Friday, April 26, 2019

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 Visa (V), Boeing (BA) and Coca-Cola (KO). 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 Visa’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Financial Transaction Services industry in the past year, gaining +27.8% vs. a +25.2% increase. Visa’s second-quarter fiscal 2019 earnings beat estimates and was increased year over year.

The Zacks analyst thinks the company is gaining from consistent growth in payments volume, cross-border volume and processed transactions, and a lower tax rate. Numerous strategic acquisitions and alliances, technology upgrades and effective marketing have paved the way for long-term growth and consistent increase in revenues.

Visa is well poised to gain from growing electronic payment processing and a solid brand name. Its strong capital position enables investments in business. Nevertheless, high client incentives and operating expenses, and foreign exchange volatility might put pressure on margins.

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

Shares of Boeing have gained +12.3% in the past year, outperforming the Zacks Aerospace & Defense industry, which has increased +1.8% during the same time period. Boeing's first-quarter 2019 earnings and revenues surpassed their respective expectations.

However, both the metrics declined on a year-over-year basis. Also, its commercial business suffered a major setback in the first quarter. The Zacks analyst thinks this downturn can be attributed to lower 737 deliveries as 737 Max jets were grounded across the world following two fatal crashes in the recent past. Considering the solid prospects of the global commercial aviation services market, the company has bought KLX Aerospace in recent past.

The company is the largest aircraft manufacturer in the world. Further, its strategic partnership with Embraer, once completed, is expected to strengthen Boeing’s commercial business against its arch rival Airbus.

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

Buy-ranked Coca-Cola’s shares have gained +10.4% in the past year, outperforming the Zacks Soft Drinks Beverages industry which has remained flat over the same period. The Zacks analyst thinks this is largely attributable to the effective execution of strategies to evolve as a consumer-centric total beverage company. This bolstered the company’s quarterly performances as evident from a robust surprise trend.

First-quarter 2019 marked its seventh positive earnings surprise in the last eight quarters and seventh straight sales beat. Top and bottom lines benefited from ongoing productivity efforts and disciplined growth strategies along with robust performance across all segments. Further, innovation and investment in core categories and brands have been the key focus area for Coca-Cola, which has led to the expansion of retail value share.

Moreover, its transformative global re-franchising initiatives are expected to boost margins. However, the company expects adverse currency rates to significantly hurt comparable revenues and operating income in the second quarter and 2019.

(You can read the full research report on Coca-Cola here >>>).

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Prologis (PLD), MetLife (MET) and O’Reilly (ORLY).

Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2019

In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-holds for the year?

Who wouldn't? Our annual Top 10s have beaten the market with amazing regularity. In 2018, while the market dropped -5.2%, the portfolio scored well into double-digits overall with individual stocks rising as high as +61.5%. And from 2012-2017, while the market boomed +126.3, Zacks' Top 10s reached an even more sensational +181.9%.

See Latest Stocks Today >>

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>>>