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Americans are heading into the Fourth of July holiday with an economy that has been nothing short of resilient. Last week, the Commerce Department revised U.S. GDP growth higher, to 2% from 1.3%, for the first quarter. Meanwhile, initial jobless claims fell to 239,000 for the week ended June 24 — reaching their lowest level in about a month. The U.S. economy also added 339,000 jobs in May, much more than expected . Other signs of resilience include strength in the travel industry. Delta Air Lines last week hiked its full-year earnings per share guidance, citing strong demand and customers trading up for more expensive fare classes . AAA also projects a record 50.7 million Americans will travel for the Fourth of July. That all comes even as the Federal Reserve continues to raise rates to cool inflation, while many Wall Street economists and strategists call for a recession. Given this backdrop, CNBC Pro set out to find the stocks that can capitalize the most from a strong U.S. economy. Here are the criteria: S & P 1,500 component Have buy ratings from more than 60% of analysts Market cap of $1 billion or more 80% of revenue comes from the U.S. Headquartered in the U.S. Top three for each sector when sorted by potential upside Caesars Entertainment made the cut, with 75% of analysts rating it a buy and 100% of its revenue coming from the U.S. Analysts also see the stock rallying more than 46% over the next 12 months. The casino operator is coming off a strong first-half performance, rising more than 22% to start the year. Solar energy stock Sunrun also made the list. Three-quarters of analysts covering the company have a buy rating on it, with the average price target implying upside of more than 90%. Sunrun shares have struggled this year, losing more than 25%. That said, Evercore ISI analyst James West thinks the tide is about to turn for the stock. “The company is experiencing strong momentum across all its sales channels,” he said in a note in June. “RUN still expects to grow solar energy capacity installed by 10-15% in 2023. This would equate to adding over 1 GW of capacity this year, the equivalent of an average nuclear power plant which takes decades to build. Its scale is impressive as the company now operates in 22 states plus DC and Puerto Rico, covering the majority of the population across the U.S.” RUN YTD mountain RUN in 2023 Another name that made the list is Citizens Financial . Two-thirds of analysts rate it a buy, and the average price target implies upside of more than 30%. Shares of the regional bank have struggled in 2023, losing more than 30%. Other stocks that made the cut include Frontier Communications , Marriott Vacations , Marathon Oil , Scotts Miracle-Gro and energy company PPL .
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