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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Apple, PepsiCo, MCD, JPM, Citigroup, Alphabet and Broadcom

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 14, 2020 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include Apple (AAPL - Free Report) , PepsiCo (PEP - Free Report) , McDonald's (MCD - Free Report) , JPMorgan (JPM - Free Report) , Citigroup (C - Free Report) , Alphabet (GOOGL - Free Report) and Broadcom (AVGO - Free Report) .

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

Q3 Earnings Scorecard and Top Research Reports for Apple, PepsiCo and McDonald's

The Zacks Research Daily presents the best research output of our analyst team. Today's Research Daily provides an update on the Q3 earnings season in addition to featuring new research reports on 16 major stocks, including Apple, PepsiCo and McDonald's. 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 >>>

Q3 Earnings Season Scorecard 

Including this morning's results from JPMorgan, Citigroup and others, we now have Q3 results from 29 S&P 500 members. Total earnings for these 29 index members are down -13.5% from the same period last year on -1.3% lower revenues, with 89.7% beating EPS estimates and 82.8% beating revenue estimates.

While this is early going in the Q3 reporting cycle, we are off to a good start, with an above average proportion of companies beating estimates.

For the Finance sector, we now have Q3 results from 13.9% of the sector's market cap in the S&P 500 index, with the earnings and revenue growth rates at -4.9% and +10.4%, respectively. The takeaway at this stage is that banks are booking much smaller reserves for loan losses, which is helping the overall growth pace.

Looking at Q3 as a whole, combining the results that have come out with estimates for the still-to-come companies, total Q3 earnings are expected to be down -20.4% from the same period last year on -2.6% lower revenues. 

Apple shares have outperformed the S&P 500 index in the year-to-date period (+67.8% vs. +9.8%), with the October 13th launch of the new lineup of 5G iPhones expected to maintain this momentum. Beyond the new devices, the Zacks analyst points to continued momentum in the Services segment, driven by a robust performance of App Store, Apple Music, video, and cloud services.

Moreover, Apple devices have gained traction among enterprises, particularly healthcare providers. The company expects fiscal fourth-quarter iPhone sales to benefit from strong demand for iPhone SE. Further, Apple stated that sale of new iPhones will begin a few weeks later against the usual late September.

It also expects iPad and Mac to post strong year-over-year growth but lower economic activity will hurt AppleCare and advertising businesses. Moreover, increasing scrutiny and legal woes over App Store is a headwind. The company didn’t provide any guidance due to the pandemic-triggered uncertainty.

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

Shares of PepsiCo have gained +4% over the past year against the Zacks Soft Drinks Beverages industry’s fall of -2.4%. The Zacks analyst believes that resilience in the snacks/food business worked well for the company amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Its top and bottom line surpassed estimates for the seventh straight quarter in the third quarter, and improved year over year. The snacks/food business benefited from increased at-home consumption trends, while the beverage business returned to growth in the third quarter.

The company also gained from its strong portfolio of brands, a responsive supply chain and flexible go-to-market systems, which helped maintain continued supplies. However, it witnessed soft margins on incremental COVID-19 related costs. Also, adverse currency rates remain a headwind.

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

McDonald's shares have gained +22.6% over the past six months against the Zacks Restaurants industry’s rise of +27.1%. The Zacks analyst believes that the company is benefiting from an increase in drive-thru sales. McDonald’s increased focus on delivery and accelerated deployment of EOTF restaurants in the United States is commendable.

Additionally, the company is making every effort to drive growth in international markets as well. Of late, earning estimates for 2020 have increased. The company witnessed continued improvement in results throughout the second quarter. As of Jun 30, 2020, most of the company’s restaurants are open globally.

However, dismal comps and high debt are hurting the company. The company’s comps declined for the second straight quarter after reporting positive comps in the preceding 19 quarters. Moreover, the company is witnessing dismal traffic due to the pandemic.

(You can read the full research report on McDonald's here >>>)

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Alphabet and Broadcom.

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