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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Charles Schwab, Gilead, Medtronic, Cooper-Standard and Rave Restaurant
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For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – February 26, 2025 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: The Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW - Free Report) , Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD - Free Report) , Medtronic plc (MDT - Free Report) , Cooper-Standard Holdings Inc. (CPS - Free Report) and Rave Restaurant Group, Inc. (RAVE - Free Report) .
Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:
Top Stock Reports for Chas Schwab, Gilead and Medtronic
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 The Charles Schwab Corp., Gilead Sciences, Inc. and Medtronic plc, as well as two micro-cap stocks Cooper-Standard Holdings Inc. and Rave Restaurant Group, Inc. The Zacks microcap research is unique as our research content on these small and under-the-radar companies is the only research of its type in the country.
These research reports have been hand-picked from the roughly 70 reports published by our analyst team today.
The daily 'Ahead of Wall Street' article is a must-read for all investors who would like to be ready for that day's trading action. The article comes out before the market opens and attempts to make sense of that morning's economic releases and how they will affect that day's market action. You can read this article for free on our home page and can actually sign up there to get an email notification as this article comes out each morning.
Shares of Charles Schwab have gained +26.5% over the past year against the Zacks Financial - Investment Bank industry’s gain of +46.8%. Falling interest rates and a focus on repaying high-cost bank supplemental funding balances will support the company’s net interest margin (NIM) expansion. The Zacks analyst projects NIM to be 2.13% in 2024. Buyouts have increased the company’s client assets.
According to the Zacks analyst estimates total client assets to see a CAGR of 9.7% by 2026. As the company deals with low-yielding assets on its balance sheet, it plans to shrink itself to sustain profits and rely more on off-balance sheet arrangements to house deposits. This will likely exert pressure on its top-line growth.
We project total revenues to rise just 2.8% in 2024. High costs will hurt profitability. Though we estimate total expenses to fall in 2024, they will increase in 2025. Nonetheless, solid capital distributions are a positive.
Gilead Sciences’ shares have outperformed the Zacks Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry over the past year (+48.4% vs. -7.3%). The company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results and provided an upbeat guidance for 2025. Gilead’s flagship HIV therapy, Biktarvy, continues to maintain its strong growth, fueling the top line.
Gilead Sciences’ efforts to develop better HIV treatments are commendable. Recent data validate lenacapavir’s potential to prevent HIV. A potential approval of lenacapavir should be a significant boost for Gilead. The company has strong quarterly results and guidance for 2025.
Zack analyst sales estimates for Biktarvy indicate a CAGR of around 4.5% over the next three years. Gilead's efforts to bolster its oncology and virology franchises through internal pipeline development and collaborations are impressive as well. However, the cell therapy franchise is facing challenges.
Shares of Medtronic’s have outperformed the Zacks Medical - Products industry over the past year (+14.7% vs. +14.5%). The company is strategically expanding its global presence to address the unmet demand for advanced medical devices. Within Cardiovascular, Medtronic is gaining market share, banking on product launches in CRM and Structural Heart.
Hypertension disease has brought multibillion-dollar opportunities. In MedSurg, despite all distributor disruptions, Medtronic is scaling the production of Hugo RAS. The Neuroscience portfolios continue to contribute. Further, the company’s Pacing business continued to drive strong growth banking Micra leadless pacemaker.
Innovations and market expansion efforts are helping it offset the impact of the inflation and supply disruptions. Medtronic’s strong liquidity position should allow it to meet its near-term debt obligations. All these factors support our bullish stance on the stock.
Cooper-Standard’s shares have underperformed the Zacks Automotive - Original Equipment industry over the past year (-5.5% vs. -2.3%). This microcap company with market capitalization of $255.39 million expanded margins despite lower revenue, with fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA increasing 96.8% year-over-year to $54.3 million. Cost optimizations delivered over $100 million in savings, and management aims for double-digit margins by the fourth quarter of 2025.
Net new business reached $181.4 million, with 58% tied to electric vehicles, boosting content per vehicle. Proprietary innovations and partnerships with major original equipment manufacturers enhance competitiveness.
However, high debt of $1.06 billion and rising interest costs of $97.3 million in 2024, projected at $105 million to $115 million in 2025, pose risks. Cooper-Standard reported a net loss of $78.7 million in 2024 as revenue declined 3% to $2.73 billion. Weak global auto production, foreign exchange headwinds, and pricing pressure from automakers could challenge its 2025 margin target.
Shares of Rave Restaurant have outperformed the Zacks Retail - Restaurants industry over the past year (+35.6% vs. +8.5%). This microcap company with market capitalization of $42.22 million witnessed 19 consecutive quarters of positive earnings. In second-quarter fiscal 2025, net income rose 9.8% to $0.6 million, with adjusted EBITDA up 50.6% to $0.8 million, highlighting strong cost control and financial discipline.
Rave Restaurant maintains a solid balance sheet with $2.9 million in cash, $6 million in short-term investments, and no long-term debt, enabling strategic reinvestment. Pizza Inn posted a modest 0.8% same-store sales increase, with 30 new locations under development.
Yet, Pie Five’s sales fell 11.4%, and its store count declined, signaling ongoing challenges. Revenues grew 4.5% to $2.9 million but inflationary pressure and slow sales growth pose challenges. RAVE’s reliance on supplier incentives, its limited scale and its digital lag pose risks. The execution of growth strategies holds the key.
Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +7.7% average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +48.4%, +50.2% and +56.7% per year.
Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.
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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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Charles Schwab, Gilead, Medtronic, Cooper-Standard and Rave Restaurant
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – February 26, 2025 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: The Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW - Free Report) , Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD - Free Report) , Medtronic plc (MDT - Free Report) , Cooper-Standard Holdings Inc. (CPS - Free Report) and Rave Restaurant Group, Inc. (RAVE - Free Report) .
Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:
Top Stock Reports for Chas Schwab, Gilead and Medtronic
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 The Charles Schwab Corp., Gilead Sciences, Inc. and Medtronic plc, as well as two micro-cap stocks Cooper-Standard Holdings Inc. and Rave Restaurant Group, Inc. The Zacks microcap research is unique as our research content on these small and under-the-radar companies is the only research of its type in the country.
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 >>>
Ahead of Wall Street
The daily 'Ahead of Wall Street' article is a must-read for all investors who would like to be ready for that day's trading action. The article comes out before the market opens and attempts to make sense of that morning's economic releases and how they will affect that day's market action. You can read this article for free on our home page and can actually sign up there to get an email notification as this article comes out each morning.
You can read today's AWS here >>> Pre-Markets Try Again to Ramp Higher
Today's Featured Research Reports
Shares of Charles Schwab have gained +26.5% over the past year against the Zacks Financial - Investment Bank industry’s gain of +46.8%. Falling interest rates and a focus on repaying high-cost bank supplemental funding balances will support the company’s net interest margin (NIM) expansion. The Zacks analyst projects NIM to be 2.13% in 2024. Buyouts have increased the company’s client assets.
According to the Zacks analyst estimates total client assets to see a CAGR of 9.7% by 2026. As the company deals with low-yielding assets on its balance sheet, it plans to shrink itself to sustain profits and rely more on off-balance sheet arrangements to house deposits. This will likely exert pressure on its top-line growth.
We project total revenues to rise just 2.8% in 2024. High costs will hurt profitability. Though we estimate total expenses to fall in 2024, they will increase in 2025. Nonetheless, solid capital distributions are a positive.
(You can read the full research report on Charles Schwab here >>>)
Gilead Sciences’ shares have outperformed the Zacks Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry over the past year (+48.4% vs. -7.3%). The company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results and provided an upbeat guidance for 2025. Gilead’s flagship HIV therapy, Biktarvy, continues to maintain its strong growth, fueling the top line.
Gilead Sciences’ efforts to develop better HIV treatments are commendable. Recent data validate lenacapavir’s potential to prevent HIV. A potential approval of lenacapavir should be a significant boost for Gilead. The company has strong quarterly results and guidance for 2025.
Zack analyst sales estimates for Biktarvy indicate a CAGR of around 4.5% over the next three years. Gilead's efforts to bolster its oncology and virology franchises through internal pipeline development and collaborations are impressive as well. However, the cell therapy franchise is facing challenges.
(You can read the full research report on Gilead Sciences here >>>)
Shares of Medtronic’s have outperformed the Zacks Medical - Products industry over the past year (+14.7% vs. +14.5%). The company is strategically expanding its global presence to address the unmet demand for advanced medical devices. Within Cardiovascular, Medtronic is gaining market share, banking on product launches in CRM and Structural Heart.
Hypertension disease has brought multibillion-dollar opportunities. In MedSurg, despite all distributor disruptions, Medtronic is scaling the production of Hugo RAS. The Neuroscience portfolios continue to contribute. Further, the company’s Pacing business continued to drive strong growth banking Micra leadless pacemaker.
Innovations and market expansion efforts are helping it offset the impact of the inflation and supply disruptions. Medtronic’s strong liquidity position should allow it to meet its near-term debt obligations. All these factors support our bullish stance on the stock.
(You can read the full research report on Medtronic here >>>)
Cooper-Standard’s shares have underperformed the Zacks Automotive - Original Equipment industry over the past year (-5.5% vs. -2.3%). This microcap company with market capitalization of $255.39 million expanded margins despite lower revenue, with fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA increasing 96.8% year-over-year to $54.3 million. Cost optimizations delivered over $100 million in savings, and management aims for double-digit margins by the fourth quarter of 2025.
Net new business reached $181.4 million, with 58% tied to electric vehicles, boosting content per vehicle. Proprietary innovations and partnerships with major original equipment manufacturers enhance competitiveness.
However, high debt of $1.06 billion and rising interest costs of $97.3 million in 2024, projected at $105 million to $115 million in 2025, pose risks. Cooper-Standard reported a net loss of $78.7 million in 2024 as revenue declined 3% to $2.73 billion. Weak global auto production, foreign exchange headwinds, and pricing pressure from automakers could challenge its 2025 margin target.
(You can read the full research report on Cooper-Standard here >>>)
Shares of Rave Restaurant have outperformed the Zacks Retail - Restaurants industry over the past year (+35.6% vs. +8.5%). This microcap company with market capitalization of $42.22 million witnessed 19 consecutive quarters of positive earnings. In second-quarter fiscal 2025, net income rose 9.8% to $0.6 million, with adjusted EBITDA up 50.6% to $0.8 million, highlighting strong cost control and financial discipline.
Rave Restaurant maintains a solid balance sheet with $2.9 million in cash, $6 million in short-term investments, and no long-term debt, enabling strategic reinvestment. Pizza Inn posted a modest 0.8% same-store sales increase, with 30 new locations under development.
Yet, Pie Five’s sales fell 11.4%, and its store count declined, signaling ongoing challenges. Revenues grew 4.5% to $2.9 million but inflationary pressure and slow sales growth pose challenges. RAVE’s reliance on supplier incentives, its limited scale and its digital lag pose risks. The execution of growth strategies holds the key.
(You can read the full research report on Rave Restaurant here >>>)
Why Haven't You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?
Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +7.7% average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +48.4%, +50.2% and +56.7% per year.
Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.
See Stocks Free >>
Zacks Investment Research
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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.