Top Analyst Reports For Pfizer, PayPal & Raytheon

Thursday, February 1, 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 Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), PayPal (PYPL) and Raytheon (RTN). 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 >>>

Buy-rated Pfizer’s shares have outperformed the peer group over the last six months (the stock is up +12.5% over this period vs. a +9% increase for the Zacks Large-Cap Pharmaceuticals industry). Pfizer beat estimates for earnings as well as sales in the fourth quarter and provided an upbeat outlook for 2018.

Pfizer is facing headwinds in the form of genericization of key drugs, supply challenges in the legacy Hospira portfolio, pricing pressure and rising competition, which are hurting the top line. Nonetheless, the Zacks analyst thinks new products like Ibrance, contribution from acquisitions, cost cuts, lower taxes and share buybacks should help the company achieve its guidance.

Pfizer also boasts a strong pipeline and expects approximately 25 to 30 drug approvals over the next five years, including around 15 products that have blockbuster potential. Its growing immuno-oncology portfolio offers a strong potential.

Bavencio is being considered a key long-term growth driver for Pfizer. Pfizer has also been working on strengthening its product portfolio through acquisitions and licensing deals.

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

Shares of Buy-rated PayPal have outperformed the Zacks Internet Software industry over the last one year (+115.6% vs. +33.2%). PayPal reported strong fourth-quarter 2017 results driven by record customer account addition, accelerated push into mobile and significant increase in total payments volume.

Quarterly revenues and earnings both came above the company’s expectations. The Zacks analyst likes PayPal’s ongoing strategic partnerships with Visa and MasterCard since they offer great flexibility and choice to consumers. Partnerships with Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Pinterest, Alibaba (NYSE:BABA), Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) and other major retailers and financial institutions are also delivering positive results.

However, eBay’s decision to select Adyen as its new primary payment processor doesn’t bode well for PayPal. Notably, eBay accounts for 13% of PayPal’s total payment volume (TPV), thereby contributing a major portion to its total revenues. Moreover, continuous exposure to foreign exchange and interest rate risks are concerns.

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

Buy-rated Raytheon’s shares have risen around +43.5% over the last one year, outperforming the Zacks Defense Equipment industry, which has increased +42.1% over the same period. Raytheon ended 2017 on a mixed note. While its fourth-quarter earnings figure comfortably surpassed expectations, the top-line number failed to meet the consensus estimate.

Year over year, tax reform had an adverse impact on bottom-line growth, whereas revenues saw an uptick. Raytheon is one of the best-positioned large-cap defense players due to its non-platform-centric focus. Thanks to its wide range of combat-proven defense products, the company continues to receive numerous orders from both Pentagon as well as foreign allies.

Moreover, the company is a strong cash generator, which allows it to pay attractive dividend to shareholders. On the flip side, factors like tough competition and political uncertainty continue to be major headwinds for Raytheon.

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Aetna (AET), VMware (VMW) and Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI).

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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 Earnings Trends and Earnings Preview reports. If you want an email notification each time Sheraz publishes a new article, please click here>>>