Yahoo Finance The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Microsoft, Cisco Systems, Target, Fomento Economico Mexicano, Canadian Pacific Railway and Las Vegas Sands
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – February 8, 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: Microsoft Corp. MSFT, Cisco Systems, Inc. CSCO, Target Corp. TGT, Fomento Economico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V. FMX, Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. CP and Las Vegas Sands Corp. LVS.
Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:
Top Analyst Reports for Microsoft, Cisco Systems and Target
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 Microsoft Corp., Cisco Systems, Inc. and Target Corp. 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 >>>
Shares of Microsoft are off to a good start this year, doing better than the market (+9.7% vs. +7.4% for the S&P 500 index) but modestly lagging the Zacks Tech sector (+9.7% vs. +14.9%). The company is witnessing a slowdown in its cloud business and declining videogame sales were headwinds. Decrease in Xbox content and services and Xbox hardware hurt gaming sales due to a decline in first-party content. Increasing spend on Azure enhancements amid stiff competition in the cloud space from Amazon is likely to dent margins.
However, Microsoft’s second-quarter fiscal 2023 results benefitted from consistent execution across renewal sales motions, including strong recapture rates and growth in Azure commitments on a high prior year comparable, partially offset by the slowdown in growth of new standalone business.
Revenues benefited from slow yet steady performance of Office 365 and Dynamics. Strength in Marketing Solutions and steady performance in Talent Solutions aided LinkedIn revenues. We expect fiscal 2023 revenues to grow by 4.7% over fiscal 2022.
(You can read the full research report on Microsoft here >>>)
Cisco shares have modestly underperformed the Zacks Computer - Networking industry over the past year (-14.0% vs. -13.5%). The company witnessed cautious spending in European markets due to a dramatic increase in energy costs and market volatility. Nevertheless, it believes this situation provides growth opportunities for low-power-consuming technologies, including IoT, Silicon One and Power over Ethernet.
Cisco’s investments across its security business, focusing on cloud-based offerings, is expected to drive growth in the long haul. Cisco provided strong outlook for second-quarter fiscal 2023.
Cisco’s first-quarter fiscal 2023 results benefited from easing supply chain conditions, greater availability of components and redesigning of some products. Cisco witnessed strong demand for its products, including the Catalyst 9000 family, Cisco 8000, Wireless, Meraki, ThousandEyes and Duo.
(You can read the full research report on Cisco Systems here >>>)
Shares of Target have underperformed the Zacks Retail - Discount Stores industry over the past year (-18.4% vs. +1.9%). The company’s bottom line continued to struggle marking the third straight miss. Sales and profit trends softened in the latter part of the quarter. Evidently, soaring inflation, rising interest rates and ongoing geopolitical tensions have brought a drastic change in consumer behavior.
Target cautioned that softening sales and profit trends have continued in the final quarter. It now foresees a low-single-digit decline in comparable sales and an operating margin rate of around 3% in the holiday quarter.
Nonetheless, to simplify and improve efficiencies across the business, Target announced an enterprise-wide cost-containment effort and plans to save between $2-$3 billion over the next three years.
(You can read the full research report on Target here >>>)
Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Fomento Economico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V., Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. and Las Vegas Sands Corp.
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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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Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Target Corporation (TGT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. (FMX) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (CP) : Free Stock Analysis Report
