Discount Retail Stocks, LULU Earnings, & Healthcare Consolidation

• (0:45) - Bitcoin's Rally & Disney's Purchase of Marvel
• (3:20) - Dollar General's Earnings Report
• (6:45) - Lululemon's Earnings Report
• (16:15) - CVS Buys Aetna for $69 Billion
• (19:00) - UnitedHealth Buys DaVita Medical Group
• (21:10) - Episode Roundup: Podcast@Zacks.com

On today’s episode of the Zacks Friday Finish Line, Content Writer Ryan McQueeney and Editor Maddy Johnson take on this week’s biggest stories, including the latest earnings results from Dollar General (NYSE:DG) and Lululemon (NASDAQ:LULU) , as well as major healthcare M&A deals involving CVS (NYSE:CVS) , Aetna (NYSE:AET) , and UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH) .

Make sure to subscribe and leave the show a rating on iTunes!

First up, the hosts covered Dollar General’s third-quarter results. The discount retailer’s earnings, revenue, and comparable-store sales were strong, and management confirmed plans to open 900 new stores. The news was enough to lift others in the industry, leading Maddy and Ryan to discuss why discount retail is winning right now (also read: Dollar General's Growth Lifts Discount Retail Stocks).

Sticking to retail, the hosts also recapped athleisure giant Lululemon’s earnings results. The company’s total comparable sales surged 8%, while direct-to-consumer net revenue increased 26% in the quarter, indicating that specialty retail could be bouncing back as well (also read: Lululemon Stock Pops After Strong Q3 Earnings, Comparable Sales).

Meanwhile, the healthcare industry is also in flux. Maddy and Ryan covered the monumental merger between CVS and Aetna, as well as UnitedHealth’s decision to scoop up its own medical services company (also read: CVS Health's Aetna Buyout to Change Healthcare Landscape).

Make sure to tune into the show to hear more!

As a reminder, if you feel that we missed something, or if you want us to cover a different story, shoot us an email at podcast@zacks.com. Make sure to check out all of our other audio content at zacks.com/podcasts, and remember to subscribe and leave us a rating on iTunes.

As always, thanks for listening to this episode of the Zacks Friday Finish Line, and check back for even more news from the investment and financial world!

Want more stock market analysis from this author? Make sure to follow @Ryan_McQueeney on Twitter!

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