Wednesday, November 15, 2023

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 Oracle Corp. (ORCL), PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP) and Salesforce, Inc. (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 >>>

Shares of Oracle have gained +47.5% over the past year versus the Zacks Computer - Software industry’s gain of +49.8%. The company is benefiting from ongoing momentum across its cloud business, driven by the strong uptake of Oracle Cloud and Autonomous Database offerings.

Solid adoption of cloud-based applications, comprising NetSuite Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Fusion ERP bodes well. Oracle’s Gen 2 Cloud is performing better at a lower cost due to high bandwidth and low-latency RDMA networks. Partnerships with VMWare and Microsoft is helping Oracle win new clientele.

ORCL is launching a generative AI cloud service for enterprise customers. Its share buybacks and dividend policy are noteworthy. However, higher spending on product enhancements, especially toward the cloud platform, amid increasing competition in the cloud domain is likely to limit margin expansion.

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

PepsiCo’s shares have underperformed the Zacks Beverages - Soft drinks industry over the past year (-3.2% vs. +5.4%). The company witnessed cost pressures driven by impacts of supply-chain disruptions and inflationary labor, transportation and commodity costs. Adverse currency rates also remain headwinds.

Nevertheless, PepsiCo boasts a robust surprise trend, which continued in second-quarter 2023. PEP’s revenues and earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the sixth straight quarter in second-quarter 2023. It also reported the seventh straight quarter of double-digit organic revenue growth in the second quarter.

The results reflect strength and resilience in its diversified portfolio, modernized supply chain, improved digital capabilities, flexible go-to-market distribution systems and robust consumer demand trends. Resilience and strength in the global beverage and convenient food businesses also aided results.

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

Shares of Salesforce have outperformed the Zacks Computer - Software industry over the year-to-date period (+66.8% vs. +52.8%). The company is benefiting from a robust demand environment as customers are undergoing a major digital transformation.

Its sustained focus on introducing more aligned products as per customer needs is driving its top-line. Continued deal wins in the international market is another growth driver. The acquisition of Slack has positioned the company as a leader in enterprise team collaboration solution space and placed at a better competitive position against Microsoft’s Teams product.

However, stiff competition and unfavorable currency fluctuations are concerns. Besides, challenging macroeconomic environment might hurt its growth prospects in the near-term.

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include S&P Global Inc. (SPGI), The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) and BlackRock, Inc. (BLK).

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>>>