AMD Stock, AI Play And New S&P 500 Member Lead 5 Stocks Near Buy Points

This weekend, (AMD) is the top stock on our list of five stocks with buy-points. AMD is trying to improve its AI to compete against Nvidia. Dynatrace's (DT ) software platform monitors IT network, predicting and resolving AI and automation issues. Marriott International (MAR), Las Vegas Sands(LVS), and Insulet, a new S&P500 member that makes tubeless, body-worn insulin pumps (PODD) are also joining AMD stock and DT.

LVS's casino properties in Macau, Singapore, and Hong Kong are recovering following the lifting of Covid restrictions. LVS is a part of IBD Leaderboard, an elite portfolio of stocks. DT stock has been added to SwingTrader's portfolio and is included in the IBD 50 list, which includes leading growth stocks.

S&P 500 stocks rallied off their 50-day moving median in Friday's stock market activity. This kept the rally going after the Federal Reserve announced a pause on rate hikes Wednesday. The economic background remains a concern. Bank troubles and the debt limit may also add to the volatility. To stay on top of the market and its direction, read IBD’s The Big Picture daily.

AMD Stock

AMD still indicated a second-half growth led by data center chips as it ramped up its new offerings.

The AMD stock rose 6% on Thursday after Bloomberg reported that Microsoft and AMD were working together to develop AI chips. The partnership was not as significant after Microsoft challenged Bloomberg's story. However, AMD stock gained 3.7% on Friday to 89.84, regaining the 50-day line.

A move beyond the 50-day mark could provide an opportunity for early entry. AMD's stock will be a good buy if it reaches 91.74 cents, or 10 cents higher than Thursday's high. According to MarketSmith, AMD stock's official buy point is 102.53 after a six-week consolidation.

DT Stock

IBD Stock of the Day was featured on Thursday. The article highlighted analysts' views that Dynatrace has an advantage over competitors such as Datadog and Cisco Systems because of the artificial intelligence capabilities and automation features of its Grail platform.

These capabilities are highly sought after as companies look to optimize their cloud expenditures in a challenging operating environment for technology firms. This optimization has affected the results of large cloud companies like Amazon's AWS.

DT's stock jumped 0.7% to 43.96 on Friday, following a big jump on Thursday due to Datadog's earnings. DT stock has a lot of potential after last week's rally, which broke a trendline from its recent peak on Feb. 7, and cleared its April 19 high of 43.42.

Officially, the buy point for a cup base of 13 weeks is 48.10. However, given that market uncertainty, this high entry level may not be ideal.

Dynatrace has been added to the S&P MidCap 400 Index since September last year.

Stock MAR

Marriott International posted a solid earnings beat Tuesday. EPS rose 67% to 2,09, and revenue increased 34% to $5.61 billion. Marriott raised its EPS forecast for 2023 to $7.97-$8.42, up from $7.23-7.91. Analysts were expecting $7.74.

Richard Clarke, Bernstein analyst, raised his price target on MAR from 178 to 204 and upgraded his rating to Outperform. He highlighted Marriott’s lead in revenue generated per available room, and the potential for net unit growth acceleration.

MAR's stock rose 5% Tuesday on the back of earnings, but then it hit resistance when it tried to test a buy point at 181.65 from a base cup with handle that lasted 54 weeks. The handle of 12 weeks is long enough to be considered as a base.

Investors may have seen 175.21, cleared on Tuesday, as an entry point or a buy-point within the 12-week consolidation.

The relative strength line of MAR, which is the blue line on IBD charts, that tracks the stock's progress compared to the S&P 500 index, reached a new record over the last week.

Marriott and other travel stock have been volatile over the last year or so, with bullish movements and then a fallback.

LVS Stock

Las Vegas Sands' stock price jumped to a buy range after its Q1 earnings were released on April 20. LVS stock has been boosted by more positive news regarding travel and gaming after the end of China’s Covid blockade.

LVS's stock reached a new high early last week after Macau officials announced that April gaming revenues soared 450% compared to a year earlier, reaching 14.72 billion patacas or $1.82bn -- the highest since before the pandemic of coronavirus.

Las Vegas Sands owns five properties in Macau, and one in Singapore.

LVS's stock fell 0.1% on Friday to 61.65. This is a 3.45% drop for the week. LVS has a buy point of 60.40 from a base cup with handle. The zone of purchase extends through 63.42.

PODD Stock

Insulet's Q1 earnings blew past the forecasts after Thursday close. The adjusted EPS was 34 cents as opposed to 11 cents. This is down from 40 cents one year ago. Revenue increased 21%, to $358.1m, compared with estimates of $330.9m. The trends are stronger than it appears because of a 98% decline in non-core drug delivery revenue.

Insulet has raised its growth forecast for 2023 to 18%-22%, up from 14%-19%. The sales of Omnipod insulin pump in the U.S. is expected to rise 27%-31% compared to the previous 21%-26% forecast.

Jeff Johnson, Baird's analyst, raised his price target on PODD from 350 to 3750, while maintaining an Outperform rating. He cited domestic market share gains and conservative guidance.

PODD rose by 2% on Friday to 328.76. PODD is trading in a buy range, above a buy point of 320.10, which is 10 cents higher than the high from November 4. PODD had been in a tight pattern for five weeks, with gains and losses no greater than 1.5%. This gives a 328.97 price entry.