Top Stock Reports For Gilead, Oracle & Morgan Stanley
Zacks Investment Research | Sep 11, 2017 03:36AM ET
Monday, September 11, 2017
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 Gilead (GILD), Oracle (ORCL) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) (MS). These research reports have been hand-picked from the roughly 70 reports published by our analyst team today.
You can see
Gilead’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Biotech industry year to date, gaining +20.7% vs. +17.1%. Gilead is all set to acquire Kite Pharma and enter the CAR T therapy space which represents immense potential at this juncture and a potential approval of lead candidate axi-cell will be a significant boost for Gilead’s prospects which have dampened of late.
The Zacks analyst emphasizes that an acquisition announcement was on the cards as Gilead had a strong cash balance and the decline in the once lucrative hepatitis C (HCV) market due to competitive pressure made the company look for strategic alternatives. Gilead is known for its presence in the HCV market because of its blockbuster HCV drugs, Sovaldi and Harvoni.
However, the HCV franchise is under pressure because of competition and pricing issues. Meanwhile, the HIV franchise maintains momentum driven by the rapid adoption of TAF-based regimens in the U.S. and EU.
(You can) .
Shares of Oracle have outperformed the Zacks Technology Sector year-to-date, gaining +35.7% vs. +19%. Oracle is benefiting from significant momentum in the SaaS and PaaS offerings. The Zacks analyst thinks the company’s growing cloud market share will continue to drive top-line growth for the foreseeable future.
The recent collaboration with Mitsubishi and addition of AI and machine learning features in Internet of Things (IoT) Cloud offerings is encouraging. NetSuite continues to expand customer base and was recently named as a leader among B2B commerce suites for midsize organizations by Forrester Wave report.
Meanwhile, estimates have been stable lately ahead of the company's Q1 earnings release. The company has mixed record of earnings surprises in recent quarters. However, higher investments on IaaS will affect gross margin expansion in the near-term.
(You can ) .
Buy-rated Morgan Stanley’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Finance sector over the last one year, gaining +39.3% versus the sector’s +18.9% increase. The performance was supported by the company’s impressive earnings surprise history. Earnings have surpassed expectations in each of the trailing four quarters.
The Zacks analyst likes the company’s efforts to offload its non-core assets to lower balance sheet risk and cost saving initiatives (Project Streamline), which will likely lead to improvement in profitability. These initiatives, along with enhanced capital deployment should boost investors’ confidence in the stock.
Get The News You Want
However, continued fall in corporate loan balances leading to decline in interest income remains a near-term concern for the company. (You can ) .
Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include HCA Healthcare (HCA), Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE) (EXPE) and Kroger (KR).
4 Surprising Tech Stocks to Keep an Eye On
Tech stocks have been a major force behind the market’s record highs, but picking the best ones to buy can be tough. There’s a simple way to invest in the success of the entire sector. Zacks has just released a Special Report revealing one thing tech companies literally cannot function without. More importantly, it reveals 4 top stocks set to skyrocket on increasing demand for these devices. I encourage you to get the report now – before the next wave of innovations really take off.
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
Featured Reports
The Zacks analyst likes the company's performance with respect to unit revenues. Its history with respect to punctuality is also impressive.
The Zacks analyst thinks that operational cost savings through productivity actions as well as SO.F.TER. and Nilit acquisitions should help Celanese achieve its earnings growth target for 2017.
Per the Zacks analyst, ABM's comprehensive, strategic and transformative initiatives have driven improved third-quarter fiscal 2017 results.
Per the Zacks analyst, Kroger's customer 1st strategy and digital endeavors will help propel top line.
Per the Zacks analyst, mounting competition from Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Xiaomi in the wearables space and lackluster growth in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region will continue to dampen Fitbit's sales and income.
The Zacks analyst views favorably the company's emphasis on acquisitions which have led to revenue growth and enabled network expansion across several markets.
Henry Schein's dental business is riding high after receiving major boosts from strategic mergers with Sullivan Dental and Dentrix.
New Upgrades
The Zacks analyst believes Pinnacle West continues to benefit from economic improvement in its service territories, resulting in customer growth and improvement in demand.
Per the Zacks analyst, Manitowoc will gain from improved order activity lately seen in certain markets of North America. Consolidating manufacturing footprint and cutting costs will aid margins.
The Zacks analyst thinks that the new VISION2019 management plan will boost Fujifilm's near-term profitability on increased cash flow generation and help create new high-margin businesses.
New Downgrades
Though Expedia's corporate travel segment continues to benefit from the acquisition of VIA Travel, the Zacks analyst expects it to remain sluggish due to cautious corporate spending.
The Zacks analyst believes that Southern Company (NYSE:SO) shares will decline on continued timing and cost overrun issues over two large construction projects - Vogtle and Kemper.
Industry headwinds resulting in soft traffic trends have been hurting Cracker Barrel comps. Also, higher labor as well as costs allied to initiatives may dent margins, per the Zacks analyst.
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.