Wednesday, December 22, 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 Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) and Eli Lilly and Co. (LLY). 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 Microsoft have outperformed the S&P 500 over the past year (+49.3% vs. +28.3%). The Zacks analyst believes that Microsoft has been benefiting from strength in its Azure cloud platform as well as the accelerating global digital transformation.

Teams’ user growth has been steadily gaining from the continuation of remote work and an increased adoption of hybrid work model. Solid uptake of new Xbox consoles has been aiding the gaming segment performance. Microsoft, however, expects Surface revenues to decline in fiscal second quarter due to supply chain disruptions. Costs associated with Azure enhancements and stiff competition in the cloud space are also likely to dent margins.

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

Broadcom shares have gained +51.9% in the year to date period against the Zacks Electronics - Semiconductors industry’s gain of +43.8%. The Zacks analyst believes that Broadcom has been gaining from continued strength across both Semiconductor solutions and Infrastructure software verticals.

In fourth-quarter fiscal 2021, Semiconductor revenues benefited from higher demand for wireless solutions and continued momentum in networking and broadband solutions. Synergies from acquisitions of CA and Symantec’s enterprise security business aided results. An upbeat first quarter guidance on strong uptick in broadband, networking and wireless revenues is encouraging. Increasing competition and high debt levels, however, remain concerning.

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

Shares of Eli Lilly have gained +22.8% in the last six months against the Zacks Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry’s gain of +12.4%. The Zacks analyst believes that Lilly’s revenue growth is being driven by higher demand for drugs like Trulicity, Taltz, etc.

Lilly recently submitted regulatory applications for tirzepatide for type II diabetes and donanemab for early Alzheimer's disease. Both the candidates have multibillion dollar sales potential. It is also regularly adding promising new pipeline assets through business development deals. Generic competition for several drugs, rising pricing pressure in the United States (mainly on key drug Trulicity) remain as some top-line headwinds, though.

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include PetroChina Company Ltd. (PTR), Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (ISRG) and MetLife, Inc. (MET).

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>>>