Business
Beat the Market the Zacks Way: Amgen, DRDGOLD, Anavex in Focus
Beat the Market the Zacks Way: Amgen, DRDGOLD, Anavex in Focus
About this update from Drdgold Ltd.
Last Friday, the three most widely followed benchmark indexes closed a losing week. The S&P 500, the Nasdaq Composite and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 2.3%, 2.4% and 3.1%, respectively.For the S&P 500 and the tech-focused Nasdaq, it was four straight weeks of losses. Throughout the week, the Trump administration’s tariff policies continued to influence trading in the markets. Uncertainty around tariff imposition weighed on investor mood even as inflation numbers came in cooler than expected. Consumer Sentiment came in pretty low.In fact, market sentiments have sent investors running for cover toward safe-haven assets like gold. All eyes are firmly set on the Fed’s March meeting on Wednesday, wherein the central bank will declare its policy moves. Currently, it is widely expected that the interest rate level will go untouched.Regardless of market conditions, we, here at Zacks, provide investors with unbiased guidance on how to beat the market. As usual, Zacks Research guided investors over the past three months with its time-tested methodologies. Given the prevailing market uncertainty, you may want to look at our feats to prepare better for your next action.Here are some of our key achievements:DRDGOLD and Life Time Group Surge Following Zacks Rank UpgradeShares of DRDGOLD Limited DRD have gained 45.1% (versus the S&P 500’s 6.6% decrease) since it was upgraded to a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) on January 22.Another stock, Life Time Group Holdings, Inc. LTH, which was also upgraded to a Zacks Rank #1 on January 20, has returned 3.9% (versus the S&P 500’s 5.8% decrease) since then.A hypothetical portfolio of Zacks Rank # 1 (Strong Buy) stocks returned -3.48% in January 2025 (through February 3rd) vs. -0.60% for the S&P 500 index and -2.75% for the equal-weight version of the indexThis portfolio returned +22.3% in 2024, vs. +28% for the S&P 500 index and +19.9% for the equal-weight version of the S&P 500 index. This hypothetical portfolio returned +20.63% in 2023 vs. +24.83% for the S&P 500 index and +15% for the equal-weight S&P 500 index. The portfolio of Zacks Rank #1 stocks is an equal-weight portfolio, while the S&P 500 index is a market-cap-weighted index that has been notably distorted by the concentrated performance of mega-cap stocks since late 2022. The Zacks Model Portfolio - consisting of Zacks Rank #1 stocks – has outperformed the S&P...