Monday, October 1, 2018

The Zacks Research Daily presents the best research output of our analyst team. Today's Research Daily features new research reports on 12 major stocks, including ExxonMobil (XOM), Disney (DIS), and AbbVie (ABBV). 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 >>>

Buy-ranked ExxonMobil’s shares have gained +16.1% over the past six months, outperforming the Zacks Integrated Oil industry, which gained +12.4% over the same period. The Zacks analyst thinks the company has a leading position in the energy industry owing to its size and diverse asset base, both in terms of business mix and geographical footprint.

With a stable cash position, the company’s balance sheet is one of the best in the industry. This has allowed ExxonMobil to reward stockholders with a 6.3% average annual dividend hike over the past 35 years. The company owns some of the most prolific upstream assets globally along with the largest global refining operations.

Notably, ExxonMobil continues to gain on ramped-up oil-equivalent production from Hebron field. Moreover, to address the transport constraints and pump out five times more oil from the Permian through 2025, ExxonMobil is investing billions in the basin’s midstream infrastructure.

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

Shares of Disney have increased +8.8% year to date, outperforming the Zacks Media Conglomerates industry’s +8.5% gain in that same time period. The Zacks analyst thinks Disney’s top-line will benefit from the solid line-up of big-budget movies slated to be released over the next 18 months.

Parks & Resorts segment continues to show robust performances both domestically and internationally owing to a rise in customer spending, higher ticket prices and attendance. ESPN+, the company’s sports streaming service, achieved the 1 million subscriber base milestone, which is positive for Disney’s upcoming direct-to-consumer service.

However, Disney’s ongoing investments on its technology platform are expected to keep margins under pressure. Additionally, higher programming costs at ESPN remains a concern. Moreover, weakness in the Consumer Products & Interactive Media segment is a headwind.

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

Buy-ranked AbbVie’s shares have lost -2.2% year to date, underperforming the Zacks Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry's rally of +7.1%. The Zacks analyst thinks AbbVie’s key drug, Humira has been performing well based on strong demand trends, despite new competition.

Moreover, Imbruvica has multibillion-dollar potential and AbbVie is exploring the possibility of label expansion into solid tumors and autoimmune diseases. Mavyret’s launch has also been stronger than expected. Mavyret has become a major growth driver for AbbVie in a short time on the market.

AbbVie has an impressive late-stage pipeline with the launch of several products with multibillion-dollar potential expected in the near term. AbbVie expects to launch more than 20 new products or line extensions of marketed drugs before Humira biosimilar competition begins in the United States in 2023. However, potential biosimilar competition to Humira in Europe this year is an overhang.

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Bristol-Myers (BMY), VMware (VMW) and United Continental (UAL).

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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>>>