5 Discretionary Stocks With Upside for 2025 as Consumer Sentiment Rebounds

Zacks

2024-12-10

Americans are a lot more confident and upbeat about the economy’s future now than they were a couple of months back. Consumer sentiment rose to its highest level in seven months in December, indicating that Americans have more faith in the present and future of the nation’s economy.

Consumer sentiment has been on the rise as inflation eased over the past few months and Donald Trump’s win in the U.S. Presidential election raised hopes of a healthy economy in the coming days. Given the positive outlook, it would be ideal to invest in discretionary stocks such as The Walt Disney Company DIS, Choice Hotels International, Inc. CHH, Snap-on Incorporated SNA, Hanesbrands Inc. HBI andMattel, Inc. MAT.

Each of these stocks has seen positive earnings estimate revision in the past 60 days and carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Consumer Sentiment Jumps in December

The University of Michigan’s Michigan Consumer Sentiment index rose to 74 in December from 71.8 in the previous month, the highest level in seven months and higher than the consensus estimate of a rise to 73.

The Current Economic Conditions Index rose to 77.7 in December from 63.9 in November. Although the year-ahead inflation expectation rose from 2.6% to 2.9% in December, the long-run inflation expectations fell to 3.2%.

The consumer sentiment data came just days after the Conference Board reported that consumer confidence in November rose to its highest level since July 2023. The consumer confidence index climbed to 111.7 in November from a revised 109.6 in October.

Wall Street has been on a rally since Trump’s landslide victory in the U.S. Presidential election in early November. All major indexes have clocked multiple all-time closing highs over the past month and the post-election euphoria continues.

Trump’s Win Lifts Consumer Sentiment

Investors expect major changes under the Trump regime when he takes office in January 2025, including major tax cuts and fewer regulations. Also, inflation is now in control of the Federal Reserve after adopting a two-year-long monetary tightening campaign.

Although inflation rose slightly in October, it is still under 3% and well on track to reach the Fed’s 2% target. Moreover, the Federal Reserve’s rate cut cycle has started, with the central bank slashing interest rates by 75 basis points since September.

Also, the minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting, released earlier this month, suggested that the central bank plans to implement more rate cuts, albeit "gradually," which will help the broader market.

5 Discretionary Stocks With Upside

Investing in discretionary stocks thus appears to be an ideal choice at this time. Personal income and consumer spending, too, have been steadily rising, which means consumers have more purchasing power and are spending aggressively.

The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company has assets that span movies, television shows and theme parks. Revenues were $91.4 billion in fiscal 2024. DIS’ fourth-quarter fiscal 2024 results reflect growth in Disney+ subscribers and Media and Entertainment Distribution businesses. Domestic theme park and resort businesses gained due to guest spending growth attributable to increases in per capita guest spending at theme parks and cruise lines.

The Walt Disney Company’s expected earnings growth rate for next year is 13.1%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings improved 5.5% over the last 60 days. DIS presently has a Zacks Rank #2.