TheStreet.com’s Action Alerts PLUS team on June 22 offered commentary about several stocks.
First, the team’s Chris Versace analyzed news about Apple’s (AAPL) – Get Apple Inc. Report iPhone.
In May, Apple more than doubled (up 155%) iPhone shipments from China, while the rise for smartphones overall was 16%, according to UBS, as cited by Barron’s.
“While that is positive for Apple, we do have to be a little careful,” Versace said. “We would love to see sustained data saying yes, iPhone sales are picking up.”
But “the reality is that we have one month of data that simply says … industrial activity is picking up,” he said. “It takes more than one data point to identify a trend.”
United Rentals and Nucor
Meanwhile, the American Institute of Architects’ Architectural Billings Index dipped to 53.5 in May from 56.5 in April. But any reading above 50 means an increase in activity over the prior month, the AAP team notes. This is the 16th straight month above 50.
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“With funds associated with the Biden infrastructure law starting to flow, we’re far more interested in the new project inquiries and design contract subindexes that are part of the ABI,” the AAP team said.
“Those May figures clocked in at 63.9 and 56.9, respectively, up from 62.3 and 55.4 in April. And as the additional funds are released, we would expect to see those two subindexes remain well above 50.”
Further, “the ABI is a forward-looking indicator by roughly nine to 12 months, over which the new project inquiries and design contract figures translate into billings,” the AAP team said.
Despite the overall index’s May decline, the underlying and more forward-looking data are positive for United Rentals (URI) – Get United Rentals Inc. Report and Nucor (NUE) – Get Nucor Corporation Report, the AAP team said.
That’s because of “the expected pickup in nonresidential construction, infrastructure or otherwise,” it said.
United Rentals is the world’s largest equipment rental company, and Nucor is a major steelmaker.
