Global markets surged this week as fears of an impending US recession were quashed. With the risk atmosphere now feeling significantly calmer, I’m revisiting some stocks I’ve been hesitant to buy. GSK I’ve been hemming and hawing about buying ( ) for so long now it’s become an internal joke with myself.
I’ll probably be in the 50-59 age bracket that its vaccine was recently approved for before I finally buy! It’s one of the few FTSE 100 mega-caps that have managed to elude my profile thus far. But its recent Q2 results placed it firmly back in my crosshairs. A 31 July report revealed sales up 13%, a 5.
2% improvement on analysts expectations. Subsequently, core operating profit rose 18% with earnings per share (EPS) up 13%. Future is now forecast to be 39% in three years.
A promising option — but one pressing concern could derail the progress. GSK’s drug remains the target of several thousand US lawsuits alleging a link to cancer. Despite one Illinois jury ruling the drug not responsible in a specific case, remaining trials in other states could drag on for years.
Should it be found responsible, compensation payouts could cost the company dearly in the short term. Still, I think it’ll make a good long-term investment in my portfolio. So I plan to finally buy the stock next week.
Entain On the other end of the scale is ( ), one of the smallest-cap stocks on the index. It hasn’t been on my radar as long as GSK but caught my attention during the recent Euros f.