8 Stocks to Buy Now... and 5 to Sell

These shares are poised for gains in 2021.

- By Nellie S. Huang and Anne Kates Smith

HILTON WORLDWIDE HOLDINGS (SYMBOL HLT, $93)

Hilton is a bet on a post-COVID recovery. “Demand will pick up as the pandemic fades,” says Matt Gershuny, comanager of Parnassus Mid Cap, who recently bought shares in the hotelier. There’s no denying the virus’s damage to Hilton, on track to report a 50% decline in sales and a 64% drop in earnings for 2020. Revenue per available room was $47 in late 2020, down from $102 in 2019. But Wall Street analysts expect earnings to gain ground in 2021. And a cash pot of $3.5 billion will see Hilton through. (Prices are as of November 6.)

JPMORGAN CHASE (JPM, $103)

Shares in JPMorgan Chase, the financial services giant, have fallen 20% over the past 12 months. The stock trades on par with the typical big bank, a bargain for “the best of the best” of banks, says John Buckingham, editor of The Prudent Speculator newsletter. Low interest rates have reduced the bank’s net interest income— the difference between the interest it earns from lending money and what it pays depositors. But record revenues in 2020 from investment banking and trading have been a boost. JPM is well positioned for an economic rebound. In the meantime, the shares yield 3.5%.