Buy the dip in these five stocks before it’s too late, Goldman says
Analysts at Goldman Sachs recently touted several stocks that it said are too attractive to ignore. The Wall Street investment bank said that investors should buy the dip in companies including Alibaba Group . Other stocks rated buy at Goldman and screened by CNBC Pro: Burlington, Ulta Beauty, Aecom and Viking. Ulta Beauty Buy the dip in the beauty company, analyst Kate McShane recently wrote following Ulta’s recent earnings. The stock is down almost 7% this year, with Goldman saying it’s been unfairly punished. “In our view, investors may be concerned that Ulta (and the overall industry) was more promotional y/y in 2Q, and the company’s 2H guidance implies a sequential deceleration on the top line,” she wrote. Still, the stock is a table-pounding buy for analysts led by McShane. “That said, while the beauty space is highly competitive, we believe Ulta is well positioned to continue gaining share, and company guidance could prove conservative for the year,” she said. Burlington Stores McShane also said investors should buy weakness in the off-price clothing retailer after Burlington’s mixed quarterly report in late August. “While the company delivered strong margin execution and raised FY26 guidance on an underlying basis, 2Q comp growth of 2% and 3Q comp guidance fell short of investor expectations,” she noted. Meanwhile shares are down 8% this year, but the stock has plenty of positive catalysts ahead, by Goldman’s lights. “Strong margin flow-through, robust new store productivity and multiple operational levers should continue to support earnings growth, in our view,” McShane wrote. Viking Holdings Analyst Lizzie Dove is sticking with the luxury cruise company. Goldman admitted that low water levels on European rivers is a negative for Viking but said that the stock remains compelling for the long haul. “VIK’s differentiated geographic exposure and higher-income demographic should more than offset a choppier cruise environment,” Dove wrote. Meanwhile, Viking shares have slumped 20% over the past month. “Look for VIK to continue to deliver best-in-class pricing growth and top of best-in-class capacity growth through 2H26 and into 2027,” the Goldman analyst said. Aecom “In our view, the de-rating has been driven by two primary concerns: (1) fears that AI could disrupt the Engineering & Design industry, and (2) investor uncertainty surrounding claims related to two legacy Construction Management projects. While both factors contributed to multiple contraction, we believe the majority of the current lower multiple is attributable to the Construction Management headwinds.” Viking Holdings “In a world where there has been uncertainty around cruise and the consumer more generally, Lizzie Dove believes that VIK’s differentiated geographic exposure and higher-income demographic should more than offset a choppier cruise environment. Look for VIK to continue to deliver best-in-class pricing growth and top of best-in-class capacity growth through 2H26 and into 2027.” Ulta Beauty “In our view, investors may be concerned that Ulta (and the overall industry) was more promotional y/y in 2Q, and the company’s 2H guidance implies a sequential deceleration on the top line … That said, while the beauty space is highly competitive, we believe Ulta is well positioned to continue gaining share, and company guidance could prove conservative for the year …” Burlington Stores “While the company delivered strong margin execution and raised FY26 guidance on an underlying basis, 2Q comp growth of 2% and 3Q comp guidance fell short of investor expectations … Strong margin flow-through, robust new store productivity and multiple operational levers should continue to support earnings growth, in our view.” Alibaba Group “We continue to expect Alibaba to deliver a solid EPS recovery of +64%/+33% yoy for FY27E/FY28E (with strong inflection from Sept. quarter), to be driven by continued leadership in its AI + Cloud business in China with further acceleration in cloud growth and a recovery in overall eCommerce profits with narrowing quick commerce losses. Maintain Buy.”
