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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: JPMorgan, Altria, NextEra, Tesla and Illinois Tool Works

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 6, 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 JPMorgan (JPM - Free Report) , Altria (MO - Free Report) , NextEra (NEE - Free Report) , Tesla (TSLA - Free Report) and Illinois Tool Works (ITW - Free Report) .

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

Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:

Top Analyst Reports for JPMorgan, Altria and NextEra

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 JPMorgan, Altria and NextEra. 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 >>>

JPMorgan’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Major Regional Banks industry over the last six months (+6.8% vs. +1.4%). Also, the company has an impressive earnings surprise history, having surpassed expectations in each of the trailing four quarters. Its second quarter 2018 results were driven by higher-than-expected trading revenues, improvement in investment banking fees and rise in loans.

The Zacks analyst thinks expansion into new markets, focus on strengthening the card business, higher interest rates and rising loan demand will benefit the bank’s financials. Also, lower tax rates and easing of stringent regulations are expected to offer some support.

However, dismal mortgage banking (as originations continue to decline) remains a major concern. This is expected to hurt revenue growth to some extent in the near-term.

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

Shares of Altria have outperformed the Zacks Tobacco industry in the last six months (-10.9% vs. -12.4%), Altria has been delivering year-over-year bottom-line growth for quite some time and maintained the upside in second-quarter 2018. Performance during the quarter was mainly backed by lower outstanding shares and reduced adjusted tax rate. In fact, solid performance in the first half of 2018 propelled management to raise 2018 view.

The Zacks analyst thinks Altria has been progressing well with reduced risk products. Pricing also continues to drive the company’s top line. On the flip side, stern FDA regulations combined with increased health consciousness has been taking a toll on cigarette sales.

Notably, cigarette shipment volumes fell 10.8% year over year during second quarter, wherein total cigarette retail share declined 50.2%. But volumes in this category are expected to remain soft in the forthcoming periods, owing industry-wide headwinds.

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

NextEra’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Electric Power industry over the last year (the stock is up +15.5% vs. the -4.1% decline for the industry). Second-quarter earnings were higher than estimates, courtesy of strong performance of both its subsidiaries.

The Zacks analyst thinks NextEra Energy’s investment to strengthen its infrastructure and ongoing capital projects, when completed, will help it serve its expanding customer base more efficiently. The expansion of its natural gas operation through strategic acquisitions is going to have a positive impact on earnings.

However, the company’s nature of business is subject to complex and comprehensive federal, state and other regulations. Substantial investments are undertaken to ensure the safety of nuclear operation. That said, the risk of unplanned outages remains, which could derail its normal operation and impact profitability.

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Tesla and Illinois Tool Works.

Will You Make a Fortune on the Shift to Electric Cars?

Here's another stock idea to consider. Much like petroleum 150 years ago, lithium power may soon shake the world, creating millionaires and reshaping geo-politics. Soon electric vehicles (EVs) may be cheaper than gas guzzlers. Some are already reaching 265 miles on a single charge.

With battery prices plummeting and charging stations set to multiply, one company stands out as the #1 stock to buy according to Zacks research.

It's not the one you think.

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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.