So many companies are firing employees. Massive layoffs seem like a normal piece of the newsfeed. And people are taking it as a largely negative sign for those companies.

But if cutting jobs is bearish, what does that mean for the companies adding hundreds (or thousands) of jobs right now? Are they worth looking at, too?

Not all of them. But some of them do warrant attention. So we’re going to lay out 5 of the highest-rated stocks on AltIndex with massive increases in job listings over the past 3 months.

Let’s begin.

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You may be thinking, wouldn’t job listings just be an indicator of how many people a company still needs, and isn’t that a bad thing because they don’t have enough employees in their business?

Close, but not quite. Looking at a company’s job post numbers does tell us how many people that company still needs, but opening new jobs is usually a positive thing. That’s because it’s often correlated with growth: if a firm is listing 100 new jobs, that means something like it either has made sales that require it to hire more employees to fulfill them or that the company sees an opportunity in some sector and is building a new business branch to dive into that opportunity.

Correlation doesn’t always equal causation, but sometimes it does (and increased job listings is one of AltIndex’s AI model’s favorite statistics to project future growth with).

So, without further ado, let’s look at 5 of the top-rated companies on AltIndex with massive increases in hiring over the past 3 months (from lowest to highest).

Humana is one of the largest private health insurers in the U.S. with a focus on administering Medicare Advantage plans. The firm has built a niche specializing in government-sponsored programs, with nearly all its medical membership stemming from individual and group Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, and the military's Tricare program.

As you’ll see below, Humana did just add a pretty crazy amount of job listings, but that’s not the only alternative data that stands out.

Amkor Technology, Inc. provides outsourced semiconductor packaging and test services in the United States, Japan, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. It offers turnkey packaging and test services, including semiconductor wafer bump, wafer probe, wafer back-grind, package design, packaging, system-level and final test, and drop shipment services.

Although the sheer amount of jobs Amkor added isn’t huge, it’s the percentage increase from 3 months ago that we’re the most interested in. And that number’s pretty significant:

Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a global biotechnology company known for its innovation in developing drugs for serious diseases. The company has historically focused on cystic fibrosis (CF) treatments but is also expanding into other areas like pain management and genetic diseases. Vertex's robust pipeline and strategic acquisitions have positioned it as a leading biotech firm.

In addition to VRTX’s job listings and other solid alternative data (below), we’d like to highlight the fact that three congress members have bought the stock this year… and none of them have sold it. Interesting.

Petrobras, officially known as Petróleo Brasileiro S.A., is a state-controlled oil giant in Brazil. Operating since 1953, the company is involved in exploration and production, refining, marketing, and transportation of oil and gas in Brazil and internationally. Over the years, Petrobras has faced various challenges including corruption scandals and financial instability. However, the company remains one of the largest energy conglomerates in the world, playing a crucial role in the global oil and gas markets.

Although Petrobras’s job listings are only up by a modest amount over the past three months, other key alternative data metrics are off the charts (below).

Intuit Inc. is a financial software company that specializes in developing and marketing financial, accounting, and tax preparation software and services for small businesses, accountants, and individuals. Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Mountain View, California, Intuit is renowned for its flagship products like TurboTax, QuickBooks, Mint, and Credit Karma.

The hiring data and financials look strong for Intuit, but so does the social buzz around it right now. Over the past few days, a lot of people on Reddit were talking about INTU.

You should never only use one single indicator or statistic as your sole reason for buying or selling a stock. That being said, job listings is quite a strong indicator in our experience, as it often means that a company is predicting growth in the near future. It’s best to evaluate that information in context of other fundamental and alternative data and to make an informed decision from there.

That’s all for today’s special edition. We hope you got value from it. Reply and let us know if you did. 

Until next week,

— Brandon & Blake