Thursday, April 15, 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 The Walt Disney Company (DIS), Texas Instruments (TXN), and Cigna (CI). 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 >>>

Disney shares have been standout performers lately (up +84.8% over the past year) on the back of growing popularity of Disney+, the company's streaming business that has quickly established itself as worthy rival to Netflix owing to a strong content portfolio and a cheap bundle offering.

Nevertheless, disruptions caused by the coronavirus outbreak are expected to hurt the top line in the near term. Cruise line business remains closed and its re-opened resorts are operating at a lower capacity, thereby negatively impacting top-line. Disney estimates that the coronavirus pandemic has hurt segmental operating income by $2.6 billion in first-quarter 2021.

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

Texas Instruments shares have gained +25.5% over the last six months against the Zacks General Semiconductor industry’s gain of +16.2%. The Zacks analyst believes that the company has been benefiting from growth in the personal electronics market owing to the coronavirus-led work-from-home trend.

Further, a rebound in the automotive market remains major positive. Additionally, solid momentum across Analog segment owing to robust signal chain and power product lines, is contributing well to the top line.

Notably, solid investments in new growth avenues and competitive advantages remain tailwinds. Also, continuous returns to shareholders are likely to help the stock in gaining investors optimism further.

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

Shares of Cigna have gained +15.4% in the past three months against the Zacks Multi-Line Insurance industry’s gain of +10.1%. The Zacks analyst believes that the company’s acquisition of Express Scripts bodes well for the long haul.

It divested its Group Life and Disability insurance business, which is likely to reduce its debt level and streamline operations. Cigna’s expanding international business provides diversification.

A strong capital position coupled with coupled with solid cash generation abilities leads to higher investment in business. However, higher leverage is a cause of concern for the company. Furthermore, rising operating expenses might dent the company’s margins.

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Enbridge (ENB), American Electric Power Company (AEP) and TELUS (TU).

More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!

It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 77 billion devices by 2025, creating a $1.3 trillion market.

Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 4 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2022.

Click here for the 4 trades >>

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>>>