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Badger Meter and Polaris have been highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day
Read MoreHide Full Article
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – July 31, 2024 – Zacks Equity Research shares Badger Meter (BMI - Free Report) as the Bull of the Day and Polaris (PII - Free Report) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA - Free Report) , Block Inc. (SQ - Free Report) and Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (IBKR - Free Report) .
Badger Meter, a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), manufactures water meters and related technologies to the municipal water utilities market. The company has been benefiting from renewed strength in small- and mid-cap stocks. Badger Meter shares have begun to display relative strength, recently surging to 52-week highs. Increasing volume has attracted investor attention as buying pressure accumulates in this top-ranked stock.
The water instrument provider is part of the Zacks Instruments - Control industry group, which currently ranks in the top 15% out of more than 250 Zacks Ranked Industries. Because it is ranked in the top half of all Zacks Ranked Industries, we expect this group to outperform the market over the next 3 to 6 months.
Quantitative research studies suggest that approximately half of a stock’s price appreciation is due to its industry grouping. In fact, the top 50% of Zacks Ranked Industries outperforms the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.
It’s no secret that investing in stocks that are part of leading industry groups can give us a leg up relative to the market. By focusing on leading stocks within the top 50% of Zacks Ranked Industries, we can dramatically improve our stock-picking success.
Company Description
Badger Meter produces and sells flow measurement, quality, control, and communication solutions worldwide. The company provides “smart” water meters that enable more precise water use and monitoring. Badger Meter offers mechanical and static water meters, along with related radio and software technologies and services.
The Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based company serves water utilities, municipalities, and industrial industries. Its flow instrumentation products are used in wastewater, heating, ventilating and air conditioning markets. The provider of water solutions sells its products and software directly to its users as well as through resellers and representatives.
Earnings Trends and Future Estimates
Badger Meter has established an impressive earnings history, surpassing earnings estimates in each of the last nine quarters. Earlier in July, the company reported second-quarter earnings of $1.12/share, a 14.3% surprise over the $0.98/share consensus estimate. Badger Meter has delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 12.9%.
The recent quarterly performance benefitted from solid customer demand for the company’s unique water solutions and disciplined operational execution. An incremental customer backlog conversion also aided the results. Badger Meter is continuously prioritizing and enhancing its presence in select regional markets outside the U.S. that offer healthy growth potential.
BMI stock received a boost as analysts covering the company have been increasing their 2024 earnings estimates lately. For the full year, earnings estimates have risen 4.37% in the past 60 days. The Zacks Consensus EPS Estimate now stands at $4.06/share, reflecting a potential growth rate of 29.3% relative to the prior year. Revenues are projected to climb 16.8% to $821.9 million.
Let’s Get Technical
This leading company has seen its stock advance more than 30% in 2024 alone. Only stocks that are in extremely powerful uptrends are able to experience this type of outperformance. This is the kind of stock we want to include in our portfolio – one that is trending well and receiving positive earnings estimate revisions.
Notice how both the 50-day (blue line) and 200-day (red line) moving averages are sloping up. The stock has been making a series of 52-week highs this year, widely outperforming the major indices. With positive fundamental and technical indicators, BMI stock is poised to continue its outperformance.
Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. As we know, Badger Meter has recently witnessed positive revisions. As long as this trend remains intact (and Badger Meter continues to deliver earnings beats), the stock will likely continue its bullish run this year.
Bottom Line
A debt-free balance sheet and frequent product launches bode well for this “smart” water meter provider. Badger Meter is likely to benefit by expanding its market share in water-related applications.
Backed by a top industry group and impressive history of earnings beats, it’s not difficult to see why this company is a compelling investment. Robust fundamentals combined with an appealing technical trend certainly justify adding shares to the mix. The future looks bright for this highly-ranked, leading stock.
Polaris designs and manufactures powersports vehicles in the United States, Canada, and internationally. Its founders pioneered an early snowmobile in the 1950s, leveraging the company’s strength in powertrain, manufacturing, and distribution. Polaris then expanded its vehicle offering, targeting military and commercial applications.
The company now provides a full-range lineup including utility and side-by-side vehicles, motorcycles, and boats. It also offers accessories such as wheels and tires, lighting and audio systems, and gear and apparel. Polaris markets its products through distributors as well as via e-commerce marketplaces.
The Zacks Rundown
Polaris, a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), is a component of the Zacks Automotive – Domestic industry group, which currently ranks in the bottom 33% out of approximately 250 Zacks Ranked Industries. As such, we expect this industry group as a whole to underperform the market over the next 3 to 6 months, just as it has over the past year.
Candidates in the bottom tiers of industries can often be attractive short candidates. While individual stocks have the ability to outperform even when they’re part of a lackluster industry, the inclusion in a weaker group serves as a headwind for any potential rallies and the journey forward is that much more difficult.
Along with many other auto stocks, PII shares have been struggling this year while the general market reached new heights. The stock is hitting a series of lower lows and represents a compelling short opportunity as we head deeper into the latter half of the year.
Recent Earnings Misses & Deteriorating Outlook
The Medina, Minnesota-based company has fallen short of earnings estimates in three of the past four quarters. Just last week, Polaris reported second-quarter earnings of $1.38/share, missing the $2.27/share Zacks Consensus estimate by -39.2%.
Consistently falling short of earnings estimates is a recipe for underperformance, and Polaris is no exception. The powersports vehicle provider has been on the receiving end of negative earnings estimate revisions as of late.
Looking at the full year, analysts have slashed estimates by -52.8% in the past 60 days. The 2024 Zacks Consensus Estimate is now $3.79/share, reflecting negative growth of -58.6% relative to the prior year.
Falling earnings estimates are a huge red flag and need to be respected. Negative growth year-over-year is the type of trend that bears like to see.
Technical Outlook
PII stock is in a sustained downtrend, though a recent uptick presents an appealing entry for a potential short position.
Polaris stock has also experienced what is known as a “death cross,” whereby the stock’s 50-day moving average crosses below its 200-day moving average. Shares would have to make an outsized move to the upside and show increasing earnings estimate revisions to warrant taking any long positions. The stock has fallen more than 35% over the past year.
Final Thoughts
A deteriorating fundamental and technical backdrop show that this stock is not set to power its way to new highs anytime soon. The fact that Polaris is included in one of the worst-performing industry groups provides yet another headwind to a long list of concerns. A history of earnings misses and falling future earnings estimates will likely serve as a ceiling to any potential rallies, nurturing the stock’s downtrend.
Potential investors may want to give this stock the cold shoulder, or perhaps include it as part of a short or hedge strategy. Bulls will want to steer clear of PII until the situation shows major signs of improvement.
Additional content:
3 Crypto Stocks to Invest In as Bitcoin Rally Gathers Steam
The Bitcoin (BTC) rally, which came to a sudden halt after the halving event in April and entered correction territory, has started making a steady rebound. The cryptocurrency started a fresh jump above the $66,500 resistance and was hovering around $67,000 on Jul 29, hitting a 30-day high.
Bitcoin hit an all-time high of $73,750 on Mar 14. However, the bull run that started in 2023 came to a scratching halt in April, so much so that even the halving event failed to give its price a boost.
The Bitcoin halving event cuts the reward for mining new blocks in half, with the aim of limiting the total supply of Bitcoins to 21 million. This reduction in the creation rate of new Bitcoins typically increases their demand, which often results in a rise in their price.
However, that didn’t happen and Bitcoin started having a freefall, with prices hitting below $59,000.
The rebound that started last week has brought the cryptocurrency back on track to surpass $70,000 and makes it poised for a fresh pump.
The rebound is being fueled by a spate of recent political events in the United States. President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race has heightened the likelihood of Donald Trump winning the upcoming election in November. Trump is believed to be more in favor of the cryptocurrency industry and has even been receiving donations in Bitcoins for his presidential campaigns.
Also, in January, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved 11 spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), marking a major move that will simplify the process for both individual investors and large institutions to invest in Bitcoin via a regulated and accessible platform.
Besides, the Federal Reserve is gearing up to cut interest rates after hiking it to a record 23-year high in its bid to combat sky-high inflation. It bodes well for Bitcoin as lower interest rates are favorable for growth-focused assets, such as technology stocks, consumer discretionary and cryptocurrencies.
Our Choices
We have narrowed our search to three crypto-oriented stocks that have strong potential for 2024. Each of our picks carries either a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
NVIDIA Corp. is the worldwide leader in visual computing technologies and the inventor of the graphic processing unit, or GPU. Over the years, NVDA’s focus has evolved from PC graphics to artificial intelligence-based solutions that now support high-performance computing, gaming and virtual reality platforms.
NVIDIA has an expected earnings growth rate of 106.9% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 1.5% over the past 60 days. NVDA presently has a Zacks Rank #2.
Block Inc. is an online digital and mobile payment platform for consumers and merchants and is the parent company of Square and Cash App. The users of Cash App can buy, sell, send and receive Bitcoin. In addition, SQ’s decentralized tbd platform allows developers to build decentralized finance applications to run on programmable blockchains. SQ is also one of the largest Bitcoin investors.
Block has an expected earnings growth rate of 72.8% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.6% over the past 60 days. SQ currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.
Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. is a global automated electronic broker. IBKR executes, processes and trades in cryptocurrencies. IBKR’s commodities futures trading desk also offers customers a chance to trade cryptocurrency futures.
Interactive Brokers Group has an expected earnings growth rate of 17.6% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 4.2% over the past 60 days. IBKR currently sports a Zacks Rank #1.
Why Haven’t You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?
Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +7.0 average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +44.9%, +48.4% and +55.2% per year.
Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.
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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Badger Meter and Polaris have been highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – July 31, 2024 – Zacks Equity Research shares Badger Meter (BMI - Free Report) as the Bull of the Day and Polaris (PII - Free Report) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA - Free Report) , Block Inc. (SQ - Free Report) and Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (IBKR - Free Report) .
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks.
Bull of the Day:
Badger Meter, a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), manufactures water meters and related technologies to the municipal water utilities market. The company has been benefiting from renewed strength in small- and mid-cap stocks. Badger Meter shares have begun to display relative strength, recently surging to 52-week highs. Increasing volume has attracted investor attention as buying pressure accumulates in this top-ranked stock.
The water instrument provider is part of the Zacks Instruments - Control industry group, which currently ranks in the top 15% out of more than 250 Zacks Ranked Industries. Because it is ranked in the top half of all Zacks Ranked Industries, we expect this group to outperform the market over the next 3 to 6 months.
Quantitative research studies suggest that approximately half of a stock’s price appreciation is due to its industry grouping. In fact, the top 50% of Zacks Ranked Industries outperforms the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.
It’s no secret that investing in stocks that are part of leading industry groups can give us a leg up relative to the market. By focusing on leading stocks within the top 50% of Zacks Ranked Industries, we can dramatically improve our stock-picking success.
Company Description
Badger Meter produces and sells flow measurement, quality, control, and communication solutions worldwide. The company provides “smart” water meters that enable more precise water use and monitoring. Badger Meter offers mechanical and static water meters, along with related radio and software technologies and services.
The Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based company serves water utilities, municipalities, and industrial industries. Its flow instrumentation products are used in wastewater, heating, ventilating and air conditioning markets. The provider of water solutions sells its products and software directly to its users as well as through resellers and representatives.
Earnings Trends and Future Estimates
Badger Meter has established an impressive earnings history, surpassing earnings estimates in each of the last nine quarters. Earlier in July, the company reported second-quarter earnings of $1.12/share, a 14.3% surprise over the $0.98/share consensus estimate. Badger Meter has delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 12.9%.
The recent quarterly performance benefitted from solid customer demand for the company’s unique water solutions and disciplined operational execution. An incremental customer backlog conversion also aided the results. Badger Meter is continuously prioritizing and enhancing its presence in select regional markets outside the U.S. that offer healthy growth potential.
BMI stock received a boost as analysts covering the company have been increasing their 2024 earnings estimates lately. For the full year, earnings estimates have risen 4.37% in the past 60 days. The Zacks Consensus EPS Estimate now stands at $4.06/share, reflecting a potential growth rate of 29.3% relative to the prior year. Revenues are projected to climb 16.8% to $821.9 million.
Let’s Get Technical
This leading company has seen its stock advance more than 30% in 2024 alone. Only stocks that are in extremely powerful uptrends are able to experience this type of outperformance. This is the kind of stock we want to include in our portfolio – one that is trending well and receiving positive earnings estimate revisions.
Notice how both the 50-day (blue line) and 200-day (red line) moving averages are sloping up. The stock has been making a series of 52-week highs this year, widely outperforming the major indices. With positive fundamental and technical indicators, BMI stock is poised to continue its outperformance.
Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. As we know, Badger Meter has recently witnessed positive revisions. As long as this trend remains intact (and Badger Meter continues to deliver earnings beats), the stock will likely continue its bullish run this year.
Bottom Line
A debt-free balance sheet and frequent product launches bode well for this “smart” water meter provider. Badger Meter is likely to benefit by expanding its market share in water-related applications.
Backed by a top industry group and impressive history of earnings beats, it’s not difficult to see why this company is a compelling investment. Robust fundamentals combined with an appealing technical trend certainly justify adding shares to the mix. The future looks bright for this highly-ranked, leading stock.
Bear of the Day:
Polaris designs and manufactures powersports vehicles in the United States, Canada, and internationally. Its founders pioneered an early snowmobile in the 1950s, leveraging the company’s strength in powertrain, manufacturing, and distribution. Polaris then expanded its vehicle offering, targeting military and commercial applications.
The company now provides a full-range lineup including utility and side-by-side vehicles, motorcycles, and boats. It also offers accessories such as wheels and tires, lighting and audio systems, and gear and apparel. Polaris markets its products through distributors as well as via e-commerce marketplaces.
The Zacks Rundown
Polaris, a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), is a component of the Zacks Automotive – Domestic industry group, which currently ranks in the bottom 33% out of approximately 250 Zacks Ranked Industries. As such, we expect this industry group as a whole to underperform the market over the next 3 to 6 months, just as it has over the past year.
Candidates in the bottom tiers of industries can often be attractive short candidates. While individual stocks have the ability to outperform even when they’re part of a lackluster industry, the inclusion in a weaker group serves as a headwind for any potential rallies and the journey forward is that much more difficult.
Along with many other auto stocks, PII shares have been struggling this year while the general market reached new heights. The stock is hitting a series of lower lows and represents a compelling short opportunity as we head deeper into the latter half of the year.
Recent Earnings Misses & Deteriorating Outlook
The Medina, Minnesota-based company has fallen short of earnings estimates in three of the past four quarters. Just last week, Polaris reported second-quarter earnings of $1.38/share, missing the $2.27/share Zacks Consensus estimate by -39.2%.
Consistently falling short of earnings estimates is a recipe for underperformance, and Polaris is no exception. The powersports vehicle provider has been on the receiving end of negative earnings estimate revisions as of late.
Looking at the full year, analysts have slashed estimates by -52.8% in the past 60 days. The 2024 Zacks Consensus Estimate is now $3.79/share, reflecting negative growth of -58.6% relative to the prior year.
Falling earnings estimates are a huge red flag and need to be respected. Negative growth year-over-year is the type of trend that bears like to see.
Technical Outlook
PII stock is in a sustained downtrend, though a recent uptick presents an appealing entry for a potential short position.
Polaris stock has also experienced what is known as a “death cross,” whereby the stock’s 50-day moving average crosses below its 200-day moving average. Shares would have to make an outsized move to the upside and show increasing earnings estimate revisions to warrant taking any long positions. The stock has fallen more than 35% over the past year.
Final Thoughts
A deteriorating fundamental and technical backdrop show that this stock is not set to power its way to new highs anytime soon. The fact that Polaris is included in one of the worst-performing industry groups provides yet another headwind to a long list of concerns. A history of earnings misses and falling future earnings estimates will likely serve as a ceiling to any potential rallies, nurturing the stock’s downtrend.
Potential investors may want to give this stock the cold shoulder, or perhaps include it as part of a short or hedge strategy. Bulls will want to steer clear of PII until the situation shows major signs of improvement.
Additional content:
3 Crypto Stocks to Invest In as Bitcoin Rally Gathers Steam
The Bitcoin (BTC) rally, which came to a sudden halt after the halving event in April and entered correction territory, has started making a steady rebound. The cryptocurrency started a fresh jump above the $66,500 resistance and was hovering around $67,000 on Jul 29, hitting a 30-day high.
Bitcoin hit an all-time high of $73,750 on Mar 14. However, the bull run that started in 2023 came to a scratching halt in April, so much so that even the halving event failed to give its price a boost.
The Bitcoin halving event cuts the reward for mining new blocks in half, with the aim of limiting the total supply of Bitcoins to 21 million. This reduction in the creation rate of new Bitcoins typically increases their demand, which often results in a rise in their price.
However, that didn’t happen and Bitcoin started having a freefall, with prices hitting below $59,000.
The rebound that started last week has brought the cryptocurrency back on track to surpass $70,000 and makes it poised for a fresh pump.
The rebound is being fueled by a spate of recent political events in the United States. President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race has heightened the likelihood of Donald Trump winning the upcoming election in November. Trump is believed to be more in favor of the cryptocurrency industry and has even been receiving donations in Bitcoins for his presidential campaigns.
Also, in January, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved 11 spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), marking a major move that will simplify the process for both individual investors and large institutions to invest in Bitcoin via a regulated and accessible platform.
Besides, the Federal Reserve is gearing up to cut interest rates after hiking it to a record 23-year high in its bid to combat sky-high inflation. It bodes well for Bitcoin as lower interest rates are favorable for growth-focused assets, such as technology stocks, consumer discretionary and cryptocurrencies.
Our Choices
We have narrowed our search to three crypto-oriented stocks that have strong potential for 2024. Each of our picks carries either a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
NVIDIA Corp. is the worldwide leader in visual computing technologies and the inventor of the graphic processing unit, or GPU. Over the years, NVDA’s focus has evolved from PC graphics to artificial intelligence-based solutions that now support high-performance computing, gaming and virtual reality platforms.
NVIDIA has an expected earnings growth rate of 106.9% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 1.5% over the past 60 days. NVDA presently has a Zacks Rank #2.
Block Inc. is an online digital and mobile payment platform for consumers and merchants and is the parent company of Square and Cash App. The users of Cash App can buy, sell, send and receive Bitcoin. In addition, SQ’s decentralized tbd platform allows developers to build decentralized finance applications to run on programmable blockchains. SQ is also one of the largest Bitcoin investors.
Block has an expected earnings growth rate of 72.8% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.6% over the past 60 days. SQ currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.
Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. is a global automated electronic broker. IBKR executes, processes and trades in cryptocurrencies. IBKR’s commodities futures trading desk also offers customers a chance to trade cryptocurrency futures.
Interactive Brokers Group has an expected earnings growth rate of 17.6% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 4.2% over the past 60 days. IBKR currently sports a Zacks Rank #1.
Why Haven’t You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?
Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +7.0 average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +44.9%, +48.4% and +55.2% per year.
Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.
See Stocks Free >>
Media Contact
Zacks Investment Research
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https://www.zacks.com
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.