Yahoo Finance The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Apple, Verizon Communications, Amgen, Charles Schwab and The Cigna Group
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – July 5, 2023 – 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: Apple Inc. AAPL, Verizon Communications Inc. VZ, Amgen Inc. AMGN, The Charles Schwab Corp. SCHW and The Cigna Group CI.
Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:
Top Analyst Reports for Apple, Verizon and Amgen
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 Apple Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and Amgen Inc. 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 >>>
Apple shares have been standout performers this year, outperforming the Zacks Tech sector ((+47.9% vs. +37.3%) and the S&P 500 index (+47.9% vs. +16.9). The company is benefiting from steady demand for iPhone 14 and 14 Plus as well as expanding footprint in emerging markets. Growing services subscriber base and improving customer engagement are tailwinds for the services business.
Apple is expanding service offerings with the new features and enhancements in its upcoming iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS Sonoma, watchOS 10, and tvOS 17. Expanding content on Apple TV+ bodes well for Apple. Growing footprint in the enterprise market is encouraging.
However, services' revenue growth in the fiscal third quarter is expected to be similar to the fiscal second quarter. Apple expects services to be negatively impacted by challenging macroeconomic conditions, as well as continued weakness in digital advertising and mobile gaming.
(You can read the full research report on Apple here >>>)
Shares of Verizon have declined -6.6% over the past six months against the Zacks Wireless National industry's decline of -7.2%. The company has reiterated its soft guidance for 2023 due to a challenging macroeconomic environment. Continued retail prepaid and postpaid net losses are hindering the top line of the company. Stiff competition from other major players and saturation in the U.S. wireless market is hurting profits.
Heavy spending on promotional activities to attract customers is also weighing on margins. Nevertheless, Verizon is witnessing significant 5G adoption and fixed wireless broadband momentum. It is offering various mix and match pricing in both wireless and home broadband plans that has led to solid customer additions.
Strong demand for Fios and fixed wireless products are tailwinds. Verizon's mmWave footprint delivers game-changing experience for the densest parts of the network and offers reliable signal waves with enhanced efficiency and less interference.
(You can read the full research report on Verizon here >>>)
Amgen shares have declined -6.5% over the past year against the Zacks Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry's decline of -7.1%. While the company's key drugs like Prolia, Repatha and Evenity are driving sales, increasing competition for its legacy products is hurting the same.
Amgen is rapidly advancing its robust oncology and immunology pipeline. Several data readouts are expected in the second half of 2023. Amgen boasts a strong biosimilars portfolio with potential new products expected to drive long-term growth.
However, increased pricing headwinds and competitive pressure are hurting sales of many of Amgen's products, including some biosimilars. Increasing biosimilar competition for some legacy products and weakness in key brands like Otezla and Lumakras create potential revenue headwinds.
(You can read the full research report on Amgen here >>>)
Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include The Charles Schwab Corp. and The Cigna Group.
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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.
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Apple Inc. (AAPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
The Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Cigna Group (CI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
