5 Top-Ranked Nasdaq Stocks Defying The Worst September Start

After peaking at the end of the last month, the Nasdaq Composite Index logged in the fourth straight decline last week, slumping 2.6% — the worst start to September since 2008. The sluggish trading was stemmed from a steep sell-off in the tech sector, which came following the congressional scrutiny of social media companies and fears of new regulation as well as warnings of lower chip demand.

Trump’s new tariff threat also weighed on investor sentiments. Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on $267 billion worth of goods, in addition to the proposed 25% duty to be levied on $200 billion of Chinese products. The move will escalate the trade tension between the United States and China. Additionally, Bloomberg News reported that the United States and Canada will likely end the week with no trade deal.

Further, the prospect of faster-than-expected rate hikes also took a toll on the stocks. If these weren’t enough, the seasonal phenomenon led to the decline. September is historically a weak month for the stock market and even worse in the mid-term election years.

In such a scenario, there are still winners on the index across industries that are easily surviving the worst start to September. Below, we have highlighted five stocks that have gained last week and have a solid Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy).

AeroVironment Inc. (AVAV – Free Report) – Up 14.1%

It designs, develops, produces, and operates a portfolio of products and services for government agencies, businesses and consumers. The stock saw solid earnings estimate revision of 23 cents for the fiscal ending April 2019 over the past seven days and has an expected growth rate of 27.78%. With a market cap of $2.4 billion, AeroVironment has a Zacks Rank #1 and falls under a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 25%).

BioSpecifics Technologies Corp (BSTC – Free Report) – Up 8%

The company is engaged in the business of producing and licensing, for sale by other, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved enzyme derived from collagenase, named Collagenase ABC, and researching, developing and clinically testing additional products derived therefrom for potential use as pharmaceuticals. The stock witnessed no earnings estimate revision for this year over the past seven days and an estimated earnings growth rate of 34.12%. The company has a market cap of $423 million. BioSpecifics presently sports a Zacks Rank #1 and belongs to a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 42%).