Top 5 Blue-Chip Stocks To Buy for February in 2012

These top five stocks for February have the immediate growth potential and are seeing exceptional buying pressure. I want to make certain you’re not missing out on these wonderful opportunities.
Two of the top five stocks for February are returning veterans from January and other months, but I’ve added some new stocks as well. Let’s get started:

Alexion Pharmaceuticals

Top 5 Blue-Chip Stocks To Buy for February in 2012 - Alexion (NASDAQ:ALXN) remains the No. 1 stock on my buy list. This stock has been surging higher in recent weeks, and shares responded very positively to the news that the company is expanding its product portfolio through its $1 billion bid for Enobia Pharma, a developer of therapies for serious genetic bone disorders. The company currently is working to get its hypophosphatasia treatment, asfotase alfa, approved in the United States. To date, there is no approved treatment for this life-threatening disease. So, if approved, the company would have a tremendous first-mover advantage. Alexion, who will acquire full worldwide development and commercial rights to asfotase alfa, is confident the drug can obtain approval. Analysts currently expect Alexion to grow sales by 41.4% and earnings by 30.8% in the fourth quarter. ALXN reports Thursday, Feb. 9.
AutoZone
Top 5 Blue-Chip Stocks To Buy for February in 2012 - AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) has taken off on its next leg higher because it is the perfect stock for the current automobile market. Although consumers are buying new cars when necessary, they also are extending the lives of those vehicles and getting as much mileage as they can for their buck. And companies like AutoZone do this superbly by supplying the parts to keep well-worn cars in top condition. Looking forward to the company’s next quarterly earnings report, expected in late February, analysts currently estimate AutoZone will announce 7% growth in sales and 19.8% growth in earnings. The stock should be a solid performer in the coming weeks. AZO is a strong buy.

Dollar Tree

Top 5 Blue-Chip Stocks To Buy for February in 2012 - Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR) knows one of the best ways of coping with thinning wallets is to stretch each and every dollar. So, while lean times hit other retailers particularly hard, Dollar Tree stores flourished. The company is the largest and most successful single-price-point retailer in the U.S. — everything in its 4,000 locations is just $1. The company has continued its success even as the U.S. economy improves, and I don’t believe the desire of consumers to save money will be disappearing anytime in 2012. In fact, analysts currently expect the company to report 11.5% sales growth and 22.5% earnings growth in its Feb. 22 earnings announcement.

McDonald’s

Top 5 Blue-Chip Stocks To Buy for February in 2012 - McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) is the world’s No. 1 fast-food company and a solid winner for this buy list. Analysts expected the company to report 9.1% sales growth and 11.2% earnings growth this week. McDonald’s answered back by beating earnings expectations for 14th time in the past 16 quarters. Although this did not push the stock higher, I still believe the positive earnings report will be a catalyst for further gains. McDonald’s plans to invest in store expansions around the globe in 2012, with two-thirds of its new stores to be located in Asia.
Ross Stores
Top 5 Blue-Chip Stocks To Buy for February in 2012 - Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) is the nation’s largest off-price apparel and home fashion retailer and continues to benefit from value-focused customers. The stock has been a solid performer so far in the new year. In December, ROST reported that its same-store sales jumped 9.2%, over double the 4% estimate! I’m looking forward to the company’s Q4 earnings announcement and finding out how these exceptional sales affected the company’s earnings. Analysts are currently expect the company to report 10.9% sales growth and 20.3% earnings growth, and a solid surprise could be just the ticket to the stock’s next leg higher.

5 $200-Plus Stocks Worth Every Cent to invest in 2013

There are some low-priced stocks out there that really catch Wall Street’s fancy. There’s some kind of love affair with a cheap stock — with investors fooling themselves into thinking that it’s easier for a $1 stock to get to $2 than it is for a $100 stock to get to $200.
But the bottom line is still the bottom line. A stock succeeds or fails on the merit of its business, not logistical nonsense like shares outstanding or the headline value of stock.
Take the 50-to-1 stock split that Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.B) executed in 2009 to bring its “Baby B” stock down from more than $3,000 a pop to a manageable amount under $100 per share. Did it change the company? Did Warren Buffett become any smarter or dumber as a result?
And on a more basic level, you make the same amount of money owning one share of a $3,000 stock as you do with 3,000 shares of a $1 stock. Either way, you have the same amount of money invested — it’s just divided up differently.
So if you’re afraid of high-priced stocks or in love with bargain picks, take a moment to consider these five stocks with $200-plus price tags — and the potential to move even higher in the months ahead:
5 $200-Plus Stocks Worth Every Cent to invest in 2013 - Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) makes the innovative da Vinci surgical systems that have revolutionized operations used to treat cancer and heart disease, among other things. Without getting too technical, Intuitive Surgical gear allows doctors to operate on a patient with fewer incisions, speeding up recovery time and reducing the risk of complications. ISRG is up 400% in five years — taking the recession in stride thanks to powerful growth as its technology has caught on and as aging baby boomers create increased demand for surgeries. The company has seen nine straight quarters of year-over-year profit increases and has seen a streak of revenue increases even longer than that. Health care is one of the few growth areas in the American economy, and ISRG is well positioned to capitalize on this trend.
5 $200-Plus Stocks Worth Every Cent to invest in 2013 - Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is the $400 gorilla of Wall Street that dares you to bet against it. Yeah, shares dropped 15% from October to November — but Apple has bounced back in a big way, hitting an all-time high Wednesday, and seems ready to move even higher. The iPad 3 could come as recently as February, if you believe the rumors, and Apple clearly is looking to maintain its stranglehold on the tablet market. Wall Street is admittedly ga-ga for Apple, so you have to beware of the hype. Still, a forward price-to-earnings ratio of less than 11 hints that there still is time to buy Apple for the continued march upward.
5 $200-Plus Stocks Worth Every Cent to invest in 2013 - MasterCard (NYSE:MA) is at the center of a macro trend that is tough to ignore: the death of paper money. Per-swipe transactions continue to rise even in America, since as much as 40% of transactions in the U.S. still take place with cash or paper checks. But the real growth for MasterCard is coming from emerging markets, where a rising middle class is getting access to bank accounts and debit cards. Remember, MasterCard is not a debt issuer, but more of a toll-taker on the e-commerce superhighway. Every time you make a purchase, MasterCard gets paid — and it’s hard to believe that the number of people using plastic is going to decline anytime soon.
5 $200-Plus Stocks Worth Every Cent to invest in 2013 - Priceline (NASDAQ:PCLN) and its iconic pitchman William Shatner have taken over the travel business with an innovative “name your own price” model for airfares, hotels, rental cars and a host of other services. However, the real growth isn’t at home from people booking trips to Florida to see the grandparents — it’s internationally. PCLN offers hotel room reservations in about 100 countries and more than 40 languages. That has allowed for big growth despite the fact that Priceline is competing with internet travel sites like Kayak that have popped up in recent years. Profits are on track to double from 2010 to 2011, and grow an additional 25% in 2012.
5 $200-Plus Stocks Worth Every Cent to invest in 2013 - W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) is a rather un-sexy company when compared to the others on this list. It is engaged in “facilities maintenance,” a glorified way to refer to distributing pumps, tools, motors and other gear that allow businesses to … well, do business. That might not sound exciting, but a 60% surge in GWW stock since the summer is worth taking note of. The company has seen eight consecutive quarters of year-over-year revenue increases. EPS numbers jumped 29% from 2010 to 2011 and are set to surge another 17% in 2012. W.W. Grainger is expanding in China and Panama, too, which could add even more momentum to shares. You might want to wait for a pullback after the red-hot run recently, however.