The first half of 2021 wrapped up with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq at or close to record highs.
But not all stocks have kept up. Take-Two, Penn National Gaming, Clorox and Peloton are among the worst-performing names over the past six months.
CNBC’s “Trading Nation” asked its traders about which could go from worst to first in the second half of the year.
Quint Tatro, president of Joule Financial, said it makes sense to take a barbell approach with the group. On the growth side, he highlights Take-Two as one name with potential.
“This is a company obviously in the gaming space, has an exceptional balance sheet, no long-term debt, they grew earnings last year at 45%, trading at a forward multiple of 25, but what we like most is they’ve been compounding their book value over 30% per year. So it’s an incredible compounder and a growth stock trading basically at recent lows, we like that,” Tatro said Wednesday.
Take-Two has fallen 15% this year. It has also pulled back 18% from a high set in February.
“Then on the flip side, over in the value space, you’ve got Clorox, which has really struggled of late. They have a lot of debt, but I think it’s fascinating that they continue to grow their free cash flow which we like,” Tatro said. “If we continue to see these inflationary concerns, obviously, they have price elasticity with their products, and they should be able to pass that onto the consumer and you get paid 2.5% to wait.”
Bill Baruch, president of Blue Line Capital, said Clorox does hold potential, though he is not in the stock at the moment.
“When it came down to $180 it really came back on my radar … and you could look to be buying this right here, there’s definitely some construction out of a trend line,” Baruch said during the same segment. “If you’re looking for more of a defensive name to add this could be one.”
Clorox is down 11% this year and closed Wednesday just below $180.
“Peloton is another,” said Baruch. “It’s a great company and I just think it’s gotten out ahead of itself a bit and it’s really come in. There’s a good inverse head and shoulders pattern which is bullish, it’s held the 50-day moving average off the right shoulder, $115 may be a good area to look to [as a buy].”
Peloton has fallen 18% in 2021 and closed Wednesday at $124.
