.
Now let's see how two new Leaderboard watchlist members are faring in these tough conditions.
Stocks To Watch: Palo Alto Looks To Secure New Buy Point
Exemplifying the difficulties for investors in this market, Palo Alto Networks has retreated below its 200-day line after gapping up to a 12% gain in reaction to its Aug. 22 earnings report. Volume clearly supported those big gains, surging 328% above average.
But PANW stock pulled back to fill the gap and is now trying to complete a cup with handle showing a 578.89 buy point.
After pulling back to kick off the holiday-shortened trading week, Palo Alto has found support above its 50-day moving average and come off its lows.
This IBD 50 stock's relative strength line has slipped off its highs while its 50-day moving average remains below its 200-day line.
These factors taken together, PANW stock has technical work to do to restore its bullish luster.
DoubleVerify Showing Resilience — And Good Sales Growth
DoubleVerify had its IPO in 2021. This New York-based company provides a software platform for digital media measurement and analytics.
Used by hundreds of Fortune 500 clients, DoubleVerify offers a fair-value exchange between buyers and sellers of digital media, making the digital advertising ecosystem stronger, safer and more secure.
Over the last eight quarters, DoubleVerify has delivered sales growth ranging from 32% to 44%. Revenue growth has averaged 40% over the last three years and the company has a very low debt-to-equity ratio of just 0.3%.
On the flip side, profit growth has been choppy and sloppy over the past eight quarters.
Yet on an annual basis, earnings have vaulted to an estimated 52 cents per share this year vs. 2 cents in 2018.
DV stock hit a new high in July 2021 then fell into a long slump, bottoming out in May 2022. It continues to work on a long bottoming base.
In a sign of rebounding technical strength, DV stock has found support above its 200-day moving average. Plus, its 50-day line is close to getting back above the 200-day benchmark.
Follow Matthew Galgani on Twitter at @IBD_MGalgani.
