Thursday, March 9, 2017

Today's Research Daily features new research reports on 16 major stocks, including IBM (IBM), Celgene (CELG), and Shell (RDS.A).

IBM shares have turned around over the last one year (up +28% vs. +19.5% for the Zacks Technology sector) on greater appreciation for the company's outlook. The Zacks analyst highlights IBM's recent investor briefing, which showed that focus on cloud computing (hybrid cloud), new market penetration, cognitive technologies and artificial intelligence are key growth catalysts. In this regard, the recently announced collaboration with salesforce is positive for the Watson business.

In addition, tuck-in acquisitions will lead to incremental revenues, strengthening its technology leadership and resulting in a more favorable mix of business. However, sluggish IT spending particularly on on-premise and data center hardware and foreign exchange volatility remain concerns. (You can read the full research report on IBM here.)

Shares of Celgene shares have gained 6.3% year to date, underperforming the Zacks Medical - Biomedical and Genetics sector which has gained 8.1% over the same period. Celgene and other drug makers’ shares have remained under pressure given ongoing questions about pricing issues and other regulatory uncertainties.

These issues notwithstanding, Celgene’s multiple myeloma drug Revlimid continues to grow on the back of market share gains and increased duration. The Zacks analyst likes Celgene’s ongoing label expansion efforts and pipeline development. The company anticipates several pipeline-related events over the upcoming quarters and next few years. Fourth-quarter results were disappointing but the company’s outlook for 2017 was encouraging. (You can read the full research report on Celgene here.)

Buy rated Shell shares have marginally underperformed the Zacks Integrated Oil industry over the past six months (up +2.6% vs. +3.4% gain for the industry). However, they have outperformed smaller rival BP over the same period (down -3.8%). The Zacks analyst likes the company's strong and diversified portfolio of development projects that offer attractive long-term opportunities. While the Buy-rated supermajor has been able to manage its expenses and progress on its large divestment program, the remarkable speed of its BG integration is what stands apart.

Additionally, Shell's upstream unit swung to a Q4 profit from a year-ago loss. Rebounding oil price, together with higher output helped the company report a quarterly E&P profit. Shell's near-term dividend outlook also looks good with the company delivering on its pledge to sustain the payout. (You can read the full research report on Shell here.)

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Oracle (ORCL), Zoetis (ZTS) and Microchip (MCHP).

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Sheraz Mian

Director of Research

Note: Note: Sheraz Mian regularly provides earnings analysis on Zacks.com and appears frequently in the print and electronic media. His weekly earnings related articles include Earnings Trends and Earnings Preview.

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