The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: AbbVie, Broadcom 21st Century Fox, Intuit And China Life Insurance

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 29, 2017 – 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 includeAbbVie(NYSE: (NYSE:ABBV) – Free Report), Broadcom (NASDAQ: (NASDAQ:AVGO) – Free Report), 21st Century Fox (NASDAQ: (NASDAQ:FOXA) – Free Report), Intuit(NASDAQ: (NASDAQ:INTU) – Free Report) and China Life Insurance (NYSE: (NYSE:LFC) – Free Report).

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Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:

Top Analyst Reports for AbbVie, Broadcom & 21st Century Fox

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 AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV – Free Report), Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO – Free Report) and 21st Century Fox (NASDAQ: FOXA – Free Report). 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 >>>

AbbVie’s shares have gained +15.7% year to date, outperforming the Zacks Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry, which has gained +10.8% over the same period. AbbVie reported better-than-expected Q2 results, beating estimates for both earnings and sales. Humira and Imbruvica kept up the strong performance, while Viekira continued to be hurt by intensifying competition.

The Zacks analyst likes Humira’s performance and thinks sales should continue to be driven by strong demand trends. Imbruvica also has a multibillion dollar potential while AbbVie is exploring the possibility of label expansion into solid tumors and autoimmune diseases. AbbVie has a promising pipeline with several pivotal data readouts and regulatory milestones due in the second half.

However, though Humira is doing well, the company is concerned about the product’s long-term growth prospects, given potential biosimilar competition. Viekira also faces intense pricing and competitive pressure in the HCV market.

(You can read the full research report on AbbVie here >>>).

Shares of Broadcom have handily beaten the technology sector as well as the red-hot semiconductor space in the year-to-date period, gaining +38.9%. The Zacks analyst thinks this outperformance is attributable to consistent results. Broadcom reported impressive third-quarter fiscal 2017 results.

The company now expects fourth-quarter revenue growth to be in the double-digit range on a year-over-year basis, much similar to the second and third quarter. However, gross margin is expected to contract slightly due to unfavorable product mix (higher mix of low margin wireless business). Customer concentration and leveraged balance sheet are other concerns for investors.

(You can read the full research report on Broadcom here >>>).

21st Century Fox’s shares have increased +10.2% over the last year, widely outperforming the Zacks Film and Television industry, which has gained +4.8% over the same period. This outperformance is primarily attributable to five straight quarters of earnings beats.

The company posted impressive earnings results in the final quarter of 2017. Cable Network Programming, which has been a driving force backed by rising affiliate fees, is expected to do well in fiscal 2018 as well. However, management anticipates costs at this division to go up in fiscal 2018.

Meanwhile, the company’s proposed acquisition of the remaining 61% stake in Sky plc has hit a roadblock after the deal was 'minded' by the U.K. government for a second phase of reviews.

(You can read the full research report on 21st Century Fox here >>>).

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU – Free Report) and China Life Insurance (NYSE: LFC – Free Report).

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Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News

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