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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Microsoft, Alphabet, Bank of America and Wells Fargo
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For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – October 31, 2018 – 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 Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) , Alphabet (GOOGL - Free Report) , Bank of America (BAC - Free Report) and Wells Fargo (WFC - Free Report) .
Top Stock Reports for Microsoft, Alphabet, BofA and Wells Fargo
The Zacks Research Daily presents the best research output of our analyst team. Today's Research Daily features new research reports on 17 major stocks, including Microsoft, Alphabet, Bank of America and Wells Fargo. These research reports have been hand-picked from the roughly 70 reports published by our analyst team today.
Buy-ranked Microsoft’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Technology sector on a year-to-date basis (up +25.1% versus -1.5%). Microsoft reported stellar first-quarter results. The Zacks analyst thinks the company is benefiting from growing user base of its different applications like Office 365 commercial, Dynamics, Outlook mobile and Teams.
Azure’s expanding customer base is a key catalyst. Microsoft’s gaming segment is performing well, primarily driven by a combination of Xbox Live, Game Pass subscriptions and Mixer, which are driving user engagement. Further, acquisitions like PlayFab and GitHub expand Microsoft’s total addressable market (TAM) and penetration. However, projections of a moderating growth rate in commercial cloud gross margin, and OEM Pro and Windows commercial businesses is a headwind.
Shares of Alphabet have outperformed the Zacks Internet Services industry on a year-to-date basis (the stock is up +2.9% vs. a -21.3% decline for the industry). Alphabet's third-quarter earnings were driven by robust mobile growth. However, sales growth slowed down during the quarter.
The Zacks analyst thinks the company's focus on innovation, AI, cloud, home automation space, strategic acquisitions and Android OS should continue to aid earnings growth. Further, its partnership with PayPal remains positive.
The company has shown good execution to date, more or less maintaining its dominant share in a competitive, fast-growing search market. However, the company suffers from litigation issues which might hurt its profitability.
Alphabet's increased spending on its consumer gadgets, YouTube video app and cloud computing services remain concerns. In addition, rising competition in the online advertisement market poses a serious risk to the company's position.
Bank of America’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Major Regional Banks industry over the past year, losing -3.6% vs. -6.1%. Also, the company possesses an impressive earnings surprise history, beating expectations in each of the trailing four quarters. Its third-quarter 2018 results reflect rise in net interest income, card fees and equity underwriting income as well as lower provisions and operating expenses.
The Zacks analyst thinks rise in loan and deposit balances, higher interest rates, expansion into new markets and efforts to manage expenses are likely to support profitability. Also, lower tax rates and a strong balance sheet position will aid growth.
However, a fall in mortgage banking income due to lower volumes and a decline in refinancing activity along with uncertainty related to performance of capital markets remain major concerns. These are expected to hurt the bank's revenues to some extent.
Shares of Wells Fargo have underperformed the Zacks Major Regional Banks industry year to date (-15.6% vs. -11.1%). The company possesses a disappointing earnings surprise history, having beaten expectations in only one of the trailing four quarters.
Third-quarter results were impacted by lower fee income, rise in expenses and reduced loans balance. Following the sales scandal and other issues, Wells Fargo has been slapped with new sanctions, including a cap on the assets position by the Federal Reserve.
The Zacks analyst thinks the crisis related to the revelation of illegally opening millions of accounts in 2016, auto-lending issues and impact of other malpractices will take some time to alleviate. However, the company’s ongoing investment in the businesses — aimed to enhance the compliance and risk management capability, build a better bank and strengthen core infrastructure — bodes well. Also, lower tax rate and easing of regulations will likely support its growth.
Last year, it generated $8 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $47 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce "the world's first trillionaires," but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early.
Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.
Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.
Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News
Many are little publicized and fly under the Wall Street radar. They're virtually unknown to the general public. Yet today's 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" were generated by the stock-picking system that has nearly tripled the market from 1988 through 2015. Its average gain has been a stellar +26% per year. See these high-potential stocks free >>.
Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.
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: Microsoft, Alphabet, Bank of America and Wells Fargo
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – October 31, 2018 – 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 Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) , Alphabet (GOOGL - Free Report) , Bank of America (BAC - Free Report) and Wells Fargo (WFC - Free Report) .
Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.
Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:
Top Stock Reports for Microsoft, Alphabet, BofA and Wells Fargo
The Zacks Research Daily presents the best research output of our analyst team. Today's Research Daily features new research reports on 17 major stocks, including Microsoft, Alphabet, Bank of America and Wells Fargo. 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 >>>
Buy-ranked Microsoft’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Technology sector on a year-to-date basis (up +25.1% versus -1.5%). Microsoft reported stellar first-quarter results. The Zacks analyst thinks the company is benefiting from growing user base of its different applications like Office 365 commercial, Dynamics, Outlook mobile and Teams.
Azure’s expanding customer base is a key catalyst. Microsoft’s gaming segment is performing well, primarily driven by a combination of Xbox Live, Game Pass subscriptions and Mixer, which are driving user engagement. Further, acquisitions like PlayFab and GitHub expand Microsoft’s total addressable market (TAM) and penetration. However, projections of a moderating growth rate in commercial cloud gross margin, and OEM Pro and Windows commercial businesses is a headwind.
(You can read the full research report on Microsoft here >>>).
Shares of Alphabet have outperformed the Zacks Internet Services industry on a year-to-date basis (the stock is up +2.9% vs. a -21.3% decline for the industry). Alphabet's third-quarter earnings were driven by robust mobile growth. However, sales growth slowed down during the quarter.
The Zacks analyst thinks the company's focus on innovation, AI, cloud, home automation space, strategic acquisitions and Android OS should continue to aid earnings growth. Further, its partnership with PayPal remains positive.
The company has shown good execution to date, more or less maintaining its dominant share in a competitive, fast-growing search market. However, the company suffers from litigation issues which might hurt its profitability.
Alphabet's increased spending on its consumer gadgets, YouTube video app and cloud computing services remain concerns. In addition, rising competition in the online advertisement market poses a serious risk to the company's position.
(You can read the full research report on Alphabet here >>>).
Bank of America’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Major Regional Banks industry over the past year, losing -3.6% vs. -6.1%. Also, the company possesses an impressive earnings surprise history, beating expectations in each of the trailing four quarters. Its third-quarter 2018 results reflect rise in net interest income, card fees and equity underwriting income as well as lower provisions and operating expenses.
The Zacks analyst thinks rise in loan and deposit balances, higher interest rates, expansion into new markets and efforts to manage expenses are likely to support profitability. Also, lower tax rates and a strong balance sheet position will aid growth.
However, a fall in mortgage banking income due to lower volumes and a decline in refinancing activity along with uncertainty related to performance of capital markets remain major concerns. These are expected to hurt the bank's revenues to some extent.
(You can read the full research report on Bank of America here >>>).
Shares of Wells Fargo have underperformed the Zacks Major Regional Banks industry year to date (-15.6% vs. -11.1%). The company possesses a disappointing earnings surprise history, having beaten expectations in only one of the trailing four quarters.
Third-quarter results were impacted by lower fee income, rise in expenses and reduced loans balance. Following the sales scandal and other issues, Wells Fargo has been slapped with new sanctions, including a cap on the assets position by the Federal Reserve.
The Zacks analyst thinks the crisis related to the revelation of illegally opening millions of accounts in 2016, auto-lending issues and impact of other malpractices will take some time to alleviate. However, the company’s ongoing investment in the businesses — aimed to enhance the compliance and risk management capability, build a better bank and strengthen core infrastructure — bodes well. Also, lower tax rate and easing of regulations will likely support its growth.
(You can read the full research report on Wells Fargo here >>>).
The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All
Last year, it generated $8 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $47 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce "the world's first trillionaires," but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early.
See Zacks' 3 Best Stocks to Play This Trend >>
About Zacks Equity Research
Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.
Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.
Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News
Many are little publicized and fly under the Wall Street radar. They're virtually unknown to the general public. Yet today's 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" were generated by the stock-picking system that has nearly tripled the market from 1988 through 2015. Its average gain has been a stellar +26% per year. See these high-potential stocks free >>.
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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.