Wednesday, September 1, 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 Mastercard Incorporated (MA), Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO), and American Tower Corporation (REIT) (AMT). 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 Mastercard have done better than the Zacks Financial Transaction Services industry in the year-to-date period (-1.9% vs. -11.1%) on the back of strategic acquisitions, alliances as well as technology upgrades, along with product-diversification and geographic-expansion initiatives bodes well for the long term.

Accelerated use of electronic forms of payment and greater adoption of digital and contactless solutions provides an opportunity for Mastercard to expedite its shift to the digital mode. A strong capital position enables the company to pursue acquisitions and prudently deploy capital. Steep costs, however, are likely to weigh on its margins.

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

Cisco shares have gained +31% over the last six months against the Zacks Computer Networking industry’s gain of +29.2%. The Zacks analyst is upbeat about the company’s market position, innovative prowess, product range, growth initiatives and dividend payouts.

Cisco has been benefiting from a healthy uptake of identity and access, advanced threat and unified threat management security solutions. The management, however, cautioned that component shortages and resultant supply chain issues are likely to continue through the first half of fiscal 2022. Weak demand for servers is another major concern for the company.

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

Shares of American Tower have gained +13.2% in the past three months against the Zacks REIT and Equity Trust industry’s gain of +5.6%. The Zacks analyst believes that it is poised to benefit from increased investment by wireless carriers in 4G LTE and 5G networks.

Solid business fundamentals and prudent capital-allocation strategy bode well for the company. The upward trend in estimate revisions for 2021 funds from operations (FFO) per share is indicative of a favorable outlook for the company. Elevated churn in the company’s U.S. & Canada property segment remains a concern though.

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Canadian National Railway Company (CNI), ConocoPhillips (COP) and CSX Corporation (CSX).

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>>>