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Investors who target stocks displaying relative strength often find themselves in favorable trends, no matter the direction of the general market. For a quick explanation, relative strength focuses on stocks or other assets that have performed well relative to the market as a whole or a relevant benchmark.

And in April, several stocks – Meta Platforms (META - Free Report), Barclays (BCS - Free Report), and Intuitive Surgical (ISRG - Free Report) – have displayed notable relative strength, as we can see illustrated below.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Can the momentum continue? Let’s take a closer look.

Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms’ quarterly results stole the show, with the company delivering a sizable 35% EPS surprise and revealing optimistic guidance. Quarterly revenue totaled $28.6 billion, surpassing expectations and reflecting the first year-over-year revenue increase in four quarters.

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Analysts have become bullish, with the company’s earnings outlook shifting notably higher as of late. Meta Platforms sports the highly-coveted Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

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In addition, the company’s shares have become notably cheaper, with the current 23.3X forward earnings multiple well off its high of 29.2X in 2021 and nearly in line with the five-year median.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Despite a big run-up post-earnings, META shares still appear attractive, with the company’s focus on efficiency being a significant tailwind.

Barclays

Barclays is a major global banking and financial services company with 325 years of expertise in the realm. Currently, the stock sports a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), with analysts upping their earnings expectations for the current and next fiscal year.

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For those with an appetite for income, Barclays has that covered; the company’s annual dividend presently yields 5.8%, more than double the Zacks Finance sector average.

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Intuitive Surgical

ISRG shares got a massive boost following its latest quarterly release, as we can see illustrated in the chart below. So far, the momentum has held, which is undoubtedly a positive sign.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The company reported earnings of $1.23 per share, exceeding our consensus estimate by roughly 3.3%. Intuitive generated $1.7 billion in revenue throughout the period, well above expectations and improving a solid 14% year-over-year.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Regarding valuation, the company’s 68.3X forward earnings multiple undeniably resides on the higher end of the spectrum, well above the 59.4X five-year median and the Zacks Medical sector average.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Bottom Line

These stocks’ performances raise a valid question: can they keep climbing, or has the move already ended?

For Meta Platforms (META - Free Report), the favorable earnings results and guidance provide solid momentum for time to come, with the stock still staging a significant rebound from last year’s less-than-ideal performance.

In addition, analysts have become notably bullish on META’s outlook, pushing the stock into a Zacks Rank #1 (Buy). These aspects, paired with a relatively sound valuation picture, make META shares appear much more attractive and capable of delivering gains in the near-term than Barclays (BCS - Free Report) and Intuitive Surgical (ISRG - Free Report) shares.

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