Friday, December 9 2016

Today's Research Daily features new research reports on 16 major stocks, including Gilead Sciences  (GILD), Medtronic (MDT) and NVIDIA (NVDA).

Gilead Sciences shares have been laggards this year, in line with the broader the biotech space, on persistent fears about drug pricing and other regulatory issues. The stock is down -28.1% in the year-to-date period vs. -26.6% decline for the Zacks Biotech industry in that same time period. Gilead's HCV franchise continues to witness slowdown in the U.S. and Europe due to lower sales of Harvoni. The mixed Q3 results and questions about product pipeline didn't help matters either. These are no doubt big challenges, but the analyst also points towards the company's robust late-stage pipeline. The company's HIV franchise has been performing well, thanks to the newly launched TAF-based products Genvoya, Descovy and Odefsey. (You can read the full research report on Gilead here >>)

Medtronic shares traded in line with the peer medical devices space for most of the year, but the stock has lagged the space since the mid-November release of quarterly results. The stock is now down -6.4% year-to-date versus -0.5% decline for the Zacks Medical Products industry. The lowered fiscal 2017 guidance is more disappointing, indicating slim chance of recovery soon. But the analyst likes Medtronic’s recent collaboration with Fitbit on diabetes care which may prove helpful in firming its grip on this space. Medtronic should also get a boost with recent FDA approvals and favorable data published. Also, we are looking forward to its $1.1 billion buyout of Heartware that should boost the Cardiac Rhythm & Heart Failure business. (You can read the full research report on Medtronic here>>)

Shares of Strong Buy rated NVIDIA have surged this year, gaining in excess of +188% versus the general semiconductors industry’s +25.1% gain.  The analyst likes NVIDIA’s sustained efforts toward attaining a robust position in several emerging industries such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), deep learning and driverless cars. Furthermore, by expanding its business avenues, the company will be able to reduce its dependency on the PC industry, which is currently declining. NVIDIA’s innovative product pipeline and strength in gaming and high-end notebook GPUs remain the positives. The company’s focus on GRID platforms can increase GPU adoption in data centers, giving it an advantage against its competitors. (You can read the full research report on NVIDIA here>>)

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Delta Air Lines (DAL), Accenture (ACN) and Simon Property Group (SPG).

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Sheraz Mian

Director of Research

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