Top Stock Reports for Alphabet, JPMorgan & Comcast

Monday, January 20, 2020

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 Alphabet (GOOGL), JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Comcast (CMCSA). 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 >>>

Alphabet’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Internet Services industry over the past year (+33.7% vs. +13.5%). The Zacks analyst believes that Alphabet is driven by robust search business. Its strong focus on innovation of AI techniques and the home automation space should aid business growth in the long term.

Also, its strong focus on bolstering presence in the cloud market is encouraging. The company’s strong initiatives toward elimination of bad ads and introducing useful major search updates are tailwinds.

Notably, it has agreed to acquire Fitbit for roughly $2.1 billion. This deal will likely help the company to accelerate innovation in the wearables category. However, the company’s growing heavy investments, litigation issues and competition might hurt profitability. 

(You can read the full research report on Alphabet here >>>)

Shares of JPMorgan have gained +11.9% in the past three months against the Zacks Major Regional Banks Services industry's rise of +8.1%. The Zacks analyst believes that decent loan demand, improving economy, the acquisition of InstaMed, new branch openings and focus on credit card business will continue to aid financials. 

The bank has an impressive earnings surprise history, having surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters. Improvement in non-interest income and lower provisions supported fourth-quarter 2019 results, while decline in net interest income was an undermining factor.

While the Fed’s accommodative policy, challenges in expanding mortgage operations and the company’s significant dependence on capital markets revenues make us apprehensive about top-line growth to some extent, enhanced capital deployment plan reflects strong balance sheet position and will enhance shareholder value.

(You can read the full research report on JPMorgan here >>>)

Comcast’s shares have gained +8.3% over the past six months against the Zacks Cable Television industry's rise of +9.4%. The Zacks analyst believes that Comcast is benefiting from solid growth in a number of residential and business services high-speed Internet customers.

The company’s strategy of providing high-speed Internet at an affordable cost plays a key role in improving customer experience. Growing popularity of Xfinity products is also a key catalyst. Moreover, expansion in the wireless user base and the security and automation services customer base is a growth driver.

Additionally, Sky’s content strength is expected to drive the subscriber base in Europe. Further, increasing digital video sales hold promise. However, Comcast continues to lose video subscribers due to cord cutting. Moreover, a high debt level is a headwind. 

(You can read the full research report on Comcast here >>>)

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Amgen (AMGN), International Business Machines (IBM) and QUALCOMM (QCOM).

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Sheraz Mian

Director of Research

Note: Sheraz Mian heads the Zacks Equity Research department and is a well-regarded expert of aggregate earnings. He is frequently quoted in the print and electronic media and publishes the weekly Earnings Trends and Earnings Preview reports. If you want an email notification each time Sheraz publishes a new article, please click here>>>

Today's Must Read

Alphabet (GOOGL) Rides on Diversification; Legal Troubles Ail

Modest Loan Growth, Branch Expansion Support JPMorgan (JPM)

High Speed Internet Subscriber Gain Benefits Comcast (CMCSA)

Featured Reports

Amgen (AMGN) Counts on New Drugs Amid Rising Biosimilar Woes

The Zacks analyst says that Amgen's new drugs like Aimovig and Evenity, biosimilars and international expansion provide incremental growth opportunities amid biosimilar erosion of its legacy products

Robust Adoption of Cloud Solutions Aids IBM Amid High Debt

Per the Zacks analyst, IBM's blockchain, cloud and ML capabilities, among others poises its offerings well to gain robust adoption.

Qualcomm (QCOM) Rides on 5G Chipsets to Deter Competition

Per the Zacks analyst, with more than 150 5G design wins to date, Qualcomm offers the flexibility and scalability needed for broad and fast 5G adoption through accelerated commercialization by OEMs.

Intuit (INTU) Rides on Solid Product Portfolio & Cloud Shift

Per the Zacks analyst, Intuit is gaining from solid adoption of TurboTax Live offering, and its lending product - QuickBooks Capital.

Biogen (BIIB) Focus on Aducanumab Filing, Competition Lurks

The Zacks analyst likes Biogen's decision to seek U.S. approval of Alzheimer's treatement, aducanumab.

Strong Order Trends Catalyst for ABB (ABB), High Costs Hurt

Per the Zacks analyst, strong orders across ABB's businesses in Asia, Middle East and Africa region including India, Japan, and the UAE bode well for its growth.

Cost Cuts Aid Norfolk Southern (NSC) Amid Volume Woes

The Zacks Analyst likes the improvement in operating ratio backed by cost-control efforts. However, weakness in overall volumes due to below-par performance of key units is concerning.

New Upgrades

BHP Group (BHP) Bets on Operational Efficiency & Liquidity

The Zacks Analyst appreciates BHP Group' s efforts to make its operations more efficient on the back of smarter technology adoption as well its focus on deleveraging its balance sheet.

NetApp (NTAP) Gains on Strong Adoption of Flash, HCI Solutions

Per the Zacks analyst, persistent innovation in flash-based solutions and strong adoption of hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) are expected to benefit NetApp's financial performance.

Paylocity (PCTY) Rides on Growing Adoption of HCM Solutions

Per the Zacks analyst, Paylocity is gaining from solid uptake of its HCM solutions among clients with below 50 employees. Healthy momentum in the core and upper end of the market is also a boon.

New Downgrades

Higher Operating Costs to Hurt Dollar Tree's (DLTR) Margins

Per the Zacks analyst, elevated freight and distribution costs, increased sale of low-margin merchandise and higher shrink are hurting Dollar Tree's margins. This should persist in fiscal 2019.

Higher Expenses Weigh on Spectrum Brands' (SPB) Margins

Per the Zacks analyst, input cost inflation as well as higher operating and tariff-related costs are hurting Spectrum Brands' margins. It expects tariff costs of $80-$85 million in fiscal 2020.

Market-Related & Forex Woes to Hurt Altra Industrial (AIMC)

Per a Zacks analyst, Altra Industrial (AIMC) will be adversely impacted by end-market and global economy-related concerns in 2019 and 2020. Also, forex woes might hurt.

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QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Comcast Corporation (CMCSA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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