For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – Dec 7, 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 include ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) , Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) , Shell (LON:RDSa) RDS.A, HP (NYSE:HPQ) and T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ:TROW) .
Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.
Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:
Top Stock Reports for ExxonMobil, Oracle & Shell
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 ExxonMobil, Oracle and Shell. 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 >>>
Strong Buy-rated ExxonMobil’s shares have underperformed the Zacks Integrated Oil industry (-8.2% vs. +4.3%) as well as peer Chevron (NYSE:CVX) (+2.2%) in the year to date period. However, ExxonMobil has a leading position in the energy industry owing to the size and diversity of its asset base, both in terms of business mix and geographical footprint. With a stable cash position, the company’s balance sheet is one of the best in the industry, reflecting declining debt load over the first nine months of 2017.
The Zacks analyst likes ExxonMobil’s plans to combine its refining & marketing businesses as this will allow the company to take better decisions and boost performance. ExxonMobil will generate more cashflow from downstream activities, also helping it counter the volatility in its upstream business.
Moreover, ExxonMobil’s decision to invest in the pre-salt Carcara oil field, comprising as much as 2 billion barrels of high-quality recoverable oil reserves, will boost the company’s production.
(You can read the full research report on ExxonMobil here >>>).
Shares of Oracle have underperformed the Zacks Software industry year-to-date, gaining +24.8% vs. +31.8%. The company’s soft outlook for the second quarter reflects intensifying competition from Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Azure and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Web Services (AWS) in the cloud. Moreover, higher investments on PaaS and IaaS will keep margins under pressure in the near term.
Nevertheless, the Zacks analyst thinks the company is benefiting from significant momentum in SaaS offerings. Oracle claims that it is wining market share against salesforce.com and Workday, which is a significant growth driver. Further, the company’s growing cloud market share will continue to drive top-line growth in the foreseeable future.
Moreover, the next-generation autonomous database, which is supported by machine learning, is a key catalyst. Additionally, the company has positive record of earnings surprises in recent quarters.
(You can read the full research report on Oracle here >>>).
Shell’s shares have gained +17.7% year to date, substantially outperforming the +4.3% rally of the Zacks Integrated Oil industry, with shares getting a boost from the restoration of its full-cash dividend and strong Q3 earnings report. The integrated behemoth recently announced plans to resume full-cash dividend payouts and share repurchase program, signaling the success of its cost-containment efforts and divestment strategies.
The company’s solid third-quarter results also underscore the fact that it has successfully adapted itself to thrive at $50-barrel crude. Importantly, the Anglo-Dutch company generated healthy cash flows yet again, allowing it to cut debt and cover its cash dividend.
However, with production volumes going down, Shell's near-to-medium term revenue outlook remains cloudy. Hence, the Zacks analyst thinks investors should wait for a better entry point before buying shares in Europe's largest oil company.
(You can read the full research report on Shell here >>>).
Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include HP and T. Rowe Price.
Wall Street’s Next Amazon
Zacks EVP Kevin Matras believes this familiar stock has only just begun its climb to become one of the greatest investments of all time. It’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity to invest in pure genius.
Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1 Stock of the Day pick for free.
About Zacks Equity Research
Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.
Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.
Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News
Many are little publicized and fly under the Wall Street radar. They're virtually unknown to the general public. Yet today's 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" were generated by the stock-picking system that has nearly tripled the market from 1988 through 2015. Its average gain has been a stellar +26% per year.See these high-potential stocks free >>.
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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.
HP Inc. (HPQ): Free Stock Analysis Report
Oracle Corporation (ORCL): Free Stock Analysis Report
T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (TROW): Free Stock Analysis Report
Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.A): Free Stock Analysis Report
Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM): Free Stock Analysis Report
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