Thursday, August  24, 2017

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 TOTAL (TOT), Kimberly-Clark (KMB) and Salesforce (CRM). 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 >>>

TOTAL shares have gained +7.5% over the last one year, outperforming the Zacks International Integrated Oil industry, which has gained +1.4% over the same period. TOTAL’s earnings missed expectations in the second-quarter. However, it continues to benefit from new startups and acquisition, which is helping it boost production.

The Zacks analyst likes the company’s commitment toward cost savings initiatives. After savings of $2.8 billion in 2016, TOTAL aims to save $3.5 billion this year. Going forward, the company will continue to benefit from upstream startups and cost management initiatives. The strategic acquisition of Maersk Oil will further strengthen its portfolio.

However, fluctuating commodity prices, operations in some politically troubled regions and increasing competition could impact the company’s profitability.

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

Shares of Kimberly-Clark have declined -7.8% over the last six months, underperforming the Zacks Consumer Staples industry, which has lost -5.6% over the same period.Kimberly-Clark posted dismal second quarter results, with both earnings and revenues lagging expectations. The company also anticipates soft earnings guidance for the full year.

The Zacks analyst likes the company’s higher cost savings, continued product innovation and strong international presence. However, Kimberly-Clark has been witnessing slower organic sales growth, due to highly competitive promotional activity over several of the previous quarters.

Also, Kimberly-Clark’s second quarter earnings results were hampered by higher input cost inflation and lower sales due to softness in North America. A difficult economic environment in Latin America also remains a concern.

(You can read the full research report on Kimberly-Clark here >>>).

Buy-rated Salesforce shares have handily beat the broader Tech sector this year, with the stock up almost double the Zacks Technology sector's +17.4% gain in the year-to-date period. Salesforce reported strong Q2 results with both top and bottom lines faring better than expectations. Additionally, there was marked significant year-over-year improvement and the company also provided a strong outlook.

The Zacks analyst likes the company’s announcement of achieving $10 billion in sales in FY18. Salesforce’s diverse cloud offerings and strong spending on digital marketing remain major catalysts.

Additionally, strategic acquisitions and the resultant synergies are anticipated to prove conducive to growth over the long run. Furthermore, last year’s move to utilize Amazon data center’s geographical reach to expand its international business is commendable.

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include AutoZone (AZO), PVH Corp (PVH) and Fujifilm (FUJIY).

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Senior Editor

Note: SherazMian 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>>>