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Research Daily

Sheraz Mian

Top Research Reports for Costco, Altria & Edwards Lifesciences

MO EW WM COST AON BIO

Trades from $3

Wednesday, August 4, 2021

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 Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST), Altria Group, Inc. (MO), and Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (EW). 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 >>>

Shares of Costco have underperformed the Zacks Discount Retail industry over the past year (+32.3% vs. +42.8%), but it put up a decent performance in third-quarter fiscal 2021, with both the top and the bottom lines beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Mass inoculation drive and the stimulus package have triggered spending across the board.

The Zacks analyst believes that the company’s strategy to sell products at heavily discounted prices has helped it remain on a growth track. It has remained a viable option for low-cost necessities. Margins, however, still remain stretched. Any deleverage in SG&A rate as well incremental wages and sanitation costs must be watched carefully.

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

Altria shares have gained +16.5% over the last six months against the Zacks Tobacco industry’s gain of +15.8%. The Zacks analyst believes that it has been benefiting from strategic pricing for its smokeable and oral tobacco products. It has also been taking robust strides to expand in the oral tobacco products space.

Higher pricing drove growth in adjusted operating income across all segments in the second-quarter of 2021. Altria’s oral tobacco category has been gaining from growth in on! oral nicotine pouches as well as rising popularity of IQOS. The company, however, continues to assess the macroeconomic impacts of the pandemic on adult tobacco consumers, including the stay-at-home practices and disposable income.

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

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences have gained +25% in the past three months against the Zacks Medical Instruments industry’s gain of 13.1%. The Zacks analyst believes that the company has been consolidating its foothold across all its operating businesses through strong pipeline development.

Strong adoption of the SAPIEN 3 Ultra platform and the PASCAL system across Europe is also encouraging. The raised full-year 2021 outlook sheds light on the fact the current bullish trend is set to continue. The continuous rise in operating costs and choppy market conditions due to the pandemic are major concerns for the company.

(You can read the full research report on Edwards Lifesciences here >>>)

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (BIO), Aon plc (AON) and Waste Management, Inc. (WM).

Sheraz Mian

Director of Research

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>>>

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