Mizuho’s top April stock picks include home retailers and an energy name

Mizuho is out with its top stock picks for April, and the selections include home retailers and an energy company. It’s also keeping Nvidia on the list. The Wall Street firm highlighted 24 of its highest-conviction bets across six sectors. The newest additions for April include Lowe’s Companies and Wayfair , as well as cruise line operator Carnival . Energy giant Chevron was one company where Mizuho said its bullish outlook is greater than the rest of the Street. Mizuho left Nvidia as a top pick at a time when some investors are less certain about the AI chipmaker’s outlook after its hige runup. Last week, for example, Piper Sandler dumped Nvidia from its model portfolio, and said it’s concerned the S & P 500 is due for a correction. Here are some of Mizuho’s top picks for the month. Lowe’s is one new pick the firm is especially bullish on. Analyst David Bellinger said the North Carolina-based retailer is “decisively well-positioned as home improvement demand recovers and unleashes [an] outsized, double-digit earnings expansion in the process.” In fact, Mizuho said its price target on Lowe’s is about 10% above analysts’ consensus. The $280 price target represents about 16% upside from Lowe’s closing price on Wednesday. Chevron is another new pick Mizuho is more positive on than the rest of the Street. Chevron has underperformed its competitors over the past month. However, analyst Nitin Kumar expects that the acquisition of Hess Corp. will go through in spite of investor concerns it will not, and act as a catalyst for the stock. Kumar’s $200 price target on Chevron represents 24% upside from Wednesday’s close. Nvidia remains a top pick on the list. Analyst Vijay Rakesh said he expects the chipmaker will maintain its market leadership in a market that’s set to grow 10 times over the next five years. Other top picks include Intuit and Meta Platforms .