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Top Research Reports for Alphabet, 3M and P&G

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Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Today's Research Daily features new research reports on 16 major stocks, including Alphabet (GOOGL - Free Report) , 3M (MMM - Free Report) , and Procter & Gamble (PG - Free Report) . You can see all of today's research reports here >>>

Buy rated Alphabet shares led the Zacks Tech sector at the start of the year, but have consistently underperformed the Tech sector since the weaker than expected quarterly report on January 26th (the stock is up +7.3% in the year-to-date period vs. +9.7% for the Tech sector. The stock responds strongly to quarterly earnings reports and has been weak following the last two reports, so expectations are likely modest ahead of the April 27th earnings release. The Zacks analyst points out the company's good execution to date, more or less maintaining its dominant share in a competitive, fast-growing search market. The company's focus on innovation, strategic acquisitions and Android OS should continue to generate strong cash flows. However, the promise of Google's non-search businesses continue getting pushed into future even as the company's spending keeps rising. (You can read the full research report on Alphabet here >>)

Shares of Buy rated 3M have gained +8.4% over the last six months, outperforming the Zacks Diversified Operations industry, which has gained +5.7% over the same period. The Zacks analyst likes 3M's global footprint, diversified product portfolio and ability to penetrate different markets. During 2016–2020, 3M expects 8–11% growth in earnings per share driven by an organic sales growth of 2–5%. 3M is standardizing its business processes through a new, global ERP system and expects $500 to $700 million in annual operational savings by 2020. The company has offered a relatively healthy guidance for 2017 and expects GAAP earnings to be $8.45–$8.80 per share, representing year-over-year growth of 4–8%. However, the company is facing increased pension expenses as its workforce begins to retire. In addition, the company is susceptible to high commodity price risks. (You can read the full research report on 3M here >>)

Procter & Gamble shares outperformed the Zacks Consumer Staples sector in the past year (+9.8% vs. +3.5%) on the back of improved organic sales and improving margins as a result of productivity gains and cost-saving efforts. Also, P&G shares have outperformed the S&P 500 index in the year-to-date period (up +7.9% vs +5.3%). P&G’s quarterly results exceeded expectations. On the flip side, the Zacks analyst points to mature end markets and the negative impact of the strong U.S. dollar as some of the headwinds for the stock. Also, flat pricing/mix is reflective of increased competition and lack of transformational innovation. The company also lost global market share in three of its five reporting segments. (You can read the full research report on Procter & Gamble here >>)

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Philip Morris (PM - Free Report) , Ford (F - Free Report) and Barclays (BCS - Free Report) .

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Sheraz Mian

Director of Research

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 >>>

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