Friday, July 8, 2016

This write-up features research reports issued by our team of analysts on 17 stocks, which we hand-picked from the roughly 80 research reports issued by the team today. We are highlighting 7 of those stocks here, including Bristol-Myers (BMY), Lowe’s (LOW) and Ingersoll-Rand (IR).

Bristol-Myers shares have outperformed the market this year, reflecting the relative stability and safety of the pharmaceutical major's earnings and cash flows on the back of the company's strong cancer portfolio. The analyst likes this Zacks Rank # 2 (Buy) rated company's developing drug pipeline and presence in other core therapeutics areas like immunoscience, cardiovascular diseases, and virology among others. The analyst believes that the Cormorant acquisition should help boost the company's immuno-oncology pipeline. (You can read the full research report on BMY here.)

Lowe’s shares have outperformed Home Depot (HD) this year, driven largely by greater market appreciation for the number two home-improvement retailer's efforts to narrow the performance gap with its larger peer. The analyst likes Lowe’s omni-channel endeavors, merchandising initiatives and strategic acquisitions and the company's strengthening position in the home improvement space. This Buy-rated company remains well positioned to benefit from the improving labor market bacdrop, as this morning's strong June non-farm payroll report reconfirms, and the gradual housing market recovery. (You can read the full research report on LOW here.)

Ingersoll-Rand shares have lagged lately on concerns about the impact of mild summer weather on its air-conditioning business (market leading brands like Trane and Thermo King are part of its Climate Solutions business, which accounts for roughly two-thirds of its total revenues). But this Zacks Rank # 2 (Buy) stock is still up an impressive 18% year-to-date and remains well positioned for the long run given the company's opportunistic portfolio changes, strong free cash flow generation and a track record of operational improvements.  (You can read the full research report on IR here.)

Other noteworthy reports today include Abbott (ABT), Walgreens Boots (WBA) McDonald's (MCD).

• Abbott (ABT) Heart Stent Gets FDA Nod
• Walgreens Boots’ (WBA) Q3 Earnings Beat
• Frontier Communications (FTR) Upgraded to Buy
• McDonald's (MCD)  Down to Zacks Rank # 4 (Sell)

You can find all of today's stock research reports here.

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. He also provides weekly commentary to Zacks Premium subscribers and manages the Zacks Focus List and Top 10 portfolios. If you want an email notification each time Sheraz publishes a new article, please click here.