Thursday, May 25, 2023

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 The Home Depot, Inc. (HD), Linde plc (LIN) and The Walt Disney Company (DIS). 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 >>>

Shares of Home Depot have underperformed the Zacks Building Products - Retail industry over the past year (-1.4% vs. +4.2%). The company has witnessed dismal performance in first-quarter fiscal 2023. Results were impacted by a more broad-based pressure across the business, driven by softened demand versus expectations. A deflation in lumber prices and unfavorable weather have also hurt the results. HD also provided a conservative view for fiscal 2023.

Nevertheless, Home Depot has been witnessing significant benefits from the execution of the “One Home Depot” investment plan, which focuses on expanding supply chain facilities, technology investments and enhancement to the digital experience.

The interconnected retail strategy and underlying technology infrastructure have helped consistently boost web traffic for the past few quarters. The company remains on track with its strategic investments to build a Pro ecosystem.

(You can read the full research report on Home Depot here >>>)

Linde shares have outperformed the Zacks Chemical - Specialty industry over the past year (+12.5% vs. -3.2%). With a wide range of applications for its industrial gases, Linde is making the world more productive by the day. The company’s primary products in industrial gases include oxygen, which is used as life support in hospitals.

Linde has long-term contracts with on-site customers backed by minimum purchase requirements, thereby securing stable cashflows. In the profitable industrial gas market, the merger of Praxair and Linde has created an efficient player with considerable size advantages.

However, the cost of sales continues to increase, hurting the firm’s bottom line. Also, high leverage may limit its financial flexibility. The firm has mostly been paying a lower dividend yield than the industry’s composite stocks over the past two years.

(You can read the full research report on Linde here >>>)

Shares of Walt Disney have outperformed the Zacks Media Conglomerates industry over the year-to-date period (+2.5% vs. +2.0%). The company is benefiting from growing popularity of Disney+, owing to a strong content portfolio and a cheaper bundle offering.

Strong line-up of movies that include The Little Mermaid; Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny; The Boogeyman, Elemental and Haunted Mansion bodes well for the Media and Entertainment Distribution segment. Revival in Parks, Experiences and Products businesses is encouraging.

Theme Park business is likely to gain from strong demand across both the domestic and international parks. However, Disney+’s profitability continues to be negatively impacted by higher programming and production costs across Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu. Disney’s leveraged balance sheet remains a concern.

(You can read the full research report on Walt Disney here >>>)

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW), Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (EW) and U.S. Bancorp (USB).

Mark Vickery
Senior Editor

Note: Sheraz Mian heads the Zacks Equity Research department and is a well-regarded expert of aggregate earnings. He is frequently quoted in the print and electronic media and publishes the weekly Earnings Trends and Earnings Preview reports. If you want an email notification each time Sheraz publishes a new article, please click here>>>