Stocks ignored by the narrow rally: Here are Goldman's top cyclical laggards
Michael M. Santiago
Amidst the recent outperformance of megacap tech and other AI beneficiaries, Goldman Sachs has raised its S&P 500 year-end price target to 4,500 from 4,000, suggesting a potential upside of 2% from the current level of 4,400.
For bulls that believe the rest of the market will start participating on the Big-Tech rally, Goldman screened cyclical laggards consisting of Russell 3000 (IWV) stocks with market capitalizations exceeding $2 billion.
These stocks have demonstrated YTD underperformance compared to the S&P 500 (SP500) (SPY) and currently trade at consensus forward P/E ratios below 19x. Notably, despite their underperformance, these stocks have experienced positive revisions to their 2024 EPS of 5% or more, indicating potential fundamental improvement. 
The stocks by sectors are: 
Basic Materials

Cactus (NYSE:WHD), year to date 2024 estimated EPS revision 19%
Expro Group Holdings N.V. (XPRO), 18%
Noble Corporation (NE), 8%
Newmont Corporation (NEM), 17%
Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF), 15%
Golar LNG Limited (GLNG), 6%
CONSOL Energy (CEIX), 6%
Murphy USA (MUSA), 12%

Consumer Goods and Services

Crocs (NASDAQ:CROX), 7%
Kontoor Brands (KTB), 6%
Dillard's (DDS), 6%
Allegion Public Limited Company (ALLE), 5%
Genuine Parts Company (GPC), 6%
Ryder System (R), 11%
SeaWorld Entertainment (SEAS), 11%
Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT), 13%
United Rentals (URI), 7%
Rush Enterprises (RUSHA), 5%

Financials

Federated Hermes (FHI), 11%
Interactive Brokers Group (IBKR), 11%
Evercore (EVR), 7%
Piper Sandler Companies (PIPR), 6%
Ameriprise Financial (AMP), 5%
Credit Acceptance Corporation (CACC), 17%
American Equity Investment Life Holding (AEL), 19%
CNO Financial Group (CNO), 18%
Everest Re Group (RE), 17%
Renaissance Re Holdings (RNR), 17%
Unum Group (UNM), 15%
Enstar Group Limited (ESGR), 10%
Assured Guaranty (AGO), 10%
Globe Life (GL), 8%
Old Republic International Corporation (NYSE:ORI), 7%
Genworth Financial (GNW), 6%
Reinsurance Group of America (RGA), 6%
Aflac Incorporated (AFL), 5%
AGNC Investment (AGNC), 16%
Rithm Capital (RITM), 7%

Industrial

Textron (NYSE:TXT), 13%
UFP Industries (UFPI), 8%
Fluor Corporation (FLR), 12%
Deere & Company (NYSE:DE), 10%
Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), 9%
AGCO Corporation (AGCO), 6%
Gates Industrial Corporation (GTES), 5%

Technology

NetScout Systems (NTCT), 10%
Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO), 6%

More on the stock markets:

Goldman projects AI's impact on S&P fair value and earnings over 20 years
Goldman's Kostin gets bullish on S&P, Morgan Stanley's Wilson says bear still alive