A lighter-than-expected inflation report sparked a major relief rally Thursday, and those stocks that had been hurt the most by soaring costs could lead this market comeback. CNBC Pro screened for underperforming stocks whose profitability has been taking hits due to the rise in inflation. Now that inflation has shown signs of easing , these stocks could be getting a big break if price pressures continue to fall. We identified stocks with the following criteria: Latest margin decreased from a year ago 2022 EPS expected to decline this year YTD percentage return worse than 21% decline in S & P 500 Beta greater than 1 But majority of Wall Street analysts still say buy Megacap stock Alphabet made the list and so did chip giants Micron and Nvidia. These tech names were up big Thursday, with Alphabet jumping nearly 7% and Nvidia soaring almost 9%. Micron climbed 5.5%. Technology stocks have been some of the biggest victims of rising rates. Thursday’s CPI report fueled bets the Federal Reserve can dial back its aggressive tightening efforts, which could mean a less dramatic hike in rates. Retailers Bath & Body Works , Estee Lauder and Target could also gain significantly from here with inflation peaking. Inflation has been weighing on the sector as high prices dampened consumer spending. Shares of Bath & Body Works jumped nearly 10% Thursday, and Target gained more than 6%. The consumer price index, a broad-based measure of goods and services costs, increased 0.4% for the month and 7.7% from a year ago. Respective estimates from Dow Jones were for increases of 0.6% and 7.9%. Markets reacted sharply to the report, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up more than 800 points and the S & P 500 rising more than 4%.
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