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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Morgan Stanley, U.S. Bancorp, Cisco, Maxim and Advanced Micro Devices

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – Feb 1, 2018 – 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 Morgan Stanley (MS - Free Report) , U.S. Bancorp (USB - Free Report) , Cisco (CSCO - Free Report) , Maxim and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD - Free Report) .

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

Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:

Top Research Reports for Morgan Stanley, U.S. Bancorp and Cisco

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 Morgan Stanley, U.S. Bancorp and Cisco. 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-rated Morgan Stanley’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Investment Banking industry over the last year (+32.5% vs. +25%). The performance was supported by the company’s impressive earnings surprise history, having surpassed expectations in all the trailing four quarters.

The company’s fourth-quarter 2017 results reflected higher underwriting fees and a slight rise in net income. The Zacks analyst likes the company’s efforts to lower balance sheet risk and strengthen wealth management operations as well as its cost saving initiatives.

Given a solid capital position, it will likely continue enhancing shareholder value through efficient capital deployment activities. While persistent fall in net interest income and overall trading weakness are expected to hurt the company’s growth, lower tax rates will aid profitability in the quarters ahead.

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

Shares of U.S. Bancorp have underperformed the Zacks Major Banks industry over the last six months, gaining +8.4% vs +19.3%. However, the company boasts an impressive earnings surprise history. It has surpassed expectations for earnings in three out of the trailing four quarters.

The company’s fourth-quarter 2017 earnings were aided by easing margin pressure on rising rates. Elevated average loans and deposit balances reflected organic growth. The Zacks analyst likes U.S. Bancorp's solid business model, core franchise, lower tax rate and diverse revenue streams.

Also, the company’s organic growth remains solid and is likely to benefit from the improving economic scenario. However, escalating expenses and litigations remain key concerns. Additionally, stretched valuation underlines limited upside potential.

(You can read the full research report on U.S. Bancorp here >>>).

Buy-rated Cisco’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Networking industry over the past one year, gaining +38.5% vs. +36.7%. The Zacks analyst thinks the company’s expanding footprint in the rapidly growing security market presents significant growth opportunity. Additionally, partnerships with Telenor, Apple, IBM and Microsoft are other positives.

Also, the company’s Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) solution is currently used by more than 4K customers. The ACI solution was recently enhanced with new features that have aided growth. Further, the planned acquisition of Broadsoft will boost company's recurring revenue base.

Moreover, the company's collaboration with Google Cloud to offer hybrid cloud solution is a key catalyst. However, intense competition from peers and challenges in the emerging markets remains a headwind.

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Maxim and Advanced Micro Devices.

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See Zacks' 3 Best Stocks to Play This Trend >>

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

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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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.