Friday, November 18, 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 Lowe's Companies, Inc. (LOW), Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD) and Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (ISRG). 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 >>>

Lowe's shares have outperformed the Zacks Building Poducts - Retail industry over the past six months (+10.9% vs. +8.7%). The company remains well positioned to capitalize on demand for the home improvement market, backed by investments in technology, merchandise category and strength in Pro business.

Lowe’s posted sturdy quarterly results wherein the bottom line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate and grew year over year. Earnings performance benefited from strong operating margin, stemming from gains from the Total Home strategy and the execution of the Perpetual Productivity Improvement initiative. Focus on driving productivity boosted margins.

The Total Home strategy is resonating well with Pro and DIY customers for a while. Management is committed to enhancing the Pro offerings, expanding the company’s market share and driving its operating margin.

(You can read the full research report on Lowe’s here >>>)

Shares of Gilead Sciences have outperformed the Zacks Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry over the past year (+21.7% vs. -24.0%). The company’s results are driven by continued demand for its HIV portfolio with further share growth for flagship therapy Biktarvy and oncology revenues driven by cell therapy and Trodelvy. Though sales of COVID-19 treatment, Veklury (remdesivir) declined, but came in better than expected.

The approval of new treatments like Sunlenca will strengthen the HIV franchise. The company is also looking to solidify its oncology franchise through internal pipeline development and strategic collaborations. The acquisition of Immunomedics added the breast cancer drug Trodelvy to its portfolio.

However, the loss of Atripla and Truvada’s exclusivity is affecting sales. Although the CAR-T cell therapy franchise is gaining traction, it has a long way to go.

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

Intuitive Surgical's shares have declined -25.2% over the past year against the Zacks Medical - Instruments industry’s decline of -29.4%. The company is facing macroeconomic and geopolitical headwinds might significantly hurt small businesses operations, thereby posing risks for Intuit’s top-line growth. Additionally, higher costs and expenses due to increased investments in marketing and engineering teams are likely to continue impacting bottom-line results in the near term.

However, Intuit is benefiting from strong momentum in online ecosystem revenues and solid professional tax revenues. The TurboTax Live offering is also driving growth in the Consumer tax business. Solid momentum in the company’s lending product, QuickBooks Capital, remains a positive.

Moreover, the company’s strategy of shifting its business to cloud-based subscription model will help generate stable revenues over the long run. We expect Intuit’s revenues to grow at a CAGR of 13.2% through fiscal 2023-2025.

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B), Valero Energy Corporation (VLO), and MercadoLibre, Inc. (MELI).

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>>>