We recently compiled a list of 8 Cheap Growth Stocks to Buy According to Analysts. In this article, we will look at where AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) ranks among the cheap growth stocks to buy according to analysts.

Why Is the Market Still Volatile After Rate Cuts?

When the Federal Reserve cut rates last week there was a general anticipation that the market would rise. However, that has not been the case. Tom Lee, Fundstrat Global Advisors managing partner and head of research joined CNBC for an interview recently to talk about why the market is not performing as expected. The Federal Reserve has unleashed an easing cycle on the market, which is supposed to have a positive effect. Tom Lee believes that the market is positive historically if we look at a 3-month or a 6-month picture. However, the behavior of the market for the next 40 days is a coin flip.

Two reasons why there is volatility are first because there was some repositioning in the market due to the rate cuts and secondly the market is now entering into the 40-day election period. Tom believes that the positive effect that the rate cut was supposed to have has not vanished but is delayed until after the elections. Talking about his personal experience coming from various conferences and meetings, he thinks that a major chunk of the population doesn’t want to commit capital before the election. Moreover, it doesn’t matter who wins, but the public just wants to have the election day in their rear mirror before they take the capital out.

We recently covered an article about 7 Cheap Blue Chip Stocks to Invest in Now, where we talked about how the S&P 500 index has been overcrowded with Technology companies and has somewhat lost its diversity. Here’s an excerpt  from the article:

“Turning back to how investors might revisit their idea of S&P being a low-risk investment. This idea was pitched by Bill Nygren, the Chief Investment Officer at Oakmark Funds in a recent CNBC interview. His approach reflects a strategic shift as to how investors might view the S&P 500 and mega-cap stocks in the current market situation. He pointed out that while the index has traditionally been viewed as a diversified index, in reality, it is just a bet on a few large technology companies. Currently, around half of the S&P 500 is dominated by some 25 large tech names, which essentially diminishes its original diversification.

Bill Nygren, emphasized the importance of having a more diversified portfolio beyond just mega-cap stocks. He believes that diversification of the portfolio provides better risk-adjusted returns compared to relying solely on a few big companies. We have also discussed Matt Stucky, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management’s chief equities portfolio manager, talking about a similar strategy in 13 Most Undervalued Blue Chip Stocks To Buy According To Analysts.

The investment strategy that Nygren is vouching for suggests that the current market scenario where investors are favoring positive momentum stocks can lead to missed opportunities in other undervalued sectors such as financials and energy. He believes that the potential lucrativeness of the Tech sector has overcrowded the space creating opportunity in other sectors.”

Lee also supports the idea that the S&P 500 index is a bet on the technology sector. He believes that if the technology sector does not resume its role as the leader and declines, it is going to be difficult for the rest of the stocks to hold up.

Lee has been a fan of small-cap stocks and closely analyzes the Russell 2000 index. He acknowledges that the index has been slow, however, the fundamental investment case for small caps remains the same. Lee thinks that bottoms of the year are not always straight up and the probability of the market making record highs next year remains high. His investment thesis is to buy the dip if the market goes down during the election days as the current market condition ensures that the positive effect is just around the corner.

Our Methodology

To compile the list of 8 cheap growth stocks to buy according to analysts, we used the Finviz stock screener to aggregate an initial list of stocks. We searched for cheap stocks in various growth industries including Technology, Healthcare, Biotechnology, and Telecommunications, among others. Our criteria for “cheap” is stocks trading below the forward price-to-earnings ratio of 23.98 (the market’s forward P/E as per the Wall Street Journal) and earnings expected to grow during the year. Using this criteria we compiled a list of 20 cheap growth stocks and then ranked them as per their analyst upside potential sourced from CNN. The list is ranked in ascending order of the analyst upside potential.

Why do we care about what hedge funds do? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Forward P/E Ratio: 18.98

Earnings Growth This Year: 37.70%  

Analyst Upside Potential: 20.94% 

AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) is an international biopharmaceutical company based in the United Kingdom. It leads in developing and selling prescription medicines that focus on curing oncology, cardiovascular, respiratory, and other rare diseases.

The company has a cheap valuation with a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 19 and earnings are expected to grow by 37.70% this year. It also has some aggressive growth projections which makes it one of the cheap growth stocks to buy according to analysts.

AstraZeneca PLC’s (NASDAQ:AZN) pipeline looks robust with more than 200 ongoing projects. Moreover, it is also benefiting from the steady growth in cancer treatment. Three of its cancer treatment drugs Imfinzi, Tagrisso, and Enhertu are in their final clinical trial phases, indicating significant upcoming growth for the company.

The company grew its top line by 18% year-over-year during the first half of 2024, mainly due to its strong performance in the United States region and outperforming the Oncology segment. The total revenue for the United States was also up 18% during the first half, whereas, the Oncology segment drove the revenue higher by growing 22% during the same time.

In terms of profitability, AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) improved its operating profit by 7% and management believes its revenue and core EPS to grow between mid-teens for the rest of the year. 30 analysts have a consensus Buy rating on the stock, with their 12-month median price target presenting towards 21% upside from current levels.

Parnassus Growth Equity Fund stated the following regarding AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:

“AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) gained after announcing robust first-quarter results and setting 2030 targets at an Investor Day that were above consensus expectations. We continue to believe that AstraZeneca’s robust pipeline and industry-leading innovation in oncology should support above-expectation revenue growth for the next several years.”

Overall AZN ranks 8th on our list of cheap growth stocks to buy according to analysts. While we acknowledge the potential of AZN to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for a promising AI stock that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure. None. This article is originally published on Insider Monkey.