Friday, December 14, 2018

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 Comcast (CMCSA), American Express (AXP) and Bristol-Myers (BMY). 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 >>>

Comcast’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Cable Television industry year to date, losing -8.2% vs. -13.2%. The Zacks analyst thinks Comcast is benefiting from increasing high-speed Internet revenues, driven by a growing number of residential high-speed Internet customers and rate adjustments.

Strong adoption of Xfinity Home is expected to drive top-line growth. The nationwide rollout of the DOCSIS 3.1 technology and the completion of the nationwide rollout of Comcast’s wireless services under the Xfinity Mobile brand will continue to boost subscriber base. Partnerships with the likes of Charter, Netflix and Amazon Prime are positive.

Further, the Sky acquisition expands Comcast’s international reach. Sky’s content portfolio strength is a major growth driver. However, the company continues to lose voice and video subscribers due to cord-cutting and stiff competition. Additionally, high debt level is a headwind.

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

Shares of Buy-ranked American Express are up +8.3% over the past year, outperforming the Zacks Financial Miscellaneous Services industry, which has declined -23.2% over the same period. The Zacks analyst thinks a solid market position, strength in card business and significant opportunities from the secular shift toward electronic payments are growth drivers. It continues to witness strong loan growth and credit metrics. Its international business seems attractive.

However, it faces an increase in reward expenses, led by enhancements of its U.S. platinum products. Cost of card member services has been increasing over the past three years and it continued to elevate this year as well, reflecting higher engagement levels across its premium travel services. It has also been witnessing an increase in the provision of loan losses for the past two and a half years.

(You can read the full research report on American Express here >>>).

Strong Buy-ranked Bristol-Myers’ shares have underperformed the Zacks Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry year to date, losing -12.5% vs. +8.9%. The Zacks analyst thinks Bristol-Myers' blockbuster immuno-oncology drug Opdivo’s performance is being boosted by the uptake in new indications, first line renal cell carcinoma and adjuvant melanoma.

The company is looking to expand Opdivo’s label further which should boost performance. Eliquis is expected to drive growth, owing to increases in market share in the novel oral anticoagulant (NOAC) market. The label expansion of other drugs like Sprycel and Empliciti also bode well for the company and should boost performance.

However, the FDA extension of the PDUFA date for the sBLA seeking approval of Opdivo+Yervoy as a treatment for first-line non-small cell lung cancer with tumor mutational burden greater than 10 mutations/megabase was disappointing given the market potential.

(You can read the full research report on Bristol-Myers here >>>).

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Caterpillar (CAT), T-Mobile (TMUS) and General Motors (GM).

More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!                  

It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.

Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020. 

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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>>>