Micron Technology, a key supplier to Nvidia, and Boeing, which is regaining altitude as it ramps deliveries back up and lands major contracts, lead this weekend's watchlist of five stocks near buy points. In addition to MU and BA, Netflix, chip-design software leader Cadence Design Systems, and Latin America e-commerce giant MercadoLibre round out the list.
Micron, Netflix, Cadence Design Systems and MercadoLibre all have an IBD Composite Rating of at least 95 out of a possible 99, according to IBD Stock Checkup. The single rating combines both fundamental and technical factors.
IBD Stock Lists, Market Take
Boeing stock is part of the IBD Leaderboard portfolio of elite stocks, while MU is on the Leaderboard watchlist.
CDNS is part of IBD's Long-Term Leaders list of stocks with a track record of consistently solid earnings growth, making them conducive for buying on pullbacks. Check here for new additions to IBD stock lists.
The S&P 500 ended the week on the down note, finishing 0.6% lower on Friday. But that followed three consecutive all-time closing highs, as markets look forward to a resumption of Federal Reserve rate cuts on Sept. 17.
The bull market trend is intact, allowing investors to have 80% to 100% exposure. Yet that's subject to change at any time.
Stock Market Snapshot: Alibaba News Hits Nvidia, AI. Trump Tariffs Ruled Illegal.
Be sure to read IBD's The Big Picture column after each trading day to get the latest on the prevailing stock market trend and what it means for your trading decisions.
A stock's average true range, a metric available on IBD's MarketSurge, reflects its daily volatility. Higher numbers raise the risk of a shakeout that can trigger sell rules. Current market conditions are conducive for buying stocks with pretty high ATRs of up to 8%, but investors should be wary of being too concentrated in high-octane names.
All of this weekend's watchlist stocks have relatively modest ATRs of less than 4%.
Micron Stock
Micron raised its outlook for its fiscal fourth quarter on Aug. 11, lifting its revenue outlook by 5% to around $11.2 billion and its gross-margin outlook to 44.5% from 42%.
In a July 10 report, Deutsche Bank analyst Melissa Weathers called High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) "an underrated driver" of gen AI processor performance improvements and called Micron "a particular beneficiary of this tend." HBM gross margins are about 60%, she noted, vs. 35% for non-HBM DRAM memory chips.
At its Aug. 11 investor conference, Micron said it was on track to sell out its 2026 HBM supply. In January, Nvidia highlighted Micron as a key supplier of HBM solutions for its Blackwell AI chips. Samsung has recently made progress toward qualifying its HBM products at Nvidia, which could create price competition for Micron. But Weathers said that Samsung might divert manufacturing capacity away from non-HBM DRAM, boosting prices for this segment that still provides the bulk of Micron's revenue.
After a bullish move Thursday, MU stock slipped 2.45% to 119.01 on Friday, falling back to its 50-day moving average. Micron has a 128.60 buy point from a cup-with-handle base.
Investors could use Friday's high of 122.77 as an early entry.
Boeing Stock
Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said he expects Boeing to increase its monthly output of 737 MAX jets to 42 per month from 38 by October, Reuters reported on Wednesday. That implies that the FAA will lift its 38-per-month cap on Boeing's production.
On Monday, Korean Air announced its commitment to purchase 103 Boeing jets to modernize its fleet. Boeing said the order would support 135,000 jobs in the U.S.
That followed a report from Bloomberg the prior week that Boeing was near a deal to sell 500 commercial jets to China.
BA stock has a new 242.69 buy point from a five-week flat base, according to a weekly MarketSurge chart analysis. Boeing has been moving sideways in recent weeks after a big move up following a May 2 breakout. Shares are holding above the 21-day exponential average.
Boeing cleared a trendline early entry last week. Investors could probably use Friday's high of 238.05 as an early buy point now.
Boeing is the top-performing stock in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, rising 32.6% for the year, which puts its just ahead of Goldman Sachs Group and Nvidia.
Netflix Stock
Netflix is riding the success of KPop Demon Hunters, an animated film, which just became its most-watched movie ever with 236 million views. The film also was No. 1 in theaters in North America last weekend, despite being online, as fans took part in a sing-along version of the film.
In an Aug. 14 note, William Blair said it sees a positive outlook for Netflix "with a strong slate (of programming), a broadening advertising platform, solid retention, prices changes in line with expectations, and stable engagement."
NFLX slipped 2% to 1,208.25 on Friday, closing 1.8% below its 50-day moving average. A convincing move past its 50-day that breaks NFLX's downtrend would flash an early entry opportunity, with the short-term high of 1,251.16 slightly above that.
Netflix has an official flat-base buy point of 1,341.15.
Cadence Design Stock
Cadence Design Systems didn't miss a beat, actually raising its full-year outlook, despite losing $20 million to $25 million in revenue in Q2 from a monthlong ban on sales of its design software to China, Loop Capital wrote in a July 29 note. The research firm hiked its CDNS price target to 390 from 370, keeping a buy rating.
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security had banned Cadence, Synopsys and Siemens from selling electronic design automation tools to Chinese customers in late May. But the Trump administration lifted the ban in early July as Beijing relaxed its export restrictions on rare earth magnets that threatened to create chaos for U.S. manufacturers.
In announcing 20% revenue growth for Q2 and stronger-than-expected bookings, Cadence Design Systems CEO Anirudh Devgan said its products are playing a leading part in the "AI infrastructure build-out, to physical AI in autonomous systems, to the emerging frontier of science AI."
CDNS lost 1.1% to 350.43 on Friday, closing just above its 21-day average. A move past last week's high, breaking the trendline sloping down from its 376.44 high on July 31 could offer an early entry.
CDNS also has been etching out a 3-weeks-tight pattern that could flash an entry point at 356.91. Cadence Design could have a flat base in another week.
MercadoLibre Stock
MercadoLibre, sometimes referred to as the Amazon of Latin America, paid the price for its Amazon-style grab for market share. Uruguay-based MercadoLibre posted adjusted EPS of $10.31, way below $11.93 estimates after expanding free shipping to lower-value orders in Brazil.
But analysts and investors have largely stuck by MELI stock, which has been carving out a flat base and has retaken its 50-day moving average.
MercadoLibre also offers Mercado Pago, a fintech business that includes a Venmo-like digital wallet. Fintech payment volume grew 39% to $64.6 billion, while gross merchandise volume for the e-commerce business rose 21% to $15.3 billion.
MELI is actionable now, after rising 2.4% on Thursday, making a clear move past its 50-day line and break above the trendline sloping down from its July 1 high.
