The S&P 500 has experienced its second-best start to a year in the past 25 years, fueling a sense of optimism among investors. However, this achievement has not been the main story of the year. In fact, the bellwether index’s year-to-date gains of 16% have been completely overshadowed by the tech sector’s domination. With AI hype driving the surge, it has become the best-performing sector in 2023, up by 31.5%.
That is a significant amount and actually represents the finest opening half of a year ever recorded by the sector as it has pulled away from the S&P 500 by the biggest gap over a six-month period since 1999.
Is tech set for further gains in the second half of the year? That remains to be seen although the segment is by no means the only game in town. There are other corners of the market that could provide opportunities for investors, and the analysts at Raymond James are keen to point them out. They have been seeking out the equities set to push ahead for the rest of the year and have tagged some non-tech names as Strong Buys.
We ran a pair of their choices through the TipRanks database for a wider view of the prospects and it looks like the rest of the Street agrees with the Raymond James experts – both are rated as ‘Strong Buys’ by the analyst consensus, too. Let’s take a closer look.
Everest Group (EG)
Let’s admit that insurance does not have the same allure as tech and AI but as investing legend George Soros said, “good investing is boring,” and that brings us to Everest Group, a leading global provider of reinsurance and insurance solutions.
Founded in 1973, the company is an established insurance name, its global presence allowing it to serve clients in over 100 countries across 6 continents. Providing tailored solutions to meet customers’ unique needs, Everest operates through its subsidiaries and offers a diverse portfolio of products, including property, casualty, specialty, and life reinsurance, as well as insurance coverage.
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Everest has managed to post sequential improvements to the top-line over the past several…
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