credit suisse refreshed its top of the crop stock picks for august betting on some bigname stocks as investors continue to feed the markets with optimism stocks have fared well after last years selloff with the broader market rising despite higher interest rates several us bank failures fears of a potential recession and weaker corporate earnings the s  p 500 has gained more than 166 this year—including a 31 increase in july alone credit suisse recently highlighted several stocks the banks analysts think can outperform this month take a look at some of the names that made the cut analyst stephen ju expects eretailer amazon to begin reporting accelerating free cash flow growth this year as it returns to historical levels of its fulfillment capacity by 2024 amazons paid unit growth outpaced the companys shipping cost growth in the first quarter of this year—a trend that shows a rise in efficiency for the company ju noted amazon flew past the streets earnings expectations for the second quarter when it reported results last week it is increasingly clear that greater service levels in the form of faster delivery is leading to consumers assigning a higher value to prime memberships credit suisse said amazon shares have climbed more than 662 in 2023 credit suisse has a price target of 176 per share suggesting 26 upside from fridays close even after amazons 83 leap in response to q2 results credit suisse also named electronics manufacturer flex ltd as a top pick according to analyst shannon cross flex will see strong nearterm revenue and earnings growth driven by structural changes including renegotiated contracts increased stock buybacks and pricing discipline implemented by management these changes have allowed flex to improve execution expand margins and gain new business cross said leading her to estimate revenue for this year to grow 2 yearoveryear another earnings catalyst for flex is the companys 66owned solar hardware maker nextracker  which went public in february flex is outperforming the broad market since the start of 2022 when it climbed 17 before rallying another 26 so far in 2023 cross price target of 36 implies 33 upside from fridays close merck may outperform based on an annual revenue and earnings per share growth forecast from 2021 to 2026 of 7 and 11 respectively the second highest growth rate among industry peers analyst trung huynh wrote we believe this level of growth is low risk with uncertain macro backdrop we believe stocks with high nearterm growth and relatively lower risk should significantly outperform lowergrowth peers merck posted secondquarter revenue last week that topped analyst estimates boosted by strong sales of its cancer drug keytruda and hpv vaccine gardasil merck reported a quarterly loss however hurt by charges tied to its acquisition of prometheus biosciences earlier this year shares of the company are down 54 this year credit suisse assigned a 126 price target on merck which implies 20 appreciation from fridays closing price —cnbcs michael bloom contributed to this report