Strongest buys

Screening Filters

1. Market Cap ≥ $2,000,000,000

   • Purpose: Focus on larger, more established U.S. companies.
   • Rationale:
     • When someone asks for the "strongest buy recommendations," they’re usually interested in companies that professional analysts cover heavily and institutions trade—these are typically mid- to large-cap stocks.
     • A minimum $2B market cap filters out micro- and small-cap names that can be more volatile, illiquid, and less thoroughly analyzed, making the “Strong Buy” signal more reliable.

2. Monthly Average Dollar Volume ≥ $500,000

   • Purpose: Ensure the stocks are reasonably liquid and actively traded.
   • Rationale:
     • Strong analyst buy calls are more practical if the stock can be traded without large price impact.
     • A minimum liquidity threshold reduces the chance of including thinly traded stocks, which can have large bid-ask spreads and be harder to enter/exit in size.

3. Price Above 200-Day Moving Average (PriceAboveMA200)

   • Purpose: Align with stocks in established uptrends or at least not in prolonged downtrends.
   • Rationale:
     • A “Strong Buy” combined with a price above the long-term moving average suggests both positive analyst sentiment and positive technical trend.
     • This helps avoid names that analysts like fundamentally but that are still in pronounced downtrends, which may carry more timing risk.

4. Listed on XNYS, XNAS, XASE (NYSE, NASDAQ, NYSE American)

   • Purpose: Restrict to major U.S. stock exchanges.
   • Rationale:
     • The question is about the “US stock market,” and these exchanges represent the primary U.S. equity markets.
     • It filters out OTC and foreign exchanges, where reporting standards, liquidity, and analyst coverage can be lower or inconsistent.

5. Analyst Consensus = Strong Buy

   • Purpose: Directly capture the “strongest buy recommendations” from Wall Street analysts.
   • Rationale:
     • “Strong Buy” is typically the most bullish consensus rating category (e.g., majority of analysts rating Buy/Strong Buy, very few Holds or Sells).
     • This is the core filter translating your wording—“strongest buy recommendations”—into a specific, data-driven criterion.

6. Target Price Upside Potential = MoreAbovePrice

   • Purpose: Ensure analysts not only rate the stock highly but also see significant upside from the current price.
   • Rationale:
     • A Strong Buy without meaningful target upside may not be compelling.
     • Requiring the average analyst target price to be above the current price ensures the screened stocks have upside potential according to consensus estimates, aligning with the idea of “strongest buy” candidates rather than fully valued ones.

Why Results Match Your Request

• The Analyst Consensus = Strong Buy filter directly targets stocks that analysts are most bullish on, which is the heart of your question.
• Restricting to major U.S. exchanges ensures you’re seeing recommendations within the core U.S. stock market, not obscure or foreign listings.
• Market cap and liquidity filters improve quality and tradability, focusing on well-followed, institutionally relevant names rather than speculative illiquid stocks.
• Price above the 200-day moving average and upside to target price combine sentiment (analyst ratings) with both technical health and forward-looking return potential, giving a list that better represents “strongest buy” opportunities rather than just nominal buy labels.