5 Relative Price Strength Stocks to Buy for the Second Half

Market commentary points to resilient growth and healthy corporate earnings, though investors are weighing a potentially hawkish Fed and another rate hike. Oil prices are cooling and consumer spending remains steady, while leadership is broadening into defensives (healthcare, consumer staples). A Zacks screen highlights relative strength plus positive Q1 estimate revisions across NBIX (+18.8% 2026 earnings estimate over 60 days), MYRG (+15.2%), Block (XYZ, +13.8%), DK (up from $3.66 to $5.27 per share 2026 consensus), and DY (+19.7%).

Analysis

This screen is more about factor momentum than macro conviction: in the next 1-3 months, investors are paying up for names with visible estimate revisions while higher-for-longer rates keep duration-sensitive multiples in check. That favors businesses with backlog, contracted work, or near-term cash generation over companies whose upside depends on a clean risk-on tape. MYRG and DY look the cleanest because their earnings power is tied to real project flow rather than multiple expansion alone.

DK is the most cyclical and therefore the most fragile. Refining can look self-reinforcing until crack spreads or inventory gains normalize; then EPS can de-rate quickly, so the move is best treated as tactical, not structural. NBIX is the highest-quality defensive growth name here, but the market is implicitly assuming recent product momentum persists; any slowdown in prescription growth would compress the premium fast.

Contrarian read: the consensus may be overtrusting the relative-strength filter itself. These names can keep outperforming for a few more weeks if revisions continue, but breadth-driven rotations often reverse when the next quarter fails to validate the screen. XYZ is the most suspect on that basis: if consumer spending or take-rate assumptions soften, the market has little patience for a low-single-digit earnings growth story that is already being priced like a winner.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Long NBIX on pullbacks over the next 1-3 months; target 12-15% upside with a stop if upcoming script growth or guidance fails to reaccelerate.
• Long MYRG vs. short IWM for a 1-3 month relative-value trade; expect outperformance if infrastructure/data-center capex stays firm, but exit if consensus revisions flatten or rates spike higher.
• Long DY on weakness, sized smaller because the move is crowded; use a 3-month horizon and lean on continued estimate revision support as the catalyst.
• Short XYZ on strength or sell 1-2 month upside call spreads; the risk/reward is poor if earnings growth remains only modest and the market stops rewarding the rotation into fintech.
• Treat DK as a conditional tactical long only if refining spreads remain supportive into the next data point; otherwise stay flat because the reversal risk is high.