Goldman Sachs’ Outperformers Still Have Lot Of Potential Left (CI, JPM, F)

According

, while some of the stock picks of Goldman Sachs have failed to make an impression, several of the last year’s conviction-buy recommendations have outperformed the stock-market benchmarks. Goldman Sachs says that stocks on its "conviction buy" list "represent investment recommendations focused on either the size of the potential return or the likelihood of the realization of the return." The top three stocks in this list that are giving impressive returns are: Ford Motor

: This company is set to announce its Q2 earnings before the trading starts tomorrow. F is expected to deliver a profit of $0.40 a share on revenue of $29.79 billion, reversing the losses borne by the company year-ago period. The estimates mark a sequential decline in the company’s profits. Over the past five quarters, Ford’s results have beaten the Thomson Reuters average earnings estimate every time. Goldman had added Ford to its "conviction buy" list on April 21, 2009. After Goldman cut its 2010 sales forecast for the US auto industry, analyst Patrick Archambault cut his six-month price target for F from $16 to $14. After the automaker retired $4 billion in debt at the end of June, Archambault said that the move signals “an improving cash-flow outlook” and was "materially accretive to earnings." Since the recommendation, F’s shares have moved up 188.8%, while the S&P 500 has returned 23%. The target price marks a 23% upside potential. Cigna

: CI is scheduled to announce its second-quarter results on August 5. The analysts are expecting Cigna to have earned $1.01 a share on revenue of $5.26 billion. A couple of months back the company has reaffirmed its full-year earnings guidance at $3.75-$4.15 a share. Goldman added Cigna to its "conviction buy" list on January 28, 2009. Analyst Matthew Borsch has not changed his opinion on this stock. According to Borsch, Cigna "remains the least exposed to health-reform downside risks." Borsch considers the stock "as the best risk-reward among core names, particularly given its sector-relative valuation discount." Since the recommendation, CI’s shares have added 97.7%, while the S&P 500 has returned 28.6%. Based on the price target of $42, there is a 38% upside over the next six months. JPMorgan Chase

had last week reported its Q2 earnings of $1.09 a share, handily beating the Street view of $0.70 a share. Goldman added JPM to its "conviction buy" list on January 26, 2009. Analyst Richard Ramsden wrote in his July 15 research note that JPMorgan's credit was "improving faster than anticipated" in the second quarter. He, however, noted that "pre-provision earnings were down 10% with trading revenues down by a third and net interest income under pressure." Since the recommendation, JPMorgan’s shares have added 58.2%, while the S&P 500 has returned 28.6%. Considering that the company’s current price target for JPM stands at $54, there is a potential upside of 39% in the company’s shares. Read more from