Monday, August 23, 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 Apple Inc. (AAPL), The Home Depot, Inc. (HD), and Deere & Company (DE). 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 Apple have underperformed the S&P 500 over the past year (+19.3% vs. +32.8%), but things seem to be improving for the company lately. The Zacks analyst believes that Apple has been benefiting from momentum in the Services business, strong adoption of Apple Pay and growing Apple Music subscriber base.

Apple’s third-quarter fiscal 2021 results reflected continued momentum in the Services segment. iPhone, iPad, Mac and Wearables contributed strongly to the quarterly results. Management expects revenues to grow double digits year over year in the September quarter, but to be lower than June quarter’s revenue growth rate. This is due to foreign exchange woes as well as supply constraints.

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

The Home Depot shares have gained +28.1% over the last six months against the Zacks Retail Building Products industry’s gain of +23.9%. The Zacks analyst believes that Home Depot has been benefiting from the execution of its One Home Depot plan, which focuses on expanding supply chain, technology investments and digital enhancements.

It is also gaining from growth in Pro and DIY customer categories. The company posted fifth straight quarter of earnings and sales beat in second-quarter fiscal 2021. It, however, witnessed year-over-year moderation in its comparable store sales growth in the quarter. Soft gross margin on the back of increased penetration of lumber, is another concern for the company.

(You can read the full research report on The Home Depot here >>>)

Shares of Deere have gained +35.1% in the year to date period against the Zacks Farm Equipment industry’s gain of +27.6%. The Zacks analyst believes that strong demand trends in agricultural and construction sectors, acquisitions, and margin improvement plan will fuel Deere's growth.

The ongoing rally in commodity prices is likely to boost demand for agricultural equipment. The company is likely to benefit from growth in non-residential investment and strong order activity from independent rental companies. Focus on investing in new products as well as its efforts to expand into precision agriculture is likely to propel growth in the long term.

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL), The Boeing Company (BA) and HSBC Holdings plc (HSBC).

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>>>