Flex, today's IBD 50 growth stock to watch, is in a buy zone after hitting a buy point last week on strong earnings and guidance.
The electronic contract manufacturer hit an all-time high on Wednesday, up 0.3%, delving further into its buy zone.
The stock had been consolidating for the past seven weeks with a buy point of 19.73, according to IBD MarketSmith chart analysis. It is now trading well above its 50-day moving average and 200-day line.
Last week, San Jose, Calif.-based Flex trounced Wall Street's estimates for its fiscal second quarter, ended Sept. 30. The manufacturer earned an adjusted 63 cents per share on sales of $7.77 billion, beating estimates of 51 cents on sales of $7.21 billion.
Flex profits rose 31% on a year-over-year basis while sales surged 25%.
Flex Stock Builds On Earnings, Forecasts
For the fiscal third quarter, analysts expect earnings of 60 cents per share on sales of $7.5 billion, better than last year's 50 cents on sales of $6.62 billion.
For the full fiscal year (2023), Flex is forecast to earn $2.28 per share on $29.6 billion in sales.
"Looking ahead, the secular tailwinds that support our strategy remain in our favor," Chief Executive Revathi Advaithi said in a news release. Those tailwinds include growth opportunities in electric vehicles, industrial automation and medical devices.
Flex stock is ranked first in IBD's Electronics-Contract Manufacturing industry group, according to IBD Stock Checkup. It shares a best-possible IBD Composite Rating of 99 with Jabil.
Benchmark Electronics, Plexus and Samnina are among the other top-rated stocks in this group, which ranks a strong No. 10 out of 197 industry groups that IBD tracks.
Flex is also on IBD's Tech Leaders list.
Follow Michael Molinski on Twitter @IMmolinski
