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3 Highly-Ranked Stocks to Buy for the Coronavirus Economy & the Eventual Recovery

On today’s episode of Full Court Finance here at Zacks, Ben Rains dives into some of the coronavirus-based economic uncertainty heading into the start of the busy period of Q1 fiscal 2020 earnings season. We then explore three stocks that appear to be buys at the moment and down the road when the economy eventually turns around.

The Dow, the S&P 500, and Nasdaq all dipped through morning trading Monday as Wall Street waits for giants to start to report their quarterly earnings results and perhaps provide guidance on the second quarter and beyond. JPMorgan Chase JPM, Bank of America BAC, UnitedHealth UNH, and others all report this week, in the unofficial start of the earnings season.

Stocks have climbed over the last three weeks, with the S&P 500 up roughly 25% off its March 23 lows. And there are signs that social distancing measures are paying off. That said, volatility might remain high given the broad market and economic uncertainty.

With this in mind, investors might consider turning to stocks that look poised to weather the coronavirus storm and grow over the long-term as well.

The first stock we take a look at is The Clorox Company CLX, which sells disinfectant products that kill germs at home and in healthcare settings. This makes it almost tailor-made for the coronavirus economy.

Plus, its portfolio includes an array of other consumer staples from Kingsford charcoal to Brita water filters. CLX stock has climbed over 20% in 2020 and has crushed its industry over the past decade, which includes Unilever NV UN, Procter & Gamble PG, and Colgate-Palmolive CL.

Meanwhile, some might want to think about scooping up some shares of Sprout Social SPT, which trades at under $15 a share and went public in mid-December 2019. Sprout’s cloud software offerings allow customers to manage their social media efforts across a centralized platform. This is highly attractive in an age where billions of people can be reached across everything from Facebook FB and Instagram to Pinterest PINS and more.

The episode closes with a look at why investors might want to consider buying Netflix NFLX with it set to report its Q1 results on April 21. The streaming TV firm’s business model is made for stay-at-home consumption, and the entrance of Disney DIS, Apple AAPL, and others might not eat into Netflix’s consumer base as much as some think.