Thursday, March 10, 2022

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 Bank of America Corp. (BAC), Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) and ConocoPhillips (COP). 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 Bank of America have outperformed the Zacks Banks - Major Regional industry over the past year (+9.8% vs. -0.2%). Bank of America’s earnings have outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters. Its fourth-quarter 2021 results reflect the impacts of rising loan demand, robust investment banking (IB) performance and lower rates.

The Zacks analyst believes that opening new financial centers, enhancing digital capabilities and initiatives to manage expenses, along with a strong balance sheet and liquidity position, rise in loan demand and solid IB pipeline, will aid the company’s revenues.

The company will keep enhancing shareholder value through impressive capital deployment activities. However, the low-interest-rate environment is expected to keep hurting the company's margins and net interest income in the near term. Normalization of the trading business is likely to hamper fee income growth to some extent.

(You can read the full research report on Bank of America here >>>)

Shares of Qualcomm have outperformed the Zacks Wireless Equipment industry over the past year (+22.9% vs. -0.2%). Qualcomm reported solid first-quarter fiscal 2022 results with record non-GAAP earnings and revenues, driven by the ramp-up in 5G-enabled chips and a surge in demand for essential products and services that are the building blocks for digital transformation in the cloud economy. Both the bottom line and the top line increased year over year and surpassed the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate backed by the strength of the business model and revenue diversification.

The Zacks analyst believes that Qualcomm is witnessing healthy traction in EDGE networking that helps to transform connectivity in cars, business enterprises, homes, smart factories, next-generation PCs, wearables and tablets as it continues to diversify. However, high research and development costs are likely to dent margins, while global chip shortage due to supply-chain disruptions is a major headwind.

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

ConocoPhillips shares have gained +61.9% over the past year against the Zacks Oil and Gas - Integrated - U.S. industry’s gain of +70.9%. The Zacks analyst believes that significant opportunities are there for the firm in Eagle Ford, where it owns about 1,600 undrilled locations that could provide access to huge reserves.

With the acquisition of Shell Enterprises’ Delaware basin position, ConocoPhillips has strengthened its position in the Permian. With the $9.5 billion in a cash transaction, COP has acquired roughly 225,000 net acres and producing properties in Texas.

In 2022, the company expects its production at roughly 1.8 MMBoE/D, suggesting an improvement from 1.5 MMBoE/D last year. Also, ConocoPhillips revised higher its expected 2022 return of capital to shareholders. The new guidance is at $8 billion.

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Target Corp. (TGT), Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) and Caterpillar Inc. (CAT).

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>>>