For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – June 22, 2017 –Zacks Equity Research CBOE Holdings (NASDAQ: CBOE – Free Report ) as the Bull of the Day, U.S. Steel (NYSE: X – Free Report ) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN). (NASDAQ: AMZN – Free Report ) and Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ:WFM) (NASDAQ: WFM – Free Report ).
Here is a synopsis of all four stocks:
If you are looking for a finance stock that could be on the move, there isn’t really a need to look beyond CBOE Holdings (NASDAQ: CBOE – Free Report ). The company is quickly diversifying its business across the trading landscape, and was actually just added to the S&P 500 index earlier in the year too. Add that to their strategic acquisition of BATS, and the company is setting itself up for strength in a variety of areas, including the quickly-growing segment of Exchange-Traded Funds.
But even beyond growth opportunities, CBOE is doing a great job in the SPX options market. Revenues were up in this key area for their most recent report , and market share crossed the 40% mark too. Volumes are also accelerating in this area, up 15% year-over-year, and 40% when comparing 2016 to 2012 figures; options volume is clearly moving in the right direction.
There is definitely a lot to like about CBOE right now, and that will only be more apparent if volatility levels pick back up and increase demand for index options, and VIX-linked instruments too. No wonder analysts have been raising their estimates for CBOE stock as of late, and why more strength could be ahead in shares of CBOE too.
Analyst Activity
We have seen near universal agreement among covering analysts on the prospects for CBOE in the near-term. For the current year, we have seen six estimates go higher in the past sixty days compared to zero lower, while the next year time frame has seen seven estimates go higher compared to zero lower.
The magnitude of these estimate increases has also had an impressive impact on the consensus. The full year consensus has increased by about 10% in the past sixty days, while the following year consensus has gone higher by close to 6.5% in the same time frame.
CBOE also has a great history of living up to earnings expectations, while the most accurate estimate is also higher than the consensus right now. This suggests that the most recent estimates have been even more bullish about CBOE’s earnings prospects, which is usually a good sign of things to come.
To start the year, things were looking pretty promising for U.S. Steel (NYSE:X – Free Report ). The economy was firing on all cylinders, politics appeared to be on their side, and there was plenty of hope for a strong year in X stock. However, while the start of the year was pretty good, some cracks have started to appear in the U.S. Steel story.
This was especially the case in the company’s most recent earnings report, as U.S. Steel posted a horrific miss that was a loss of 83 cents per share compared to expectations of a 32 cent per share profit. The outlook was also pretty poor for U.S. Steel, and that is a big part of the reason that the stock has struggled so much in the past few months.
U.S. Steel Numbers in Focus
In fact, we have seen universal agreement among analysts in our consensus that the earnings picture is getting much worse for U.S. Steel. And that is not just for the current quarter, but for the current year and next year periods too.
The magnitude of these cuts has also been pretty bad, as the consensus for the current year has collapsed from $3.37/share 60 days ago to just $1.05/share today. To make matters even worse, the most accurate estimate on X stock is now at just 60 cents per share, a roughly 80% cut from just two months ago!
Clearly, the earnings picture and outlook is quite poor for U.S. Steel. As such, it shouldn’t be a surprise at all that the company has earned itself a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) and that we are looking for the sluggish trading as of late to continue, so long as the earnings picture remains this terrible.
Additional content:
The Complete Guide to Everything Owned by Amazon
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN – Free Report ) is one of the biggest e-commerce companies in the world. Known for its vast array of things to buy, from books and electronics to food and clothing, Amazon has changed the way people think of shopping, in particular online shopping, since its founding in 1994.
Just last week, Amazon announced that it was acquiring Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ:WFM – Free Report ), one of the country’s premiere organic grocery chains, in an effort to expand its brick-and-mortar offerings (also read: Amazon Scoops Up Whole Foods in $13.7 Billion Deal ).
The company has grown enormously since its beginnings as an online bookstore, creating many different business segments and amassing a large collection of assets. Besides its home website, what else does Amazon own and operate? Here’s a breakdown of everything the Internet retailer has a presence in.
A Digital Colossus
Under the Amazon brand umbrella, there are several business segments.
Online Services
Amazon Prime
Launched in 2005, Prime is Amazon’s most popular consumer service. Prime basically functions as a VIP membership program; for a yearly fee of $99, Prime members get access to special deals, free two-day shipping, and many of Amazon’s other services. In January, it was reported that Prime now reaches nearly half of U.S. households.
Amazon Video
Amazon Video is the company’s online video streaming service. Available to all Prime members, Amazon Video offers an on-demand library of thousands of movies and TV shows, including original productions. Just a few days ago, the company announced that it will begin offering separate Prime Video subscriptions, allowing non-Prime users access to Video for just $8.99 per month.
Amazon Cloud Drive & Cloud Player
Amazon Cloud Drive is a cloud-based storage application. For $11.99 per year, users get up to five gigabytes of cloud storage, while unlimited storage goes for $59.99 per year. Cloud Player is an accompanying music streaming application that allows users unlimited streaming from their cloud.
Amazon Web Services
Web Services is a collection of enterprise-level computing platforms designed for other web sites or client-side applications. The general idea is that by subscribing to AWS, companies can build their computing capacity much easier, quicker, and cheaper than developing their own physical servers. AWS has exploded over the past year or so, with revenues growing nearly 70% from 2014 to 2015. While margins on the e-commerce side remain thin, Amazon has finally been able to generate profits thanks to AWS.
Amazon Fresh & Amazon Prime Pantry
Amazon Fresh is a same-day home grocery delivery system available in select cities. Prime Pantry is a similar service, offered everywhere in the continental United States, which allows for the delivery of non-perishable groceries for a flat fee.
Amazon Dash
Dash is a relatively new service that offers Prime customers the ability to instantly re-order household goods via the click of a physical button which corresponds to that product and can be placed throughout the home.
Consumer Electronics
Amazon Kindle
Kindle is the product that really put Amazon on the consumer electronics map. The Kindle brand is a line of portable e-book readers. Amazon also offers a Kindle-based library of e-books available for purchase and download.
Amazon Echo
The Amazon Echo is at the forefront of the home automation movement. Sometimes referred to as a “smart speaker,” Echo devices utilize Amazon’s Alexa software. Echo speakers can play music, set alarms, and link to compatible devices like light dimmers and smart thermostats.
Fire TV
Fire TV is a video streaming device that is compatible with Amazon Video and other applications. It’s one of a number of options for “cord-cutters” and can be plugged in to a TV, allowing for direct streaming.
Subsidiaries
In addition to these business ventures, Amazon has acquired quite the collection of smaller companies over the years. Let’s take a look at some of the conglomerate’s biggest subsidiaries:
Audible
Audible Inc. is one of Amazon's most well-known subsidiaries, and is the largest producer and retailer of audio books in the United States, Amazon acquired Audible in 2008 for $300 million. In addition to selling audio books, Audible provides its users with audio versions of newspapers, magazines, and radio programs.
CreateSpace
CreateSpace operates in the content publishing and distribution industry, offering a self-publishing platform that allows independent filmmakers, musicians, and authors to publish their work and distribute it on demand. The company is a result of two acquisitions Amazon made in 2005—CustomFlix and BookSurge—which later merged in 2009 to form what is now CreateSpace.
A9.com
Acquired in 2003, A9.com is a developer of search and advertising technology. The company is currently working on projects involving product search, cloud search, visual search, advertising technology, and community question answering.
Twitch.tv
Twitch is a live streaming video platform, primarily focusing on video gaming. Most of Twitch’s streams include live coverage of competitive gaming events, playthroughs of video games, and live multiplayer gaming.
Goodreads
Goodreads is an example of what is called a “social cataloging” tool. Users can freely search through the site’s massive database of books, annotations, and reviews.
Woot
Woot is an online retailer. The main theme of the site is that it offers one discounted product per day.
IMDb
Also known as the “Internet Movie Database,” IMDb is an extensive film catalog that publicly displays casting, production, and other facts for basically every movie imaginable.
Zappos
Zappos.com is an online shoe and clothing retailer. The site launched in 1999 and was purchased by Amazon in 2009 for a massive $1.2 billion price tag. Zappos is one of the largest online shoe stores in the word.
Others
Realistically, the list of Amazon subsidiaries would go on like a scroll from the Library of Alexandria. Other notable Amazon-owned brands include Alexa.com, DPReview, Box Office Mojo, AbeBooks, Double Helix Games, Brilliance Audio, Shelfari, and Beijing Century Joyo Courier Services.
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CBOE Holdings, Inc. (CBOE): Free Stock Analysis Report
United States Steel Corporation (X): Free Stock Analysis Report
Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN): Free Stock Analysis Report
Whole Foods Market, Inc. (WFM): Free Stock Analysis Report
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