5 Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy For 2017

Credit Suisse analysts Moshe Orenbuch and Serena Hong note that American Express’s (AXP) U.S. Card Services business is actually growing:

American Express reported monthly loss and delinquency numbers for March: Ending period loan balance for US Consumer Services and U.S. Small Business was $50.7Bn, representing 2% m/m growth from February and 12% y/y growth from last year’s balance (excluding U.S. Costco Wholesale (COST) and JetBlue Airways (JBLU)). The sale of JetBlue was completed on March 18, 2016.

Bottom Line: USCS growth was strong and credit appears stable. U.S. Business is growing rapidly and credit also appears stable. About half of the incremental growth is a result of excluding the Costco business which was not growing, and it appears that growth has accelerated by 2-3pp over the past four months. American Express reports 1Q earnings on April 20, after market close.

Shares of American Express have dropped 0.6% to $62.11 at 3:54 p.m. today, while Costco Wholesale has gained 1.1% to $153.02, and JetBlue Airways has risen 1.1% to $20.83.

5 Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy For 2017: Infinera Corporation(INFN)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tracey Ryniec]

  Infinera isn't in a glamorous part of the technology business, as it provides fiber optic connection gear, but as companies like Amazon and Facebook need and use ever more data, it's Infinera which paves the way. Earnings are expected to grow 31% in 2016. 

5 Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy For 2017: Smithfield Foods Inc.(SFD)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Victor Mora]

  Smithfield Foods is a provider of fresh and packaged meat products that are seen as a staple food item for many consumers and growing populations worldwide. A takeover of the company is believed to be going through after a shareholder vote scheduled for Tuesday. The stock has been moving higher in recent years and is now trading slightly below all-time high prices. Over the last four quarters, investors have had mixed feelings about the company, as earnings have been decreasing and revenues have been rising. Relative to its peers and sector, Smithfield Foods has been a year-to-date performance leader. WAIT AND SEE if a vote to acquire Smithfield Foods goes through.

• [By John Udovich]

  Thanksgiving is almost here but the exit of both Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NYSE: PPC) and Smithfield Foods (NYSE: SFD) to focus on their chicken or pork businesses (the latter was also acquired by the Chinese) leaves just two big Thanksgiving turkey stocks, Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL) and Seaboard Corporation (NYSEAMEX: SEB), for investors to consider. According to the American Far Bureau, a 16-pound turkey will (on average) come in at a total of $22.74 this year or roughly $1.42 per pound for a decrease of 2 cents per pound or a total of 30 cents per whole turkey, compared to 2015. The price drop may be a transition back to the norm as the significant bird flu outbreak last year hurt the nation��s supply of both turkey and eggs.

5 Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy For 2017: Tableau Software, Inc.(DATA)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  
  Benzinga's newsdesk monitors options activity to notice unusual patterns. These large volume (and often out of the money) trades were initially published intraday in Benzinga Professional . These trades were placed during Monday’s regular session.

  Pier 1 Imports Inc (NYSE: PIR) Dec16 5.0 Puts Sweep: 1191 @ ASK $0.80: 1354 traded vs 102 OI: $5.32 Ref Alcoa Inc (NYSE: AA) Jul16 9.5 Puts Sweep: 1494 @ ASK $0.13: 14k traded vs 6682 OI: $10.09 Ref Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: SRPT) Jul16 10.0 Puts: 3536 @ ASK $0.50: 5506 traded vs 54k OI: Earnings 8/4 $22.50 Ref Tableau Software Inc (NYSE: DATA) Jul16 47.5 Puts Sweep: 837 @ ASK $0.30: 995 traded vs 37 OI: Earnings 8/3 $50.60 Ref Yandex NV (NASDAQ: YNDX) Aug16 18.0 Puts Sweep: 532 @ ASK $0.30: 2143 traded vs 78 OI: Earnings 7/28 Before Open $22.02 Ref Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (NYSE: WWW) Aug16 22.5 Puts: 719 @ ASK $1.35: 1032 traded vs 0 OI: Earnings 7/19 $22.22 Ref Conn's Inc (NASDAQ: CONN) Jan17 5.0 Puts Sweep: 605 @ ASK $0.85: 1355 traded vs 3132 OI: $7.16 Ref

  Posted-In: Huge Put PurchasesNews Options Markets

5 Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy For 2017: MGT Capital Investments Inc(MGT)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  MGT Capital Investments Inc. (NYSE: MGT) shares shot up 73 percent to $2.98 after John McAfee proposed to become Executive Chairman and CEO.

  Shares of Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: ANAC) got a boost, shooting up 55 percent to $99.49 after the company agreed to be acquired by Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) for $99.25 per share.

• [By Lisa Levin]

  MGT Capital Investments Inc. (NYSE: MGT) was down, falling around 24 percent to $2.47 as the company reported that it has received a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission. MGT Capital said there is no indication that ‘the company is or will be the subject of any enforcement proceedings.’

5 Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy For 2017: Intuitive Surgical Inc.(ISRG)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Hogue]

  Enter Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq: ISRG) and Da Vinci, a robotic arm that allows surgeons to operate with just a single incision less than an inch in size.

• [By Benzinga News Desk]

  Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Reports Q4 EPS $0.69 vs. Est. $0.58, Rev. $22.64B vs. Est. $22.14B
  Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG) Reports Q2 GAAP EPS $4.71, Adj. EPS $5.62 vs $4.97 Est., Sales $670.1M vs $540.7M Est.
  Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) Q2 EPS ($0.14) vs ($0.19) est, Revenue $3.84B vs $3.75B est
  Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) Q2 EPS $0.75 vs $0.59 est, Revenue $8.9B vs $8.3B est