You can’t buy them … at least not yet. Possibly soon, however.

What’s that? Initial public offerings that are in the works, but not quite yet ready for the market. There’s an interesting list of names investors have been eyeing for a while now, waiting for the day they’d complete their respective IPOs and become publicly traded entities.

Yes, this list includes outfits like the oft-ballyhooed ride-sharing service Uber, though it also includes organizations like the more obscure Acquia, which provides cloud-based business software. Just like their already-trading brethren, there’s a little bit of everything in the next round of public offerings.

That being said, seven of these potential publicly traded stocks are more interesting than the rest. Here’s a preview of those companies, should they actually go through with their suggested IPO plans.

In no particular order…

Source: Shutterstock

Hot IPOs to Come: Uber

Truth be told, a bunch of investors are surprised ride-hailing organization Uber hasn’t gone public yet; the idea has been floating around for a couple of years now.

On the other hand, in light of the company’s public stumbles of late, perhaps Uber knows it would be a “tough sell” to prospective investors. Namely, now-former CEO Travis Kalanick was indirectly implicated in sexual harassment allegations, but was also at the helm at a time when the company hired drivers with criminal records.

For an organization that is not yet profitable (and which may never actually become profitable), asking investors for more funding now might not work very well this soon. Later this year or early next year, however, investors will likely have forgiven and forgotten.

Source: Shutterstock

Hot IPOs to Come: Ancestry.com

You know the company. Ancestry.com not only sells access to a platform that lets people track down their ancestors, but now also offers DNA testing that will help identify where an individual’s ancestors came from, in terms of geography. It has been a hot business for a while now, and the market only continues to grow.

That’s why the company almost went public in the latter half of last year, starting to talk with investment banks that would take care of the underwriting. At the proverbial eleventh hour, though, then-CEO Tim Sullivan stepped down, prompting the postponement of the initial public offering.

There’s some speculation he resigned and the company delayed the IPO because growth was slowing; a corporation generally wants to seek funding while it’s firing on all cylinders. Its former growth pace may well re-materialize before the end of the year.

Hot IPOs to Come: Pinterest

Conceptually speaking, the idea of a website that simply lets you collect digital images of things you’re interested in and pin them to a virtual bulletin board seems silly. There are 175 million regular users of the Pinterest platform, however, that seem to have become addicted. More are added all the time.

What has not quite happened yet is the degree of monetization the organization was hoping for. It set a target of $500 million in revenue for last year, but when it came up short it reportedly prompted the company to postpone the public offering it had planned for 2018.

Those plans may be accelerated, however, if the hiring of the company’s first-ever COO is any indication. Former Square Inc (NYSE:SQ) and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) executive Francoise Brougher may inject just the discipline Pinterest needs to get over its fiscal hurdles.

Source: Shutterstock

Hot IPOs to Come: BuzzFeed

BuzzFeed, the news (and sometimes not-so-newsy) website is near the top 200 visited sites in the world, and in the top 100 in the United States. That’s enough to generate roughly $300 million in revenue last year, most of it coming from ad sales. In fact, the company was prepping an IPO last year for this year.

That work was halted, however, when BuzzFeed fell short of its 2017 revenue goal that would have made it an easier sell to investors. The idea didn’t go away though. In fact, the Wall Street Journalreported in November “One person close to BuzzFeed said the performance reflects a more general malaise this year in ad-supported media businesses and isn’t particular to the company.”

In the meantime, note that revenue is actually still growing for the company, even if not as much as hoped.  If the web’s traffic undertow perks up again, BuzzFeed is apt to strike while the proverbial iron is hot.

Hot IPOs to Come: Xiaomi

Ironically, though Xiaomi is probably the least familiar name of potential public offerings for U.S. investors to keep on their radar, it’s arguably the most compelling growth prospect of the bunch.

Xiaomi is, among other things, a smartphone maker. Its wares are still a little bit tough to buy in the U.S., though that’s slowly changing.

In the meantime, its phones, cameras, televisions and fitness bands are all become popular in China thanks to their high-quality at a low price. During the fourth quarter of last year, its share of the worldwide smartphone market nearly doubled from 3.6% to 6.9%.

That’s still relatively small compared to the likes of the iPhone from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and comparable smartphones from Samsung Electronics (OTCMKTS:SSNLF). Growth opportunities are relative though, and this young-ish Chinese company is starting to make waves that could bode well for an IPO many people say is coming this year.

Source: ©iStock.com/bestdesigns

Hot IPOs to Come: 23andMe

Even if you only watch a little bit of television, you know this company as well as you know Ancestry. 23andMe offers genetic testing that lets you identify you’re cultural and geographic heritage.

It’s not just a matter of satisfying curiosity though — 23andMe also offers an analysis of your DNA that will help determine your genetic predisposition to certain health problems. There’s not always something that can be done to completely prevent those diseases and illnesses, but knowing is half the battle.

More important to investors, the whispers that the company is coming to a public-trading exchange near you are circulating again.

That hasn’t always been the case. In September of last year the company raised $200 million in private funding, implying a company value of $1.5 billion. The usual next step, however, is a public offering that ultimately allows initial investors a chance to ‘cash out’ of their stake by creating a market of retail investors.

Hot IPOs to Come: Acquia

Last but not least, add Acquia to your IPO watchlist.

The average consumer/investor won’t be familiar with it. Acquia offers a cloud-based platform that lets companies offload the headache of content management, app hosting and e-commerce.

It’s not a bad business to be in, though it’s a hyper-competitive one. That may be why it has not initiated a public offering yet — the company knows it has to decidedly differentiate itself, and its core website-building platform called Drupal is simply unpopular relative to the web’s use of rival platform WordPress.

A relatively new CEO may be just the shake-up Acquia needs though. Michael Sullivan, who took the helm in November, has the right experience, and looks poised to turn the company into an outfit that’s ready for the IPO that’s been discussed as far back as 2015.

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Like me, I’m sure many of you already follow the ‘strong buy’ recommendations of analysts that receive a lot of attention, analysts that work for leading financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse (to name but a few). But there is a completely different group of financial experts who are also capable of delivering robust returns for investors — financial bloggers. So which stocks are bloggers raving about right now?

Here, I combine the wisdom of both financial bloggers and the Street to find 7 top stocks. I used the nifty TipRanks Stock Screener to scan for stocks which have a Very Bullish sentiment from top bloggers and a Strong Buy consensus rating from top analysts. These are the best-performing analysts who consistently outperform the market based on their success rate and average return per rating. You can track these analysts to ensure you are basing crucial investing decisions on analysts who tend to get it right.

From the list generated by these criteria, I picked these 7 compelling ‘Strong Buy’ stocks. Now let’s dig down into just why these top stocks are so popular with online bloggers right now:

Strong Buy Stock: Microsoft (MSFT)

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has no shortage of supporters right now. And two of the most recent bullish blogger pieces highlight a crucial element of the MSFT story for investors — dividends. Did you know that Microsoft has managed to grow its dividend by 225% in just eight years? Top blogger Valuentum Securities Inc. even wonders if MSFT is setting itself up as a future Dividend Aristocrat. This is the name given to an elite handful of companies that have raised their dividends consecutively for over 25 years.

MSFT’s dividend prowess comes from the fact that this is one of the most cash-rich companies around. Right now the company is sitting on a stupendous cash pile of around $135 billion. These cash flows are partly generated by the extreme success of MSFT’s Azure cloud platform. Top blogger InvestorPlace’s Aaron Levitt praises Microsoft’s renaissance as a cloud company under the leadership of CEO Satya Nadella. He points out that in the last quarter Azure grew 90% year-over-year.

Five-star KeyBanc analyst Brent Bracelin agrees. He picks MSFT as one of his favorite cloud platforms to own in software as:

“The combination of Office 365, Azure and Dynamics 365 not only makes Microsoft the largest cloud platform in the world, but also ranks it as one of the fastest-growing among its Cloud Titan peers.”

Bracelin — one of the Top 50 analysts on TipRanks — reiterates his Buy rating with a $110 price target.

Strong Buy Stock: Alcoa (AA)

Source: Josh Hallett via Flickr (Modified)

High-flying aluminum stock Alcoa Corporation (NYSE:AA) is a great buy right now. The stock has the seal of approval from both bloggers and the Street. Indeed we can see that blogger sentiment is 100% bullish with positive articles from publications across the board.

This upbeat mood comes on the back of the company’s stellar Q1 earnings results and guidance. For the quarter, AA announced profit of 77 cents per share and revenue of $3.09 billion. These figures easily exceeded consensus expectations of 70 cents and $3.08 billion respectively. Berenberg Bank explains in its mining report: “The confluence of current events (trade actions, sanctions and supply disruptions) has created highly favorable trading environments for Alcoa.”

Encouragingly, top blogger IP.com’s James Brumley believes that “things could get even better for Alcoa as the year progresses.”  The company is projecting a full-year 2018 global deficit for both alumina and aluminum.

In the recent earnings call, AA revealed that: “Due to delays in projects to expand smelters in China, the Company expects the global aluminum deficit to grow to between 600,000 – 1 million metric tons, up from last quarter’s deficit estimate of between 300,000 – 700,000 metric tons.” Meanwhile global aluminum demand is due to rise 4.25 to 5.25%.

And this tightening aluminum market further strengthens AA’s pricing power. As a result, management has upgraded 2018 guidance and signaled their intention to return cash to shareholders in Q2.

Strong Buy Stock: XPO Logistics (XPO)

Bloggers are raving over transportation hot stock XPO Logistics Inc (NYSE:XPO) right now. And with good reason. With over 95,000 employees, the company is an industry leader in both transportation and logistics. But it is the company’s ‘rock solid’ business that is really getting commentators excited.

Leo Nelissen notes that revenue is growing at a CAGR of 87% since 2014 while EBITA is growing at 157%. These figures are through the roof. He calls the stock a “real winner” (Editor’s note: source is behind a paywall) due to its massive growth spurt across the US and Europe. In fact XPO has huge expansion potential in Europe where it has its eye on the $455 billion European transport segment. Already XPO is the largest provider of truck brokerage and largest owned fleet in Europe.

From a Street perspective, we can also see that XPO boasts 100% buy ratings from best-performing analysts. In the last three months, six top analysts have published buy ratings on the stock. Meanwhile their average price target of $113 indicates just over 8% upside potential from the current share price.

Top Oppenheimer analyst Scott Schneeberger is more bullish than consensus. He sees shares spiking 14% and explains that XPO won $2.8B (annualized revenue) of new business in 2017 with a global pipeline of $3.2B. “Pairing strong business conditions/ the 2017 new business wins, we anticipate high-single digit organic revenue growth in 1Q18, which could persist over the balance of 2018” concludes Schneeberger.

Strong Buy Stock: Applied Materials (AMAT)

This semiconductor stock may be a controversial choice right now but as far as bloggers are concerned, it’s full steam ahead. Share prices in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) are down from close to $58 on April 17 to just above $51. Weighing on the semiconductor space is China’s plan to boost domestic chip production as part of its ongoing trade tussle with the US.

However, the subsequent pullback in prices has been described as a ‘kneejerk’ reaction by bloggers. Crucially, as blogger Joseph Hargett points out, Chinese semiconductor firms are far behind their US, Japanese and European rivals. “In other words, competition from Chinese chip makers isn’t coming anytime soon, making yesterday’s selloff rather premature,” states Hargett.

Plus with prices at these levels, the Street is now predicting considerable upside potential of over 42%. This would take shares to over $72. Nine analysts have published buy ratings on AMAT recently — so no hold or sell ratings here. Analysts are confident that demand for DRAM chips remains favorable with “upward memory spending pressure.”

One of these analysts is TipRanks’ Number 2 analyst, Craig Ellis from B.Riley FBR. He recently reiterated his AMAT buy rating with a $77 price target. “We believe AMAT’s +100% dividend boost and $6.0B share buyback hike to $8.8B exemplify confidence in fundamentals sustainability and growth execution,” writes Ellis.

Strong Buy Stock: Align Technology (ALGN)

Source: Shutterstock

Global medical device company Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN) wins the award of top-performing S&P 500 stock in 2017. Shares shot up in the year from $96 to $223 during the year. The company is pioneering a new wave of teeth straightening technology with its popular ‘clear aligners.’ So say goodbye to the high school movie makeover, because this is fast becoming an increasingly feasible alternative to traditional braces.

“We’ve seen a maturation of Invisalign’s clear aligners over the past decade,” explains Robert W Baird analyst Jeff Johnson. “They went from a product that was passable for some patients but not good for all back in 2011, to a product that by mid-2016, had orthodontists saying ‘I can use this technology in most cases.’”

Luckily for investors it seems like Align’s growth spurt is only just beginning. Top-ranked blogger Keith Speights believes Align has the power to double again over the next couple of years. First of all — even with the rapid uptake — the company still only accounts for 11% of the global orthodontics market. This means its expansion potential is huge. And at the same time, aligners are currently usable in only 65% of teeth misalignment cases. Align wants to take this figure to 80%.

The stock is also a top pick from the Street. Note that Goldman Sachs has also just selected Align as one of its 30 buy-rated high dispersion stocks. This means that it boasts “micro driven, idiosyncratic returns” not dictated by the general market forces. Good news when the market is as choppy and unpredictable as it is right now.

Strong Buy Stock: Home Depot (HD)

Source: Mike Mozart via Flickr (Modified)

Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) is a key beneficiary of the housing market upswing. A recent report by CoreLogic reveals that US house prices are peaking again. The average home price is now 1% higher than it was in 2006, the report said — with the greatest improvement in West Coast states.

According to TipRanks, this home improvement chain store boasts a 91% bullish blogger rating right now. This works out way more bullish than the average services sector stock. Indeed, just a couple of days ago, five-star blogger Valuentum Securities Inc. described Home Depot as ‘building for the long haul.’ The financial blogger continued:

“We find Home Depot’s comparable store sales numbers highly impressive, but we find its return on invested capital (ROIC) targets downright amazing.” Indeed, its targeted ROIC stands at a very impressive 40%.

Meanwhile Morgan Stanley’s Simeon Gutman sees the stock spiking a further 19%. He is betting on the stock following ‘reassuring’ meetings with Home Depot management. Gutman told clients:

“Our meetings reinforced several strengths of the story: a favorable macro backdrop, an ability to take market share through differentiation, investing for the future, and organizational cohesion that increases productivity and efficiency while minimizing execution risk.”

Strong Buy Stock: Booking Holdings (BKNG)

Source: Shutterstock

Last, but by no means least, we have this extremely promising online travel company. Andres Cardenal is one of the Top 100 bloggers out of over 6,400 tracked by TipRanks. On April 10 he sets out why he is such a fan of the Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) — formerly known as Priceline.com. I particularly like this point “the company makes massive amounts of money.” (Editor’s Note: Paywall)

This is borne out by the facts — Booking was making $1.88 billion in revenue in 2008, fast forward ten years, and the Street is looking for $14.18 billion in revenue this year.

In fact, Booking has just disclosed a total of 28MM listings on its platform, of which 5.2MM listings are Alternative Accommodations. As a result, Booking now exceeds Airbnb’s ~4.85MM, to become the leading supplier of alternative accommodations. This trend is set to continue according to Mizuho Securities James Lee. He has recently initiated BKNG with a buy rating.

Even though the stock is already trading at $2,140 he sees big upside potential of 20%. This means we are looking at prices around the $2,600 mark. Lee believes Booking will continue to gain “disproportional” market share due to its “industry-leading expertise” in performance marketing. In fact, out of the 16 recent analyst ratings on the stock, 13 are bullish with only 3 analysts staying on the sidelines.

In the early stages of an uptrend, it’s hard to tell just how far a stock will rally. Sometimes these trends are short-lived and “only” give us a 10% return. Other times though, these trends are good for several years and return 100% or more.

Telling the difference in the beginning is tough and too many investors take a pass on something because it’s up 10% or 20% in a few months. While there’s no such thing as a risk-free bet, they’re leaving a ton of reward on the table by avoiding the name simply because of its recent rally. It reminded me of a line from a great writer, Richard Saintvilus:

“One lesson, among many others, I’ve learned on Wall Street is that it’s never too late to make the right call. And if ever that proverbial train “leaves the station,” there’s nothing wrong to admit you were wrong and chase that train to get back on board — even if the ticket costs more to ride.”

A stock rallying from $105 to $125 in a few months is a lot and may make many feel they’ve missed the train. But what if we ignored a good fundamental situation because “it had rallied too much.” Ultimately nine months later that stock is sitting another $50 per share higher and we ignored it. We sat out a $50 per share gain because of its $20 rally? That doesn’t make any sense.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at 8 solid stocks that are still in an uptrend and may still have farther to go.

Uptrend Stocks to Buy: Netflix

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) has been on a mission, both in reality and in the stock market. The company’s goal is to become the leader in global streaming. With 125 million customers, it’s well on its way to fulfilling that leadership goal. Heck, its market cap is just $7 billion short of Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS).

That puts things in perspective a bit.

But NFLX stock has been even more impressive than the company. It’s up 132% over the past 12 months and 73% since the start of 2018. That’s paved a solid — if also explosive — uptrend for investors. Take note of the chart to see what I mean.

As you can see, Netflix stock has been a beast. Notice that when it started 2018, shares weren’t over $200 yet! Now we’re already over $300. The move has been intense, but so long as the trends stay in place it’s hard to bet against NFLX.

Over its previous highs and above $330, Netflix stock is basing nicely. Momentum is strong and the stock is not yet overbought (blue peaks on the chart). Should nearby support fail, investors would be lucky to gobble up the stock near $300. There should be support near this level, along with the 50-day moving average and a rising uptrend line of support.

Given that the company just beat earnings, revenue and subscriber estimates, as well as provided subscriber guidance that topped analyst estimates, I’d rather be a buyer on dips than a seller on rips.

Uptrend Stocks to Buy: Nvidia

Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) has been one of the market’s best performers. If you bought this name at the start of 2016 and forgot how to hit the sell button, you’d be sitting on a 600% gain in Nvidia. While the move has been extraordinary, we could be setting up for even more gains.

Looking at the charts, it’s pretty obvious that Nvidia has been struggling to eclipse the $250 mark. On three separate occasions this year, shares have rallied to this point only to fail and stumble lower.

Thursday’s 3% selloff could setup NVDA stock to retest the 100-day moving average and uptrend support that’s been in place for almost a year. As much as investors would hate to see this level fail though, I would love to get a shot at NVDA near $200. At this level, it would have the 200-day moving average and decent support to hold it.

Just like January 2017 through May 2017, it’s good to see Nvidia digest some of its massive move over the past 12 months. If there are worries about waning demand due to cryptocurrency headwinds, then Nvidia stock could see a further decline — perhaps down to that $200 level we’re wishing for.

While this is one of the strongest uptrend stocks we’ve seen, remember it has massive gains over the past few years. Eventually a big pullback wouldn’t be a surprise. If $200 comes, it would be a 20% decline for the highs. I’d love to buy into its secular upside on a short-term selloff.

Until then, the $250 breakout is still in play.

Uptrend Stocks to Buy: Boeing

Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) went from a frustratingly stubborn stock to one that couldn’t be stopped. Consider that BA stock was flat from January 2014 through October 2016, almost a three-year lull. However, shares then exploded 90% in 2017.

So what now?

It obviously wouldn’t be surprising to see Boeing stock settle down and consolidate a bit. Even bouncing between $300 and $360 for a few quarters would represent a relatively healthy consolidation period.

I like BA for its intense earnings growth, commitment to capital return and huge free-cash flow. It’s not the cheapest stock in the world anymore, but valuation and consolidation aren’t enough of a reason to sell the stock.

Shares still look great in the short-term, as our chart shows. Poking through resistance with plenty of support nearby, BA stock could retest its old highs if these patterns hold steady. It’s got bullish momentum and isn’t overbought yet either (blue circles on the chart).

Uptrend Stocks to Buy: Salesforce

salesforce.com, inc. (NASDAQ:CRM) has tripled since mid-2013, but its gains over the past 16 months have been truly impressive. Shares have quietly rallied 81% over that period, forming quite the uptrend in CRM.

This is one of my favorite names, because despite its $90 billion market cap, it still flies under the radar. Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) get all the credit for their cloud businesses.

Despite CRM still churning out incredible growth, it seems to be much less discussed than it was a few years ago. That’s not stopping the analysts, though. They expect annual revenue of about 20% for the next four years. On the earnings front, estimates call for almost 60% growth this year and another 26% growth next year.

While CRM is pretty expensive on an earnings basis, its sales-based valuation is actually pretty reasonable versus its peers. CRM has better growth than most of its large cap competition and far superior financials and cash flow compared to its smaller competition. It’s in a real sweet spot right now. Lastly, the company has a very long runway for growth — as seen by the long-term revenue predictions — giving investors confidence to buy the stock today.

Investors could easily draw an uptrend line on CRM’s chart to highlight the stock’s robust rally. But just look at the 100-day moving average instead. All three major moving averages are trending higher, but each time Salesforce pulls back to the 100-day, CRM has an intense bounce.

Uptrend Stocks to Buy: Roper

Roper Technologies Inc (NYSE:ROP) has been in a very steady uptrend over the last year and a half.

In fact, Roper was and still is one of my top Future Blue Chip stocks. Known for robust revenue and earnings growth today, management has demonstrated a tangible commitment to returning capital to shareholders. The goal here is simple: Allow the company’s robust growth to drive shares higher over the long-term and cement its position in our portfolio with a low cost basis, while enjoying management’s continued commitment to raising the dividend once the business is more matured.

Well, ROP sure is delivering on the first part of our strategy: allowing strong growth to drive shares higher. Since the start of 2017, Roper stock is up more than 50% and is up more than 35% over the past year.

I’m definitely not ready to bet against Roper anytime soon. However, some may start to grow concerned over its valuation and growth profile. Analysts expect sales growth of just 6.1% this year and 7% next year. That’s good, but not necessarily great. While 17.5% earnings growth this year is very solid, estimates of just 8.5% next year is sort of lackluster.

It may make some wonder if ROP stock is worth 25 times this year’s earnings and 23 times next year’s estimates. On the chart though, Roper still looks great.

There’s pretty clear resistance between $285 and $290, while uptrend support currently sits around $270. The 100-day is support as well. If these support levels give way though, the 200-day moving average would be my downside target. If ROP stock breaks over resistance, consider buying the breakout.

Uptrend Stocks to Buy: Visa and MasterCard

Let’s do a double for this one: Visa Inc (NYSE:V) and Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA). Both companies are huge beneficiaries of the same trend, as global consumers continue moving to credit and debit from cash and check. Further, growing e-commerce sales bode well for V and MA too, for obvious reasons.

The credit card business is attractive for many reasons, as V and MA serve as simple “toll booth” businesses. They don’t lend consumers money and they don’t take on big risks. Instead, when a consumer purchases goods or services from a merchant and pays via credit card, the merchant pays a fee that goes to V and MA.

While the pair of stocks may look expensive on a sales basis at first glance, the earnings-based valuation isn’t all that bad. Especially considering their double-digit earnings and revenue growth.

Throw in the fact that Visa has profit margins of almost 40% while MA has margins of 32% and we can see that these two are earning money hand over fist.

Both stocks tend to trade with a high correlation. They’ve been in a steady uptrend since early 2017 and I hate that I’ve taken some off the table since I first initiated a position almost six years ago.

As V and MA both bump up against resistance, they look like they’ll soon push through to new highs, short of another market-wide selloff.

Uptrend Stocks to Buy: Raytheon

Like Roper, Raytheon Company (NYSE:RTN) is another under-the-radar company. However, its stock sure has become something to talk about, with shares up about 50% over the past 12 months.

While the rest of the market has been floundering, RTN stock is already up more than 21%. That’s what happens when a company makes anti-missile defense systems and the U.S. military has an annual budget of roughly $700 billion.

While the U.S. government utilizes other anti-missile defense systems — Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) also makes one — the desire for countries to boost their defensive capabilities continues to increase. That’s no surprise given the tension on the Korean Peninsula and continuing conflicts in the Middle East.

Despite expectations calling for revenue growth of about 5% this year and next year, earnings are set to explode — no pun intended. Analysts are looking for 27% growth this year and more than 15% growth in 2019. With earnings growth outpacing revenue growth, look for margins to expand as well. If the government keeps spending like Trump has so far, expect more lucrative contracts in the future, too.

After flagging the stock as a potential breakout candidate earlier this month, the recent 52-week highs come as little surprise. Going forward, look for RTN to make even more highs so long as its uptrend support holds steady (as shown on the chart). Keep in mind, the average analyst price target sits at $240.

It’s been a treacherous few months for investors. As of this writing, stocks remain range bound between two major technical support levels. On the upside, the S&P 500 is contending with its 50-day moving average. Last week, the 200-day average provided critical support.

What happens throughout the rest of the year depends in large part on how the market resolves this stalemate.

But from this vantage of volatility and uncertainty, a few major trends are clear. And for investors trying to cut through the noise, here are seven monster trends and seven ways to ride these catalysts toward a better 2019:

Monster Market Trends: Amazon (AMZN) Eats the World

Source: Shutterstock

Multiple Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) related headlines have crossed in recent days, serving as a reminder just how quickly and aggressively the company is diversifying into new business areas.

Like shipping logistics. And meal boxes. And possible initiatives in the healthcare space.

The company will next report results on April 26 after the close. Analysts are looking for earnings of $1.30 per share on revenues of nearly $50 billion.

When the company last reported on Feb. 1, earnings of 36 cents per share beat estimates by 36 cents on a 38.2% rise in revenues.

Monster Market Trends: Combat Syria With Lockheed (LMT)

Source: Shutterstock

President Trump’s decision late Friday to launch cruise missiles into Syria for the second straight year is lifting a bid into defense stocks amid a realization this is likely the first stage of a multi-part escalation involving Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Israel.

As a result, Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) shares are breaking up and out of a multi-month consolidation range ahead of a possible rally to the late February highs near $360, which would be worth a 4% gain from here.

The company will next report results on April 24 before the bell. Analysts are looking for earnings of $3.35 on revenues of $11.3 billion.

Monster Market Trends: Volatility Is Here to Stay With the iPath Short-Term VIX (VXX)

Source: Shutterstock

After one of the quietest rallies in market history in 2017, investors have been rudely awakened by the reappearance of dynamism in the markets.

Bespoke Investment Group notes that compared to 2017 when there were just eight moves of 1% or more, so far in 2018 there have been 28 with 11% just over the last month.

Yet despite the volatility, actual price movement has been subdued: At 3 pm Friday, the S&P was trading at the exact same price that it was on Feb. 5.

Watch for this short-term volatility to continue until some medium-term volatility manifests into a major repositioning of the major market averages. That’ll be a boon to the VXX.

Monster Market Trends: Uncertain Bull Market Helps SPDR Gold Shares (GLD)

Source: Shutterstock

Precious metals and the related exchange-traded funs like the SPDR Gold Trust ETF (NYSEARCA:GLD) have been in the doldrums for years amid low volatility and calm conditions.

But that could be set to change thanks to a number of tailwinds, including higher inflation pressures, geopolitical tension, a deepening trade rift, and the ongoing Russia collusion probe involving President Trump, his administration and his 2016 campaign.

Any developments on these fronts should send investors into safe havens like gold. Which, in turn, should lift the GLD out of its three-year trading range to levels not seen since early 2014.

Monster Market Trends: iPhone Notches for Everyone With Apple (AAPL)

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Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares have been treading water since the iPhone X with its $1,000 price tag and iconic screen “notch” was unveiled.

Shares have stalled on underwhelming demand, production woes, and a surprisingly warm reception for the iPhone 8. But this year’s models, according to reports, will replicate the iPhone X’s notch screen across three new handsets including an entry-level model with an LCD screen instead of the more expensive OLED option.

The company will next report results on May 1 after the close. Analysts are looking for earnings of $2.70 per share on revenues of $61.2 billion.

When the company last reported on Feb. 1, earnings of $3.89 beat estimates by four cents on a 12.7% rise in revenues.

Monster Market Trends: Merck (MRK) Takes the Fight to Cancer

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Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) shares jumped 2.4% on Monday, popping back over its 200-day moving average, after the company announced positive clinical results from its Keytruda treatment for lung cancer and melanoma.

Immunotherapies like Keytruda are enjoying increased clinical success and set to play a larger and more lucrative role in the healthcare market.

The company will next report results on May 1 before the bell. Analysts are looking for earnings of $1 per share on revenues of $10.10 billion.

When the company last reported on Feb. 2, earnings of 98 cents per share beat estimates by four cents on a 3.1% rise in revenues.

Monster Market Trends: U.S. Shale Returns to Form, Boosting Kinder Morgan (KMI)

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Energy pipeline stocks like Kinder Morgan Inc (NYSE:KMI) have been hit by the post-2014 weakness in energy prices. But a recent strengthening, with crude oil pushing back towards the $70-a-barrel threshold, has reinvigorated interest as U.S. shale producers ramp up production in response.

The company will next report results on April 18 after the close. Analysts are looking for earnings of 21 cents per share on revenues of $3.5 billion. When the company last reported on Jan. 17, earnings of 21 cents per share beat estimates by three cents on a 7.2% rise in revenues.