The Dow Jones Industrial Average (NDEXDJX:DJI) has officially entered a correction, defined as a drop of at least 10%. The relatively sharp decline has largely been caused by the increase of the interest rate on U.S. treasuries by about a percentage point in the last few months. But, as I noted in a previous column, I feel like I’ve seen this movie before. That’s because last year, the U.S. stock market entered a bear market, primarily due to worries that the Fed’s rate hikes would send the economy into a deep recession. This has led to the rise of Dow Jones stocks to buy.
But that scenario did not come close to materializing. Washington reported today that America’s GDP had jumped a very strong annualized rate of 4.9%, over and above inflation, last quarter. And even for those who don’t want to rely on GDP growth to gage the economy, many companies’ results also indicate that the economy is strong, such as General Electric (NYSE:GE), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), and American Express (NYSE:AXP) have all reported stronger than expected Q3 data recently.
So the evidence is showing that the Street’s focus on rates is still way overdone, and once again, I expect stocks to rebound strongly over the medium term, barring any huge geopolitical explosions. Here are three Dow Jones stocks that should surpass the market’s uptrend over the longer term.
American Express (AXP)
In my introduction, I mentioned that American Express had reported better-than-expected Q3 results. The company’s top line jumped 13% versus the same period a year earlier to $15.38 billion and came in slightly above analysts’ average estimate. On the bottom line, it reported earnings per share of $3.30, well above the mean estimate of $2.94.
Moreover, the credit card network operator noted that consumers’ spending was “strong,” while credit quality was still superior to pre-pandemic levels. Those assessments bode well for both the stock market overall and AXP stock in particular.
AXP has tumbled 12% in the last three months, and its forward price-earnings ratio is a very low 11.5 at this point, making it one of the best Dow Jones stocks to buy on the dip at this point.
Caterpillar (CAT)
After sliding 15% since peaking on Aug. 1, Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) stock has a very low forward price-earnings ratio of 11.9.
The company’s valuation is especially low because, as I’ve pointed out previously, CAT is likely benefiting from the huge infrastructure projects that Washington is funding, along with the onshoring trend. Moreover, CAT is also likely getting a significant boost from higher oil prices, since the firm sells oil-exploration equipment.
Meanwhile, Seeking Alpha columnist Luca Socci recently wrote that CAT is also likely getting a boost from its mining equipment business, since electric vehicles, solar energy, and wind energy require many minerals to function.
Also noteworthy is that CAT is changing hands for around $243, about 15% below analysts’ average price target of $285.
Finally, analysts, on average, expect the company’s earnings per share to climb to $21 next year, up from $14.24 in 2022, so the firm’s top line is growing quite rapidly.
Microsoft (MSFT)
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) stock is down about 10% since its July 18 high of around $350. But the software giant reported very strong fiscal first-quarter results on Oct. 24, as the revenue of its cloud unit jumped 29% last quarter versus the same period a year earlier.
Overall, the company’s sales climbed 13% in Q3 versus the same period a year earlier and beat analysts’ average estimate by $1.95 billion, while its operating income soared 25% year-over-year to $26.9 billion.
British bank HSBC responded to Microsoft’s results and guidance by upgrading the shares to “buy” from “hold” and increasing its price target on the name to $413 from $347. The bank believes that the company’s AI offerings are “compelling,” and he predicts that its “PC sales and gaming-related revenue” will return to growth going forward.
The forward price-earnings ratio of MSFT stock is now 30.65. That’s a low valuation, given the firm’s rapid growth.
On the date of publication, Larry Ramer’s wife held a long position in AXP The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
