Like most companies, iconic motorcycle maker Harley Davidson's stock took a hit in the early days of the pandemic, but it rebounded to powerful sales and profit growth this past year. As a result, it's been trending higher. On Thursday, its stock Relative Strength (RS) Rating entered a new percentile, with an increase from 80 to 83.
The 83 RS Rating means that Harley Davidson stock has outperformed 83% of all stocks over the past year. It's a significant bump up because market research shows that stocks that go on to make the biggest gains tend to have an RS Rating of at least 80 in the early stages of their moves.
Harley Davidson Stock Gaps Up
Milwaukee-based Harley Davidson, which was founded in 1903, makes motorcycles and also sells related parts, accessories, clothing and collectables.
Its stock has gapped up a few times lately amid renewed interest and rising profits and sales. On Feb. 8 it shot up 15.5% on 300% higher than average volume. The next day it gained another 3.8% also in heavy volume. On Thursday Harley Davidson stock dipped 1% to 41.82 amid the market pullback.
Among its other key ratings, Harley Davidson stock has a 76 IBD Composite Rating, putting it in the top 25% of all stocks overall.
The Composite Rating combines five separate proprietary IBD ratings, based on key fundamental and technical criteria, into one easy-to-use score. The best growth stocks have a Composite Rating of 90 or better.
Among those five ratings, its best-possible A SMR Rating (sales+profit margins+return on equity) reflects sound fundamentals. And its B Accumulation/Distribution Rating on an A+ to E scale shows fairly heavy buying by institutional investors. The company has a mediocre 58 EPS Rating, on weak earnings in years past, despite boisterous recent profit growth. Look for that rating to improve.
Earnings Surged 133% Last Quarter
Top and bottom line growth moved higher in the company's most recent quarter. Earnings popped 133% year over year to 15 cents per share. The prior three periods its EPS grew 251%, 491% and eased to 12% before returning to triple-digit growth. Revenue in its latest stanza grew 40% to $1.02 billion.
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Harley Davidson stock is not currently showing a potential entry point. See if the stock goes on to build a base that could kick off a new climb.
Harley Davidson stock holds the No. 3 rank among its 21 peers in the Leisure-Products industry group. Brunswick and Mastercraft Boat are also among the group's highest-rated stocks.
When looking for the best stocks to buy and watch, CAN SLIM investors seek out stocks with high relative price strength.
IBD's proprietary Relative Strength Rating measures price performance with a 1 (worst) to 99 (best) score. The rating shows how a stock's price behavior over the trailing 52 weeks stacks up against all the other stocks in our database.
