Best value stocks in July 2024 (2024)

Cisco Systems designs and sells a diversified portfolio of networking, security, collaboration, application and cloud computing technologies. The company’s largest segment is its secure and agile network business, which includes its switches, routers and networking hardware.

In February of 2023, Cisco reported 7% year-over-year revenue growth in the fiscal second quarter, including 6% growth in total annualized recurring revenue (ARR) and 11% growth in product ARR. Total software revenue was also up 10% year-over-year, while software subscription revenue was up 15%. Remaining performance obligations (RPO) also grew 4% from a year ago to $31.8 billion.

Cisco is a well-established market leader in enterprise networking, and it should continue to benefit from the rise of hybrid cloud and work environments.

Comcast is a diversified media conglomerate and is the largest U.S. cable provider with more than 34.3 million broadband subscribers and video customers. Comcast’s subsidiaries include NBCUniversal, the Peaco*ck video streaming service, Universal Pictures and Universal Studios Theme Parks.

For years, Comcast has been successfully pivoting from its legacy cable TV business. In 2022, Comcast added 1.3 million wireless customer net line additions and more than doubled its Peaco*ck subscriber base to surpass 20 million users. The company’s theme parks reported record earnings on the year, which helped fund Comcast’s $17.7 billion in capital returns. Comcast also recently raised its dividend for the 15th consecutive year.

Lockheed Martin is one of the world’s largest defense, security and intelligence firms. The company is a key U.S. military defense contractor and supplier to NASA and other nondefense government agencies. For value investors looking for stability and reliability, it doesn’t get more consistent and predictable than U.S. military contracts. Lockheed generated over 70% of its 2022 revenue from U.S. Department of Defense contracts.

Escalating tensions between the U.S. and China and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine will likely continue to expand the U.S. defense budget in the coming years. In the first quarter, Lockheed reported impressive 16% growth in its space segment revenue, which could be a major profit source in the future.

Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company that specializes in oncology, immunology and cardiovascular therapeutics. The company’s top-selling drugs of 2022 include cancer therapies Revlimid and Opdivo and anticoagulant Eliquis.

Bristol-Myers’ fourth-quarter earnings per share beat Wall Street expectations, but revenue dropped by around 5% year over year (YoY). The company said foreign exchange headwinds and generic competition for Revlimid were largely to blame for the revenue decline. But sales of Orencia were up 6% and Opdivo revenue grew 11% YoY, excluding forex impacts. The company’s new products portfolio also generated $645 million in revenue for the quarter.

Deere is a global leader in producing farm equipment, construction machinery and lawn and garden equipment.

In the fiscal first quarter of 2024, Deere reported a decline of 3.6% net revenue growth and 10.6% net income growth compared to a year ago. The company said farm and construction demand was healthy, and production and precision agriculture net sales were up 53% year over year. Deere also guided for fiscal 2023 full-year sales growth across all three major segments, including about 20% growth in production and precision agriculture.

With farm fleet ages already historically high, agricultural equipment demand will likely remain strong for the foreseeable future. Deere has a valuable brand and a long-term track record of building quality construction and farm equipment.