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AMN Healthcare Services and The Gap have been highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day
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For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – February 24, 2022 – Zacks Equity Research shares AMN Healthcare Services (AMN - Free Report) as the Bull of the Day and The Gap (GPS - Free Report) asthe Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Everi Holdings Inc. (EVRI - Free Report) , SoFi Technologies, Inc. (SOFI - Free Report) and Nielsen Holdings plc .
AMN Healthcare Servicescontinues to grow as demand for healthcare workers and solutions soars. This Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) is expected to grow earnings by the double digits again in 2022.
AMN Healthcare operates as a total talent solution for healthcare organizations across the United States. Those total talent solutions include managed services programs, clinical and interim healthcare leaders, temporary staffing, executive search solutions, vendor management systems, recruitment process outsourcing, predictive modeling, language interpretation services, revenue cycle solutions, credentialing and other services.
It's clients include acute-care hospitals, community health centers and clinics, physician practice groups, retail and urgent care centers, home health facilities, schools and other healthcare settings.
Another Beat in the Fourth Quarter
On Feb 17, AMN Healthcare reported its fourth quarter results and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 14%. It reported earnings of $2.95 compared to the Zacks Consensus of $2.58.
AMN Healthcare has a perfect 5-year earnings surprise track record. It has not missed in that time, not even during the start of the pandemic.
Few companies have a perfect 5 year record. That's impressive.
Revenue rose 116% to $1.36 billion year-over-year and was up 73% sequentially. All segments saw gains with Travel Nurse up 136% year-over-year and 73% sequentially. Allied revenue jumped 82% year-over-year and 35% sequentially.
The quarter also included $85 million of labor disruption revenue compared with just $14 million in the guidance, $23 million in the prior quarter and $3 million a year ago.
The Physician and Leadership Solutions segment grew revenue by 47% to $164 million year-over-year and 9% sequentially. Locum tenens revenue jumped 46% to $99 million year-over-year and was up 12% sequentially. This was its highest level since the third quarter of 2018.
Interim leadership revenue rose 49% year-over-year but fell 1% sequentially. Search revenue was also higher, growing 52% year-over-year.
Technology and Workforce Solutions was also strong, rising 62% to $117 million and 17% sequentially. VMS revenue grew by 165% to $52 million year-over-year and 57% sequentially as clients increased use of contingent labor. Additionally, language interpretation revenue rose 24% to $47 million year-over-year but was flat sequentially.
Gross margin fell 100 basis points to 31.9% due to increases in compensation for healthcare professionals and a mix shift toward lower-margin staffing businesses.
"Our allied staffing business hit an all-time high for travelers on assignment so far in the first quarter, and our locum tenens division saw demand surge by 25% from Q3 to Q4 and continues to be strong entering 2022," said Susan R. Salka, CEO.
"Our physician permanent placement and outsourced solutions businesses have seen a large increase in new searches," she added.
Analysts Bullish on 2022
According to AMN Healthcare, demand was strong throughout 2021, and into 2022, as healthcare organizations saw record job vacancies, high turnover from employee burnout, quarantined workers, retirements and changing worker preferences for more career flexibility.
The analysts are bullish on 2022 given these trends.
Over the last 7 days, 6 estimates have been revised higher for 2022 pushing the Zacks Consensus Estimate up to $9.25 from $6.63.
That's earnings growth of 15.2% as AMN Healthcare made $8.03 last year.
Shares Are Cheap
Despite having a great 2021 and being upbeat about 2022, shares of AMN Healthcare have fallen 17% year-to-date.
They're cheap, with a forward P/E of 11 and a PEG ratio of just 0.7. Both indicate AMN Healthcare is a value stock, which also has growth.
AMN Healthcare doesn't pay a dividend, but it is doing a share repurchase plan. On Feb 15, 2022, it expanded its stock repurchase plan by $300 million. Including $69 million year-to-date, it has $409 million remaining on its authorization.
For those looking for a way to invest in the growing healthcare industry, AMN Healthcare Services is one to keep on your watch list.
Analysts are cutting full year estimates on The Gap as it heads into its fourth quarter earnings report. Should investors be worried? This Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) is still expected to grow earnings by 31% in fiscal 2023.
The Gap is a global retailer that operates the Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic and Athleta brands both in brick and mortar stores and online.
Estimates Being Cut Ahead of Q4 Results
The Gap is expected to report fourth quarter 2021 results on Mar 3, 2022. But analysts are already cutting their estimates leading into the report.
In the last week, 2 estimates have been cut for the quarter, which has pushed down the Zacks Consensus Estimate to a loss of $0.13 from a loss of $0.12.
The Gap has beat 3 out of the last 4 quarters but it missed big last quarter, missing by 45%.
Full Year Estimates Cut Too
The Gap has fallen to a Zacks Strong Sell because the full year estimates for both fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2022 have also been cut in the last week. The Zacks Rank is determined by revisions to analyst earnings estimates.
3 estimates have been lowered for fiscal 2021 in the prior 7 days, pushing the Zacks Consensus down to $1.33 from $1.35 in that time.
2 estimates were also cut for fiscal 2022. The 2022 Zacks Consensus has fallen to $1.75 from $2.05 in the last 60 days.
However, that's still year-over-year earnings growth of 31%.
Are Shares a Deal?
Shares have plunged 43% over the last 3 months even though the holiday season was a success for the retail industry with strong consumer spending.
The Gap now trades with a forward P/E of just 8.1.
It also has a PEG ratio of 0.7. A PEG ratio under 1.0 usually indicates a company has both value and growth.
The Gap also pays a dividend, currently yielding a juicy 3.4%.
Investors seem especially nervous about apparel retailers who have been dealing with supply chain issues the last 6 months due to COVID disruptions.
But will earnings really rise 31% in 2022 as analysts are forecasting?
Investors interested in The Gap should tune into the earnings report on Mar 3 to find out.
Additional content:
3 Services Firms Looking to Topple Q4 Estimates
Looking back at the fourth quarter of 2021, we see that the service sector had continued gathering steam. The sector kept on rebounding from the pandemic-induced weakness, broadly aided by the recovering economy, manufacturing and non-manufacturing strength, and increased vaccination drives.
A steady economic recovery is evident from the fourth-quarter 2021 GDP number, which, according to the "advance" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, grew at an annual rate of 6.9% compared with the increase of 2.3% in the third quarter. Economic activities in both manufacturing as well as non-manufacturing sectors have stayed in the pink in the quarter. Both the manufacturing PMI and the Services PMI measured by the Institute for Supply Management have stayed above the 50% mark for the past 20 consecutive months, indicating continued expansion.
Sector-specific factors that acted as tailwinds in the quarter are essentiality of certain services like waste management, rise in demand for risk mitigation and consulting services, increased expertise in improving operational efficiency and reducing costs, successful work-from-home models, and digital transformation.
Services pertaining to transportation & warehousing; management of companies; retail trade; wholesale trade; accommodation & food; mining; utilities; construction; health care & social assistance; finance & insurance; information technology; education & professional; and scientific & technical fields have stayed healthy in the quarter.
Stocks Poised to Beat This Season
With the existence of a number of players in the sector, finding the right business services stocks that have the potential to beat on earnings can be daunting. Our proprietary methodology, however, makes it fairly simple.
You could narrow down the list of choices by looking at stocks that have the combination of a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold), and a positive Earnings ESP. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Earnings ESP is our proprietary methodology for determining stocks that have the best chances to surprise with their next earnings announcement. It is the percentage difference between the Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
Our research shows that for stocks with this combination, the chance of an earnings surprise is as high as 70%.
Here are our picks.
Everi Holdings Inc.: This provider of entertainment and technology solutions for casino and digital gaming will report fourth-quarter 2021 results on Mar 1. EVRI has an earnings ESP of +4.97 and currently carries a Zacks Rank #1. The company has an impressive earnings surprise history, with its earnings having surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all of the last four quarters, delivering a surprise of 169.4% on average.
Everi’s performance in the quarter is expected to have been positively impacted by the expansion of its installed base of leased gaming units, rise in ship share, same-store increases in financial access transactions, and organic growth of loyalty and regulatory compliance solutions. Strength across businesses and a deep pipeline of new offerings have expectedly driven both topline and bottom line in the quarter.
SoFi Technologies, Inc.: This online personal finance company will report fourth-quarter 2021 results on Mar 1. SOFI has an earnings ESP of +1.56 and currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.
SOFI’s results in the quarter are expected to have been positively impacted by strength in personal loans, SoFi Invest, SoFi Money, Lantern by SoFi, Protect and SoFi credit card businesses.
Nielsen Holdings plc: The measurement giant is scheduled to report fourth-quarter 2021 results on Feb 28. NLSN has an earnings ESP of +2.78 and currently carries a Zacks Rank #2. The company has a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 25.1%.
Experts extracted 7 stocks from the list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys that have beaten the market more than 2X over with a stunning average gain of +25.4% per year.
These 7 were selected because of their superior potential for immediate breakout.
Zacks.com provides investment resources and informs you of these resources, which you may choose to use in making your own investment decisions. Zacks is providing information on this resource to you subject to the Zacks "Terms and Conditions of Service" disclaimer. www.zacks.com/disclaimer.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss.This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
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AMN Healthcare Services and The Gap have been highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – February 24, 2022 – Zacks Equity Research shares AMN Healthcare Services (AMN - Free Report) as the Bull of the Day and The Gap (GPS - Free Report) asthe Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Everi Holdings Inc. (EVRI - Free Report) , SoFi Technologies, Inc. (SOFI - Free Report) and Nielsen Holdings plc .
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
Bull of the Day:
AMN Healthcare Servicescontinues to grow as demand for healthcare workers and solutions soars. This Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) is expected to grow earnings by the double digits again in 2022.
AMN Healthcare operates as a total talent solution for healthcare organizations across the United States. Those total talent solutions include managed services programs, clinical and interim healthcare leaders, temporary staffing, executive search solutions, vendor management systems, recruitment process outsourcing, predictive modeling, language interpretation services, revenue cycle solutions, credentialing and other services.
It's clients include acute-care hospitals, community health centers and clinics, physician practice groups, retail and urgent care centers, home health facilities, schools and other healthcare settings.
Another Beat in the Fourth Quarter
On Feb 17, AMN Healthcare reported its fourth quarter results and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 14%. It reported earnings of $2.95 compared to the Zacks Consensus of $2.58.
AMN Healthcare has a perfect 5-year earnings surprise track record. It has not missed in that time, not even during the start of the pandemic.
Few companies have a perfect 5 year record. That's impressive.
Revenue rose 116% to $1.36 billion year-over-year and was up 73% sequentially. All segments saw gains with Travel Nurse up 136% year-over-year and 73% sequentially. Allied revenue jumped 82% year-over-year and 35% sequentially.
The quarter also included $85 million of labor disruption revenue compared with just $14 million in the guidance, $23 million in the prior quarter and $3 million a year ago.
The Physician and Leadership Solutions segment grew revenue by 47% to $164 million year-over-year and 9% sequentially. Locum tenens revenue jumped 46% to $99 million year-over-year and was up 12% sequentially. This was its highest level since the third quarter of 2018.
Interim leadership revenue rose 49% year-over-year but fell 1% sequentially. Search revenue was also higher, growing 52% year-over-year.
Technology and Workforce Solutions was also strong, rising 62% to $117 million and 17% sequentially. VMS revenue grew by 165% to $52 million year-over-year and 57% sequentially as clients increased use of contingent labor. Additionally, language interpretation revenue rose 24% to $47 million year-over-year but was flat sequentially.
Gross margin fell 100 basis points to 31.9% due to increases in compensation for healthcare professionals and a mix shift toward lower-margin staffing businesses.
"Our allied staffing business hit an all-time high for travelers on assignment so far in the first quarter, and our locum tenens division saw demand surge by 25% from Q3 to Q4 and continues to be strong entering 2022," said Susan R. Salka, CEO.
"Our physician permanent placement and outsourced solutions businesses have seen a large increase in new searches," she added.
Analysts Bullish on 2022
According to AMN Healthcare, demand was strong throughout 2021, and into 2022, as healthcare organizations saw record job vacancies, high turnover from employee burnout, quarantined workers, retirements and changing worker preferences for more career flexibility.
The analysts are bullish on 2022 given these trends.
Over the last 7 days, 6 estimates have been revised higher for 2022 pushing the Zacks Consensus Estimate up to $9.25 from $6.63.
That's earnings growth of 15.2% as AMN Healthcare made $8.03 last year.
Shares Are Cheap
Despite having a great 2021 and being upbeat about 2022, shares of AMN Healthcare have fallen 17% year-to-date.
They're cheap, with a forward P/E of 11 and a PEG ratio of just 0.7. Both indicate AMN Healthcare is a value stock, which also has growth.
AMN Healthcare doesn't pay a dividend, but it is doing a share repurchase plan. On Feb 15, 2022, it expanded its stock repurchase plan by $300 million. Including $69 million year-to-date, it has $409 million remaining on its authorization.
For those looking for a way to invest in the growing healthcare industry, AMN Healthcare Services is one to keep on your watch list.
Bear of the Day:
Analysts are cutting full year estimates on The Gap as it heads into its fourth quarter earnings report. Should investors be worried? This Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) is still expected to grow earnings by 31% in fiscal 2023.
The Gap is a global retailer that operates the Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic and Athleta brands both in brick and mortar stores and online.
Estimates Being Cut Ahead of Q4 Results
The Gap is expected to report fourth quarter 2021 results on Mar 3, 2022. But analysts are already cutting their estimates leading into the report.
In the last week, 2 estimates have been cut for the quarter, which has pushed down the Zacks Consensus Estimate to a loss of $0.13 from a loss of $0.12.
The Gap has beat 3 out of the last 4 quarters but it missed big last quarter, missing by 45%.
Full Year Estimates Cut Too
The Gap has fallen to a Zacks Strong Sell because the full year estimates for both fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2022 have also been cut in the last week. The Zacks Rank is determined by revisions to analyst earnings estimates.
3 estimates have been lowered for fiscal 2021 in the prior 7 days, pushing the Zacks Consensus down to $1.33 from $1.35 in that time.
2 estimates were also cut for fiscal 2022. The 2022 Zacks Consensus has fallen to $1.75 from $2.05 in the last 60 days.
However, that's still year-over-year earnings growth of 31%.
Are Shares a Deal?
Shares have plunged 43% over the last 3 months even though the holiday season was a success for the retail industry with strong consumer spending.
The Gap now trades with a forward P/E of just 8.1.
It also has a PEG ratio of 0.7. A PEG ratio under 1.0 usually indicates a company has both value and growth.
The Gap also pays a dividend, currently yielding a juicy 3.4%.
Investors seem especially nervous about apparel retailers who have been dealing with supply chain issues the last 6 months due to COVID disruptions.
But will earnings really rise 31% in 2022 as analysts are forecasting?
Investors interested in The Gap should tune into the earnings report on Mar 3 to find out.
Additional content:
3 Services Firms Looking to Topple Q4 Estimates
Looking back at the fourth quarter of 2021, we see that the service sector had continued gathering steam. The sector kept on rebounding from the pandemic-induced weakness, broadly aided by the recovering economy, manufacturing and non-manufacturing strength, and increased vaccination drives.
A steady economic recovery is evident from the fourth-quarter 2021 GDP number, which, according to the "advance" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, grew at an annual rate of 6.9% compared with the increase of 2.3% in the third quarter. Economic activities in both manufacturing as well as non-manufacturing sectors have stayed in the pink in the quarter. Both the manufacturing PMI and the Services PMI measured by the Institute for Supply Management have stayed above the 50% mark for the past 20 consecutive months, indicating continued expansion.
Sector-specific factors that acted as tailwinds in the quarter are essentiality of certain services like waste management, rise in demand for risk mitigation and consulting services, increased expertise in improving operational efficiency and reducing costs, successful work-from-home models, and digital transformation.
Services pertaining to transportation & warehousing; management of companies; retail trade; wholesale trade; accommodation & food; mining; utilities; construction; health care & social assistance; finance & insurance; information technology; education & professional; and scientific & technical fields have stayed healthy in the quarter.
Stocks Poised to Beat This Season
With the existence of a number of players in the sector, finding the right business services stocks that have the potential to beat on earnings can be daunting. Our proprietary methodology, however, makes it fairly simple.
You could narrow down the list of choices by looking at stocks that have the combination of a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold), and a positive Earnings ESP. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Earnings ESP is our proprietary methodology for determining stocks that have the best chances to surprise with their next earnings announcement. It is the percentage difference between the Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
Our research shows that for stocks with this combination, the chance of an earnings surprise is as high as 70%.
Here are our picks.
Everi Holdings Inc.: This provider of entertainment and technology solutions for casino and digital gaming will report fourth-quarter 2021 results on Mar 1. EVRI has an earnings ESP of +4.97 and currently carries a Zacks Rank #1. The company has an impressive earnings surprise history, with its earnings having surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all of the last four quarters, delivering a surprise of 169.4% on average.
Everi’s performance in the quarter is expected to have been positively impacted by the expansion of its installed base of leased gaming units, rise in ship share, same-store increases in financial access transactions, and organic growth of loyalty and regulatory compliance solutions. Strength across businesses and a deep pipeline of new offerings have expectedly driven both topline and bottom line in the quarter.
Everi Holdings Inc. price-eps-surprise | Everi Holdings Inc. Quote
SoFi Technologies, Inc.: This online personal finance company will report fourth-quarter 2021 results on Mar 1. SOFI has an earnings ESP of +1.56 and currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.
SOFI’s results in the quarter are expected to have been positively impacted by strength in personal loans, SoFi Invest, SoFi Money, Lantern by SoFi, Protect and SoFi credit card businesses.
SoFi Technologies, Inc. price-eps-surprise | SoFi Technologies, Inc. Quote
Nielsen Holdings plc: The measurement giant is scheduled to report fourth-quarter 2021 results on Feb 28. NLSN has an earnings ESP of +2.78 and currently carries a Zacks Rank #2. The company has a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 25.1%.
Nielsen Holdings Plc price-eps-surprise | Nielsen Holdings Plc Quote
Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.
Just Released: Zacks' 7 Best Stocks for Today
Experts extracted 7 stocks from the list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys that have beaten the market more than 2X over with a stunning average gain of +25.4% per year.
These 7 were selected because of their superior potential for immediate breakout.
See these time-sensitive tickers now >>
Media Contact
Zacks Investment Research
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Zacks.com provides investment resources and informs you of these resources, which you may choose to use in making your own investment decisions. Zacks is providing information on this resource to you subject to the Zacks "Terms and Conditions of Service" disclaimer. www.zacks.com/disclaimer.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss.This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.