If you were looking to build a portfolio based on the hits of pop stars, what stocks would interest such stars? In this article, we’ll consider some hypothetical stock picks from Justin Bieber.
Baby, Buy Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)
One of his biggest hits, “Baby”, we will treat in the literal rather than the rhetorical sense. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) is perhaps the de facto standard people think of for baby products, but this market only accounts for 0.3% of its business. Its medical devices & diagnostics division accounts for 64% of its business, with 34% attributed to pharmaceuticals.
While the stock has fallen out of favor with Warren Buffet, the Bieber effect could put the stock on your watch list. Health care stocks have enjoyed a second wind since Obama’s re-election and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) has managed to outperform the S&P 500 by about 5% since the November swing low. It’s also running slightly ahead of peers like Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and Novartis AG (ADR) (NYSE:NVS) in price performance, with a forward P/E comparable to each. The stock traditionally comes in close to analyst expectations, with next earnings due April 16. Like the pop star, the stock has had its publicity problems with recalls, lawsuits and bad karma. It also has to contend with competition from generics. However, a $225 billion market cap company has the clout to ride out the negatives. In addition, the stock consistently rewards its investors with a healthy 3% yield.
Watch the time
Justin’s first single was “One Time” in 2009. For this, we could look to one of my earlier picks, Movado Group (NYSE:MOV) . The company markets and distributed high-end watches under its own brand, in addition to the likes of Coach, Hugo Boss, and Ferrari amongst others. Movado is down around 10% since featuring back in January, although it has still managed to outperform the S&P 500 despite this. What hurt was its recent earnings, which guided towards a lower profit outlook, despite a beat on fourth quarter forecasts. EPS expectations for the coming year are $1.80 down from $1.83. A weak outlook for mid-priced watches is to blame, although higher-end sales were still robust. Luxury and licensed brands delivered 18% sales growth in the current year for the company.
Luxury brands have been one of the key winners within the consumer discretionary sector. However, brands like Tiffany & Co. (NYSE:TIF) and Coach, Inc. (NYSE:COH) are currently trading off highs posted in 2011, meaning there are fewer brands, like Michael Kors Holdings Ltd (NYSE:KORS), able to reward investors. This will eventually eat into Movado’s impressive licensed sales growth, but won’t stop the moneyed from buying expensive watches.
