Longtime investor and trader Jim Lebenthal said the real opportunities lie outside of the popular tech sector during this earnings season. “The most earnings beats have not been from technology stocks,” Lebenthal said Friday. “The biggest beats both in terms of frequency and in terms of size has come from materials, energy and industrials.” Much of the attention has been given to megacap technology names, some of which rallied double digits on the back of strong earnings. Meta shares have risen more than 12% this week alone, while Microsoft jumped nearly 7%. But Lebenthal thinks that materials, energy and industrials have been largely ignored despite their solid result and rosy guidance, and the underperformance created some buying opportunities. He is a partner at Cerity Partners, managing U.S. equity portfolios for clients and advises them on asset allocation. The investor noted that many stock in these sectors haven’t actually responded well to major earnings beats, such as Cleveland-Cliffs , General Motors and Exxon Mobil. “Those are some names to look at, but the sectors are industrials, energy and materials. That’s where the earnings growth is the biggest and that’s where the opportunities are the greatest,” Lebenthal said. Of the more than 250 companies in the S & P 500 that have reported earnings to date, 78% reported above analyst expectations, according to Refinitiv. See the video above for Lebenthal’s full view of the sector and his favorite picks.
