For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – July 26, 2017 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include Oracle (NYSE: ORCL – Free Report), Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) (NYSE: PFE – Free Report), Abbott (NYSE: ABT – Free Report), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOGL – Free Report) and Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB – Free Report).
Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free .
Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:
Top Analyst Reports for Today: Oracle, Pfizer and Abbott
The Zacks Research Daily presents the best research output of our analyst team. Today's Research Daily features new research reports on 16 major stocks, including Oracle (NYSE: ORCL – Free Report), Pfizer (NYSE: PFE – Free Report) and Abbott (NYSE: ABT – Free Report). These research reports have been hand-picked from the roughly 70 reports published by our analyst team today.
You can see all of today’s research reports here >>>
Buy-rated Oracle’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Technology Sector year-to-date, gaining +32% vs. +18%. The company’s offerings in SaaS and PaaS have gained significant momentum in the past few quarters, which improves the company's competitive position in the red hot cloud space, particularly against salesforce.com and Workday.
The Zacks analyst likes the company’s growing cloud market share and sees the positive momentum in this area as a notable top-line growth driver. Moreover, Oracle continues to win new customers in HCM, ERP and CX. However, high investments in IaaS will affect gross margin expansion in the near-term. Further, a strong U.S. dollar remains a headwind.
(You can read the full research report on Oracle here >>> ).
Pfizer ’s shares have underperformed the peer group as well as the broader market over the past year (the stock is down -9.5% over the last year vs. a -1.2% decline for the Zacks Large-Cap Pharmaceuticals industry and the +13.9% gain for the S&P 500 index) on continued drug pricing uncertainty that have refused to go away even after the election.
These headwinds notwithstanding, the Zacks analyst is pointing out that Pfizer is strengthening its product portfolio as well as pipeline through acquisitions and licensing deals. However, genericization of key drugs, lost alliance revenues, pricing pressure and rising competition remain potent headwinds. Mounting competition in the immuno-oncology market is also a significant concern.
The company has a mixed record of earnings surprises in recent quarters. Estimate movement has been mixed ahead of its second-quarter earnings release.
(You can read the full research report on Pfizer here >>> ).
Buy-rated Abbott’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Medical sector in the year-to-date period (the stock is up +32.3% vs. +13.1% gain for the sector) on the back of greater appreciation for the company's strategic repositioning through acquisitions/divestitures. A case in point is the St. Jude Medical buyout that complements the company cardiovascular devices business.
All in all, market participants like management's strategic focus on core therapeutic areas. Abbott’s second-quarter 2017 performance was promising with the bottom line exceeding expectations. Although revenues were in line with estimates, the raised guidance for 2017 is indicative of brighter prospects. On the flip side, the analyst identifies weakness in the nutrition business in China and sluggish growth in the Venezuelan market as areas of concern.
(You can read the full research report on Abbott here >>> ) .
Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL – Free Report) and Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB – Free Report).
Will You Make a Fortune on the Shift to Electric Cars?
Here's another stock idea to consider. Much like petroleum 150 years ago, lithium power may soon shake the world, creating millionaires and reshaping geo-politics. Soon electric vehicles (EVs) may be cheaper than gas guzzlers. Some are already reaching 265 miles on a single charge.
With battery prices plummeting and charging stations set to multiply, one company stands out as the #1 stock to buy according to Zacks research.
It's not the one you think.
About Zacks Equity Research
Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.
Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.
Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News
Many are little publicized and fly under the Wall Street radar. They're virtually unknown to the general public. Yet today's 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" were generated by the stock-picking system that has nearly tripled the market from 1988 through 2015. Its average gain has been a stellar +26% per year. See these high-potential stocks free >>.
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This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit
Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT
Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL
Pfizer, Inc. (PFE): Free Stock Analysis Report
Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL): Free Stock Analysis Report
Schlumberger N.V. (SLB): Free Stock Analysis Report
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