Tuesday, March 29, 2022

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 Apple Inc. (AAPL), The Procter & Gamble Company (PG), and Chevron Corporation (CVX). 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 >>>

Apple shares have gained +47.3% over the past year against the +16% gain for the S&P 500 index. The Zacks analyst sees Apple continuing to benefit from momentum in Services and robust performance from iPhone, Mac, Wearables and an expanding App Store ecosystem. Availability of new Mac Studio, new iPad Air and the most affordable iPhone SE. Apple TV+ is gaining recognition with shows like Ted Lasso winning Emmy and CODA wining Academy Award for Best Picture.

However, Apple did not provide revenue guidance for the second quarter of fiscal 2022, given the uncertainty around the impact of the pandemic. Nevertheless, Apple expects to achieve solid year-over-year revenue growth and set a second quarter revenue record despite significant supply constraints, which it estimates to be less than the fiscal first quarter.

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

Shares of Procter & Gamble have outperformed the Zacks Soap and Cleaning Materials industry over the past year (+16.4% vs. +4.5%) on the back of impressive operational performance in an otherwise tough operating envoronment. This is reflected in the company's strong recent quarterly results that show improved productivity amid cost headwinds, along with the rising demand for cleaning products due to the resurgence of COVID-19 cases. Management lifted its fiscal 2022 view.

The company has witnessed SG&A expense leverage, owing to savings from overhead and marketing expenses, and cost leverage gains due to higher sales and real estate. However, unfavorable mix, commodity cost inflation, increase in freight costs, product and packaging investments and other impacts hurt margins. It expects higher commodity and freight costs to persist in fiscal 2022.

(You can read the full research report on Procter & Gamble here >>>)

Shares of Chevron have lost some ground lately in 'solidarity' with the recent pullback in crude oil prices, but the stock remains a standout performer relative to the Zacks Oil and Gas - Integrated - International industry over the past year (+64.8% vs. +49.9%). In the accompanying research report linked below, the Zacks analyst describes the company as considered one of the best-placed global integrated oil firms to achieve sustainable production ramp-up. America’s No. 2 energy company’s existing project pipeline is among the best in the industry, thanks to its premier position in the lucrative Permian Basin.

However, Chevron was not immune to the commodity price crash of 2020, forcing it to cut spending substantially. The company’s high oil price sensitivity is a concern too. Moreover, the supermajor’s 10-year reserve replacement ratio of 100% is indicative of its inability to replace the amount of oil and gas produced. Finally, Chevron has been a laggard to jump into the net-zero bandwagon.

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO), NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE) and Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNQ).

Sheraz Mian
 
Director of Research

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>>>