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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: TOTAL, Kimberly-Clark, Salesforce, AutoZone and Fujifilm

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 25, 2017 – 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 TOTAL (NYSE:TOT Free Report), Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB Free Report), Salesforce (NYSE:CRM Free Report), AutoZone (NYSE:AZO Free Report) and Fujifilm (OTCMKTS:FUJIY Free Report).  

Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.

Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

Top Research Reports for TOTAL, Kimberly-Clark & Salesforce.com

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 TOTAL (NYSE: Free Report), Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:(KMB - Free Report) Free Report) and Salesforce (NYSE:(CRM - Free Report) Free Report). 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 >>>

TOTALshares have gained +7.5% over the last one year, outperforming the Zacks International Integrated Oil industry, which has gained +1.4% over the same period. TOTAL’s earnings missed expectations in the second-quarter. However, it continues to benefit from new startups and acquisition, which is helping it boost production.

The Zacks analyst likes the company’s commitment toward cost savings initiatives. After savings of $2.8 billion in 2016, TOTAL aims to save $3.5 billion this year. Going forward, the company will continue to benefit from upstream startups and cost management initiatives. The strategic acquisition of Maersk Oil will further strengthen its portfolio.

However, fluctuating commodity prices, operations in some politically troubled regions and increasing competition could impact the company’s profitability.

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

Shares of Kimberly-Clark have declined -7.8% over the last six months, underperforming the Zacks Consumer Staples industry, which has lost -5.6% over the same period.Kimberly-Clark posted dismal second quarter results, with both earnings and revenues lagging expectations. The company also anticipates soft earnings guidance for the full year.

The Zacks analyst likes the company’s higher cost savings, continued product innovation and strong international presence. However, Kimberly-Clark has been witnessing slower organic sales growth, due to highly competitive promotional activity over several of the previous quarters.

Also, Kimberly-Clark’s second quarter earnings results were hampered by higher input cost inflation and lower sales due to softness in North America. A difficult economic environment in Latin America also remains a concern.

(You can read the full research report on Kimberly-Clark here >>>).

Buy-ratedSalesforce shares have handily beat the broader Tech sector this year, with the stock up almost double the Zacks Technology sector's +17.4% gain in the year-to-date period. Salesforce reported strong Q2 results with both top and bottom lines faring better than expectations. Additionally, there was marked significant year-over-year improvement and the company also provided a strong outlook.

The Zacks analyst likes the company’s announcement of achieving $10 billion in sales in FY18. Salesforce’s diverse cloud offerings and strong spending on digital marketing remain major catalysts.

Additionally, strategic acquisitions and the resultant synergies are anticipated to prove conducive to growth over the long run. Furthermore, last year’s move to utilize Amazon data center’s geographical reach to expand its international business is commendable.

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include AutoZone (NYSE:(AZO - Free Report) Free Report) and Fujifilm (OTCMKTS:(FUJIY - Free Report) Free Report).

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About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News

Many are little publicized and fly under the Wall Street radar. They're virtually unknown to the general public. Yet today's 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" were generated by the stock-picking system that has nearly tripled the market from 1988 through 2015. Its average gain has been a stellar +26% per year.See these high-potential stocks free >>.

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