5 Stocks With Recent Price Strength Amid Trade & Rate Cut Uncertainties

U.S. stock markets have maintained their northward journey in the first half of August despite tariff and trade-related uncertainties and the Fed’s indecision regarding the timing of the first interest rate cut in 2025. 

The Trump administration is yet to enter into trade deals with several key trading partners of the United States including China. On the other hand, despite an overwhelming market expectation of a 25-basis point rate cut in September, the central bank has yet to indicate anything in that direction. In this regard, the outcome of the Fed’s annual Jackson Hole Symposium for Economic Policies, to be held during Aug 21-23 will be of utmost importance. 

Consequently, very few stocks have shown price strength. We have primarily targeted stocks that have recently been on a bull run. Such stocks have a high chance of carrying the momentum forward.

Five such stocks are — Modine Manufacturing Co. MOD, Tutor Perini Corp. TPC, Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International plc KNSA, Life360 Inc. LIF and Euroseas Ltd. ESEA.

If a stock is continuously witnessing an uptrend, there must be a solid reason or it would have probably crashed. So, looking at stocks capable of beating the benchmark that they have set for themselves seems rational.

However, recent price strength alone cannot create magic. Therefore, other relevant parameters are needed to create a successful investment strategy.

Here’s how you should create the screen to shortlist the current as well as the potential winners.

Screening Parameters:

Percentage Change in Price (4 Weeks) greater than zero: This criterion shows that the stock has moved higher in the last four weeks. 

Percentage Change Price (12 Weeks) greater than 10: This indicates that the stock has seen momentum over the last three months. This lowers the risk of choosing stocks that may have drawn attention due to the overwhelming performance of the overall market in a very short period. 

Zacks Rank 1: No matter whether market conditions are good or bad, stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) have a proven history of outperformance. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Average Broker Rating 1: This indicates that brokers are also highly hopeful about the stock’s future performance. 

Current Price greater than 5: The stocks must all be trading at a minimum of $5.

Current Price/ 52-Week High-Low Range more than 85%: This criterion filters stocks that are trading near their respective 52-week highs. It indicates that these are strong enough in terms of price.

Just these few criteria narrowed down the search from over 7,700 stocks to just 8.

Let’s discuss five out of these eight stocks here:

Modine Manufacturing designs, engineers, tests, manufactures, and sells mission-critical thermal solutions in the United States, Canada, Italy, Hungary, the United Kingdom, China and internationally. MOD operates through the Climate Solutions and Performance Technologies segments. 

MOD’s products include heat exchangers for cooling all types of engines, transmissions, auxiliary hydraulic equipment, air conditioning components used in cars, trucks, farm and construction machinery and equipment, and heating and cooling equipment for residential and commercial building HVAC (heating, ventilating, air conditioning and refrigeration equipment). 

The stock price of Modine Manufacturing has soared 46.1% over the past four weeks. It has an expected earnings growth rate of 14.3% for the current year (ending March 2026). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 1.1% over the last seven days.

Tutor Perini provides diversified general contracting, construction management and design-build services to private clients and public agencies worldwide. TPC operates in four segments: Civil, Building, Specialty Contractors, and Management Services. The Civil segment is engaged in public works construction activities and the repair, replacement, and reconstruction of infrastructure. 

The Building segment of TPC offers services in specialized building markets, including hospitality and gaming, transportation, healthcare, municipal offices, sports and entertainment, education, correctional facilities, biotech, pharmaceutical, industrial, and high technology. 

The Specialty Contractors segment provides plumbing, HVAC, electrical, mechanical, and concrete services for the industrial, commercial, hospitality and gaming, and transportation markets. TPC’s Management Services segment offers construction and design-build services to the U.S. military and government agencies, and multi-national corporations.

The stock price of Tutor Perini has surged 14.3% in the past four weeks. It has an expected earnings growth rate of more than 100% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 56.3% over the last seven days.

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International is a biopharmaceutical company, focused on discovering, acquiring, developing, and commercializing therapeutic medicines for patients suffering from debilitating diseases with significant unmet medical needs worldwide. 

KNSA focuses on discovering, acquiring, developing and commercializing therapeutic medicines for patients suffering from debilitating diseases with significant unmet medical needs. 

The stock price of KNSA has climbed 13.7% in the past four weeks. The company has expected earnings growth of more than 100% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved more than 9.6% over the last seven days.

Life360 operates a technology platform to locate people, pets, and things in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and internationally. LIF provides Life360 mobile application under the freemium model that offers communications, driving safety, digital safety, and location sharing. LIF’s Life360 Platform provides location coordination and safety, driving safety, digital safety, and emergency assistance services; and mobile-first technology platform that protects members data and ensures integrity, security, and performance. LIF also offers place alerts, individual driver reports, crash detection, battery monitoring, SOS help alerts, family driving summary, and customer support. 

The stock price of Life360 has advanced 8.3% over the past four weeks. The company has an expected earnings growth rate of more than 100% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 20.8% over the last 30 days.

Euroseas provides ocean-going transportation services worldwide. ESEA owns and operates containerships that transport dry and refrigerated containerized cargoes, including manufactured products and perishables. ESEA employs its vessels on spot and period charters and through pool arrangements.

The stock price of ESEA has gained 2.8% over the past four weeks. The company has an expected earnings growth rate of 4% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 2.8% over the last 30 days.

You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge.

The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.

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Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance. 

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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