Morgan Stanley analysts have named a list of stocks to buy as March progresses. The firm said investors should bet on market momentum by purchasing shares of undervalued companies. CNBC Pro combed through Morgan Stanley's top research to find the bank's favorite picks. The company is overweight the names listed below. They include HashiCorp, Rivian Automotive, Dell Technologies, Sun Country Airlines and Huntington Bancshares. Sun Country Airlines The discount airline is firing on all cylinders, according to the company. Analyst Ravi Shanker upgraded the stock to overweight from equal weight earlier this week, adding that he sees a number of positive catalysts on the horizon. "We like SNCY's unique business model and believe its three segments make it the most defensive ultra-low-cost airline," he said. Those segments include its position as a low-cost passenger airline, as well as serving as a charter airline. The company also has a freight partnership with Amazon. "We continue to be impressed by SNCY's flexibility and management's strong execution, consistently delivering on numbers, operational reliability and cost control," Shanker said. Shares are down 26% in the past 12 months, but the firm said investors should buy the dips. "In addition to the upgrade to Overweight, SNCY is now our preferred ultra-low-cost carrier," the analyst added. HashiCorp analyst Sanjit Singh earlier this week upgraded the cloud computing infrastructure company to overweight from equal weight. "The resurgence" is here, and HashiCorp is a likely beneficiary. Singh said cloud demand is gaining momentum. "The resumption of cloud migration initiatives bodes well for HashiCorp as it plays a central role in helping to accelerate and secure the delivery of cloud applications," he said. Singh called the lawsuit an "imminent acceleration." The stock is up almost 10% in 2024, but is still worth buying, according to the analyst. "With an inflection in growth on the horizon along with an attractive valuation, we upgrade the stock to OW and increase our PT from $23 to $30..." he said. Rivian automotive analyst Adam Jonas won't give up on Rivian stock, and investors shouldn't either, he said after the electric vehicle maker's latest quarterly report. Jonas admitted that Rivian needs a change in strategy, but he believes a change is on the horizon. "Rivian is finally entering the 'crisis' mode that is so often required to make real change in this industry," he said. Jonas listed three areas the company should address, including "costs, capital discipline and collaboration." Rivian has an "authentic brand, attractive product design, electrical architecture and operating system developed in-house," the analyst added. The stock is down more than 50% in 2024 and Jonas has lowered his price target to $14 per share from $24. But he still believes investors should buy shares. "Beyond valuation, we remain overweight because we view Rivian as a 'relaunched' company in 2024 with self-help potential and possible strategic value," he wrote. Dell "Our previous bull case becomes our new base case, as AI server orders/backlog/pipeline are progressing well above our previous expectations and directionally closer to our bullish supply chain checks. There will be "We have to watch margins, but we think FY25 guidance is still conservative... DELL appears as one of the most undervalued names exposed to AI in our global hardware and semi-universe." Sun Country Airlines "We like SNCY's unique business model and believe its three segments make it the most defensive ultra-low-cost airline... We continue to be impressed by SNCY's flexibility and management's strong execution, which consistently delivers numbers, operational reliability and cost control. ... In addition to the Overweight upgrade, SNCY is now our preferred ultra-low-cost airline." HashiCorp "Cloud resurgence begins to benefit Hashi... The resumption of cloud migration initiatives bodes well for HashiCorp as it plays a central role in helping to accelerate and secure application delivery in the cloud... With a growth inflection on the horizon along with an attractive valuation, we upgrade the stock to OW and raise our PT from $23 to $30... Early indicators point to an imminent reacceleration.โ Rivian "We identified 3 critical areas of execution: costs, capital discipline and collaboration. Rivian is finally entering the 'crisis' mode that is so often required to achieve real change in this industry... In our opinion, the biggest Rivian's strengths lie in its authentic brand, compelling product design, in-house developed electrical architecture and operating system... Beyond valuation, we remain overweight because we see Rivian as a 'relaunched' company in 2024 with self-help potential and possible strategic value". Huntington Bancshares "While it is difficult to avoid CRE exposure in the group we cover, higher levels of capital and liquidity and strong deposit franchises can mitigate some of this risk and even generate profits as the market gains more confidence that CRE-related losses will manifest over time rather than resulting in a short-term spike... For investors looking to minimize exposure to CRE, we note that HBAN has the least exposure to CRE... of the group, along with the highest level of CRE reserves. We make HBAN our new Top Choose.
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Ride the bull market wave with these top stocks in March, Morgan Stanley says
