Buy Palo Alto if it sees a post-earnings sell-off, according to this chief investment officer

CNBC

2 days ago

Palo Alto Networks will post earnings Monday afternoon and a buying opportunity may emerge, according to Michael Landsberg, investment chief at Landsberg Bennett Private Wealth Management. Investors should be ready to snap up the stock if it sees some pressure following the results, he said. Landsberg joined CNBC's " Power Check " Monday to offer his insights on Palo Alto and a couple other trending stock stories. Here is what he had to say. Palo Alto Networks Shares of the cybersecurity company have seen meaningful weakness in recent months, pulling back more than 15% over the past six. Landsberg said that any further weakness after its quarterly results would provide an opportunity for investors. "Cybersecurity is one of those businesses that continues to keep moving forward," he said. "The smarter [artificial intelligence] gets, the smarter AI cybersecurity has to get." "The stock should I think hopefully trade off a bit for people that don't own it," the CIO also said, adding that investors "should be a buyer" of the name if it reports 16% year-over-year earnings per share growth. Landsberg disclosed that he's held the stock for 10 years and predicts holding it for another five to seven years, seeing that "it's been a real winner." Viking Holdings Landsberg is also taking a bullish approach to cruise name Viking Holdings ahead of its earnings results on Tuesday before the bell. He said thinks that the company will report earnings growth of 32% year over year and believes this trend will continue. "Viking has done a really good job of marketing themselves to higher-end consumers," he said. "They go to every continent in the world, and it's a smaller boat. It's a smaller bespoke experience, so you're not competing with thousands and thousands of people on these boats. I think people like that. They want to have that high-end experience." Landsberg said that while he doesn't own shares of the company right now, he'll want to own it in the future. This comes as the stock has soared more than 37% year to date, outperforming the S & P 500's rise of almost 10% in the period. "I own the entire space," he added. "We think it's a good name." Estee Lauder While shares of Estee Lauder have also seen gains recently, surging more than 39% in the past three months, Landsberg was more cautious when it came to the cosmetics giant, saying that the name is "tricky." "There's a lot of cosmetics companies in the world," he said. "Estee Lauder hasn't grown their earnings or their revenue in probably four-plus years. Lots of competition, and my fear is just there's so much, there's so many choices out there. It's really tough." The company is due to post its quarterly results before market open on Wednesday, and Landsberg thinks the results could mark a bottom for earnings if they're down 85% year over year. "Maybe this is the bottom that you could be a buyer down the road," he also said. "We don't own it. We're not going to own it, but I'm hoping at some point. They've got good quality brands." "The stock's been kind of one of those things that earnings wise, it just doesn't make the money that excites us to be able to step in," Landsberg added.