Raymond James Sees Market Cooling but These 2 Stocks Still Look Like Buys

Markets appear to be in retreat mode, pulling back from the record highs notched in late October. Even with the six-week government shutdown now over and federal agencies reopening, the initial sense of relief proved short-lived. Investors shifted to a more cautious stance as questions resurfaced about whether valuations have moved ahead of fundamentals and how the Federal Reserve will approach its next policy decisions.

Still, Raymond James chief investment officer Larry Adam notes that the backdrop isn’t entirely bleak. Inflation has cooled faster than many expected, the Fed delivered another 25-basis-point rate cut in October, and early signs suggest U.S.–China trade tensions may be easing following President Trump’s recent trip to Asia.

Even so, Adam has been warning that markets are entering a more delicate phase. “With valuations now sitting in the top 1% of the past two decades and much of the good news already priced in, we remain cautious,” Adam opined. “Any disappointment could trigger a modest pullback, though we would view it as a healthy correction within a still-strong bull market, underpinned by solid fundamentals.”

All of that said, the stock analysts at Raymond James are still finding opportunities they believe can outperform, even if markets cool further. We turned to the TipRanks platform to see what the wider analyst community thinks of two of the firm’s picks, and why Raymond James says these names are still worth buying.

ViaSat, Inc. (VSAT)

The first stock we’ll look at is a global communications company, ViaSat. As its name suggests, ViaSat provides satellite communications and networking services; the company launches, maintains, and operates a constellation of three Ka-band satellites, the ViaSat-3 group. These satellites are designed to support a rapidly shifting capacity throughout the coverage area, allowing them to send bandwidth when and where it is most needed. The ViaSat-3 group is geostationary and orbits over the equator at an altitude of 22,236 miles.

The positioning of ViaSat’s constellation is of vital importance to the company. ViaSat works with a wide range of customers in the consumer, commercial, and defense industries, and their needs and demands are highly variable—between each other and even over the course of a single day. By keeping multiple operational satellites in geosynchronous orbit, ViaSat can ensure reliable coverage over the widest possible areas. ViaSat is currently in the process of launching its VS-3 Flight 2 and Flight 3 satellites, designed to double the bandwidth capacity of the fleet.

ViaSat has been in business since 1986 and is based in Carlsbad, California. The company is a partner with the aviation industry, providing communications services for commercial and business aviation, including in-cabin wireless networking. On land, ViaSat is also known as a provider of home and business internet services, with a wide range of plans for customers of all types.

In addition, ViaSat is a major provider of satellite communications services to the US government, particularly the Defense Department. The company points out that its services remain reliable while allowing for unrestrained mobility by the user. This feature is also a selling point for the maritime business, providing satellite-based communications and geolocating services to ships at sea.

In its fiscal 2Q26—results were released on November 7—ViaSat showed revenues of $1.14 billion. This was up 2% year-over-year, although the figure fell just below the forecast – by $8.63 million. At the bottom line, ViaSat saw a net income loss of $61.4 million. We should note that the 2Q26 net loss was an improvement from the year-ago quarterly loss of $138 million. Additionally, the backlog in the Defense and Advanced Technologies segment hit a record $1.2 billion, rising 31% year-over-year. That momentum points to room for future business growth.

Shares in ViaSat have been climbing rapidly in recent months, and the stock has a year-to-date gain of 320%.

Nevertheless, Raymond James analyst Brent Penter thinks there’s plenty of upside left to this satellite business. Penter writes of ViaSat, “We believe, despite very strong stock performance over the past ~6 months, there remains substantial sum-of-the-parts (SOTP) upside plus several catalysts. Investors are starting to recognize the significant value of the Defense & Advanced Technologies (DAT) business as VSAT’s strategic review for a possible spin-out continues, with comps trading in the 20s to 40s+ EV/EBITDA vs. Satellite businesses typically in the single digits, and a spin could better realize the valuation gap. Moreover, the very important Viasat-3 (VS-3) F2 and F3 launches are imminent, and while VSAT’s last couple of launches have had minor to major issues, we think the current valuation accounts for launch/in-service risk.”

Penter quantifies his stance with an Outperform (i.e., Buy) rating, and a price target of $52 that implies an upside of 45% in the next 12 months. (To watch Penter’s track record, click here)

The Moderate Buy consensus rating on ViaSat is based on 7 recent analyst reviews, which include 4 Buys, 2 Holds, and 1 Sell. The stock’s $35.78 trading price and $40.33 average price target together suggest a 13% gain by this time next year. (See VSAT stock forecast)

Universal Health Services (UHS)

The next Raymond James pick we’ll look at is Universal Health Services. This company provides hospital and healthcare services in the US and UK markets, and serves approximately 3.7 million patients annually. The company has over 400 facilities in operation, including acute care hospitals, behavioral health inpatient facilities, freestanding emergency rooms, outpatient clinics, and ambulatory care centers. Altogether, UHS’s facilities have more than 31,100 licensed beds and employ some 99,300 people – of whom 23,000 are nurses.

Healthcare is heavily regulated, and UHS prides itself on its ability to maintain – and to document – compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. The company has a published code of conduct and maintains a compliance hotline allowing individuals to make inquiries and get details and guidance on rules and regulations, or to express concerns.

UHS has been in the hospital and healthcare business since 1979, and today is one of the nation’s largest providers of inpatient behavioral health services, with 331 facilities in this niche. In addition to its various direct care operations, UHS is also an important health insurance provider, offering private and Medicare plans through its Prominence Health subsidiary.

In the last reported quarter, 3Q25, the company’s top line came to $4.5 billion, up 13.4% year-over-year and $130 million better than had been expected. The bottom line figure, reported as a non-GAAP EPS of $5.69, beat the forecast by 74 cents per share. The company increased its share buyback program in the quarter by $1.5 billion, increasing the repurchase authorization to $1.759 billion. As of September 30, the company has repurchased 3.190 million shares in 2025.

Raymond James analyst John Ransom is taking a bullish stance on UHS, pointing to several key factors behind his optimism: “1) improved execution in 3Q25 with a ~5% core EBITDA beat after an ~8% core EBITDA miss in 2Q25. 3Q performance included a 7.6% increase in same store behavioral health EBITDA; 2) easy comparisons for 2026, which include an estimated $77M EBITDA benefit from incremental DPPs in FL and NV and the lack of a $50M Cedar Hill start-up loss drag from 2025; 3) attractive valuation at 6.3x our 2027 EBITDA estimate vs. 9.5x for HCA; 4) consistent commitment to capital return with an additional $1.5B in share repos authorized and 5) superior transparency on the DPP and HIX, as the company now forecasts an annual drag from 2028-32 of approximately $90M/year, or ~3% of EBITDA from DPPs and the ‘higher end’ of $50-100M if eAPTCs lapse in 2026.”

Ransom follows these comments with an Outperform (i.e., Buy) rating for the stock and a $270 price target that points toward a 19% upside going into next year. (To watch Ransom’s track record, click here)

This stock has 16 recent analyst reviews, and the split – 8 Buys, 7 Holds, and 1 Sell – supports a Moderate Buy consensus rating. The shares are priced at $227.57 and have an average price target of $246, indicating room for upside of 8% on the one-year horizon. (See UHS stock forecast)

To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’ Best Stocks to Buy, a tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.