Top Analyst Reports For Lockheed Martin, Allergan & Barclays
Zacks Investment Research | Mar 13, 2018 04:15AM ET
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
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 Lockheed Martin (LMT), Allergan (NYSE:AGN) and Barclays (LON:BARC) (BCS). These research reports have been hand-picked from the roughly 70 reports published by our analyst team today.
You can see
Lockheed Martin’s shares have gained +24.3% over the last year, underperforming the Zacks Aerospace Defense sector, which has gained +47.3% over the same period. However, Lockheed Martin, being the largest defense contractor in the world, experiences strong demand for high-end military equipment in both domestic as well as overseas markets.
The Sikorsky takeover has proved to be beneficial for the company, in terms of substantial contract wins for production of newly designed choppers as well as maintenance of the existing one. In fact, strong order growth has been a primary growth driver for this company. Lockheed Martin continues to be a strong cash generator, helping it to take important cash deployment decisions.
However, the F-35 program, despite being a prime defense project for the U.S. government, has been facing criticism for being overly expensive for past few years. The company also faces intense competition for its broad portfolio of products and services in both domestic and international markets.
(You can ).
Shares of Allergan have lost -3.2% year to date, marginally underperforming the Zacks Generic Drugs industry, which has declined -3.0% over the same period. Allergan boasts dominant growth franchises across several therapeutic areas.
Key products like Botox and Linzess and new products such as Viberzi, Namzaric and Vraylar support sales. Allergan also boasts a strong branded pipeline with meaningful data readouts expected in 2018. Biosimilars also represent significant opportunity.
However, while the Zacks analyst remains optimistic about the company’s growth prospects, Allergan faces potential loss of exclusivity for many products in 2018 including Namenda XR and Restasis. Also, competition for key growth drivers, Restasis and Linzess, is an investor concern. Nonetheless, in late 2017, Allergan announced cost-cutting initiatives to protect it from potential revenue declines.
Get The News You Want
(You can ).
Barclays’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Foreign Banks industry over the last six months, with BCS shares up +17.7% vs. +5.1% gain for the industry. The company has surpassed expectations for earnings in only one of the trailing four quarters. The bank’s fourth quarter 2017 results reflected a slight improvement in revenues and lower expenses.
However, the Zacks analyst thinks restructuring and business simplifying efforts have ended successfully and will likely continue to result in decrease in expenses. Also, driven by these efforts, the company intends to enhance capital deployment activities as profitability improves going forward.
The bank has been facing pressure on revenues owing to weak capital market performance, low interest rates and uncertainty related to Brexit. Further, litigation matters remain a near-term concern.
(You can ).
Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Constellation Brands (STZ), Sun Life Financial (SLF) and Southwest Airlines (LUV).
Zacks Top 10 Stocks for 2018
In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-hold tickers for the entirety of 2018?
Last year's 2017 Zacks Top 10 Stocks portfolio produced double-digit winners, including FMC Corp (NYSE:FMC). and VMware which racked up stellar gains of +67.9% and +61%. Now a brand-new portfolio has been handpicked from over 4,000 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. Don’t miss your chance to get in on these long-term buys.
Mark Vickery
Senior Editor
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
Today's Must Read/h6
Featured Reports/h6
Per the Zacks analyst, Nektar has a strong pipeline, with many updates lined up.
Per the Zacks analyst, solid investment plan helps Entergy in modernizing its grids and offering reliable services to its customers.
Per the Zacks analyst, digital and wealth initiatives in Canada, sales momentum in Asia, scaling and integration of U.S. operations, and strong asset management businesses bodes well for Sun Life.
The Zacks analyst believes that the Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen buyout has accelerated Restaurant Brands' global unit development and aided in cutting costs.
The Zacks analyst likes Apache's promising Alpine High discovery with strong economics and top-tier returns but is concerned over operational issues in North Sea that resulted in lower production.
The Zacks analyst likes the company's efforts to reward shareholders. The increase in passenger revenues are encouraging too.
Per the Zacks analyst, buyout of Finland-based salvage auto auction company AVK will help Copart expand its operations in the Europe's Nordic region.
Per the Zacks analyst, Nektar has a strong pipeline, with many updates lined up.
Per the Zacks analyst, solid investment plan helps Entergy in modernizing its grids and offering reliable services to its customers.
Per the Zacks analyst, digital and wealth initiatives in Canada, sales momentum in Asia, scaling and integration of U.S. operations, and strong asset management businesses bodes well for Sun Life.
The Zacks analyst believes that the Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen buyout has accelerated Restaurant Brands' global unit development and aided in cutting costs.
The Zacks analyst likes Apache's promising Alpine High discovery with strong economics and top-tier returns but is concerned over operational issues in North Sea that resulted in lower production.
The Zacks analyst likes the company's efforts to reward shareholders. The increase in passenger revenues are encouraging too.
Per the Zacks analyst, buyout of Finland-based salvage auto auction company AVK will help Copart expand its operations in the Europe's Nordic region.
New Upgrades/h6
Per the Zacks analyst, Ciena's diversified product portfolio is helping it to expand its customer base. High growth in Asia Pacific, especially in India, is a key driver.
The Zacks analyst thinks that improving performance in the Pacific Northwest and New Zealand timber segment will enable Rayonier to enjoy better pricing power.
Per the Zacks analyst, Agilent benefits from an expanding product portfolio, end-market strength and robust performance in China and Europe.
Per the Zacks analyst, Ciena's diversified product portfolio is helping it to expand its customer base. High growth in Asia Pacific, especially in India, is a key driver.
The Zacks analyst thinks that improving performance in the Pacific Northwest and New Zealand timber segment will enable Rayonier to enjoy better pricing power.
Per the Zacks analyst, Agilent benefits from an expanding product portfolio, end-market strength and robust performance in China and Europe.
New Downgrades/h6
Per the Zacks analyst, Cures Act related reimbursement issues will continue to mar BioScrip's topline performance through 2021. Non-core business mix contraction continues to hamper sales growth.
Per the Zacks analyst, tepid performance of Philips' Connected Care & Health Informatics business due to postponement of large orders in health informatics is weighing on the company's bottom line.
Per the Zacks analyst, softness in Constellation Brands' wine and spirits business is impacting overall sales. Going forward, the segment's results are likely to be hurt by slowdown in the industry.
Per the Zacks analyst, Cures Act related reimbursement issues will continue to mar BioScrip's topline performance through 2021. Non-core business mix contraction continues to hamper sales growth.
Per the Zacks analyst, tepid performance of Philips' Connected Care & Health Informatics business due to postponement of large orders in health informatics is weighing on the company's bottom line.
Per the Zacks analyst, softness in Constellation Brands' wine and spirits business is impacting overall sales. Going forward, the segment's results are likely to be hurt by slowdown in the industry.
Zacks Investment Research
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.