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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Home Depot, United Parcel, Occidental, Disney and Blackstone
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For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL –August 17, 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: Home Depot (HD - Free Report) , United Parcel Service (UPS - Free Report) , Occidental Petroleum (OXY - Free Report) , Disney (DIS - Free Report) and Blackstone (BX - Free Report) .
Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:
Top Analyst Reports for Home Depot, UPS and Occidental Petroleum
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 Home Depot, United Parcel Service and Occidental Petroleum. These research reports have been hand-picked from the roughly 70 reports published by our analyst team today.
Home Depot’s shares have gained +29.6% over the past year, outperforming the Zacks Retail Building Products industry’s +28% increase. The Zacks analyst thinks that this performance is attributable to its five-year long trend of beating earnings estimates, which continued in second-quarter fiscal 2018.
Moreover, sales reverted to a positive surprise trend after a miss in the last-reported quarter. Results gained from a rebound in the seasonal business that impacted sales in the fiscal first quarter and solid execution. Further, its relentless focus on offering innovative products, boosting interconnected customer experience and driving productivity seems to be paying off. Steady housing market recovery and strong customer demand also remain tailwinds.
Backed by the solid performance in the first half of fiscal 2018, the company raised earnings and sales forecasts for fiscal 2018. However, commodity cost inflation in various categories, including rising raw material and transportation costs as well as recently enacted tariffs are likely to pressure margins.
Shares of United Parcel Service have outperformed the Zacks Air Freight and Cargo industry in the last six months, gaining +12.9% vs +7%. Additionally, solid e-commerce growth is a huge positive for the company.
The Zacks analyst is also impressed by UPS' efforts to reward shareholders. To this end, in February 2018, UPS hiked quarterly dividends by 10%. A further uptick in such shareholder-friendly activities cannot be ruled out, in the light of the savings induced by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. In fact, UPS' solid free cash flow in second-quarter and the bullish full-year forecast support the possibility of a dividend hike in the near future.
The metric is now expected to be $5 billion in 2018 (previous guidance was between $4.5 billion and $5 billion). However, high operating expenses continue to limit bottom-line growth. Also, UPS' 2018 capex forecast, which is higher than 2017 levels, is expected to weigh on the bottom line.
Occidental Petroleum’s shares have underperformed the Zacks Domestic Integrated Oil industry in the last six months, gaining +12.9% vs. +15.6%. Occidental Petroleum’s second-quarter earnings missed estimates. However, total revenues beat the same owing to a strong production from Permian Resources coupled with revenue growth from Midstream & Marketing segment.
As oil prices continue to improve, Occidental Petroleum gains from more oil production in the Permian Resources and concentrating on high-margin production region. The Zacks analyst thinks the ongoing capital investment will further strengthen the existing operations of the company. The company generates a stable cash flow and its Chemical plant will further improve the same.
Occidental Petroleum, like other oil and natural gas companies, faces the risks of cost overruns and development interruptions due to delays in drilling and other approvals. Stringent federal and state laws are tailwinds for the company.
Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Disney and Blackstone.
Today's Stocks from Zacks' Hottest Strategies
It's hard to believe, even for us at Zacks. But while the market gained +21.9% in 2017, our top stock-picking screens have returned +115.0%, +109.3%, +104.9%, +98.6%, and +67.1%.
And this outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. Over the years it has been remarkably consistent. From 2000 - 2017, the composite yearly average gain for these strategies has beaten the market more than 19X over. Maybe even more remarkable is the fact that we're willing to share their latest stocks with you without cost or obligation.
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 http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Home Depot, United Parcel, Occidental, Disney and Blackstone
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL –August 17, 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: Home Depot (HD - Free Report) , United Parcel Service (UPS - Free Report) , Occidental Petroleum (OXY - Free Report) , Disney (DIS - Free Report) and Blackstone (BX - Free Report) .
Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:
Top Analyst Reports for Home Depot, UPS and Occidental Petroleum
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 Home Depot, United Parcel Service and Occidental Petroleum. These research reports have been hand-picked from the roughly 70 reports published by our analyst team today.
Home Depot’s shares have gained +29.6% over the past year, outperforming the Zacks Retail Building Products industry’s +28% increase. The Zacks analyst thinks that this performance is attributable to its five-year long trend of beating earnings estimates, which continued in second-quarter fiscal 2018.
Moreover, sales reverted to a positive surprise trend after a miss in the last-reported quarter. Results gained from a rebound in the seasonal business that impacted sales in the fiscal first quarter and solid execution. Further, its relentless focus on offering innovative products, boosting interconnected customer experience and driving productivity seems to be paying off. Steady housing market recovery and strong customer demand also remain tailwinds.
Backed by the solid performance in the first half of fiscal 2018, the company raised earnings and sales forecasts for fiscal 2018. However, commodity cost inflation in various categories, including rising raw material and transportation costs as well as recently enacted tariffs are likely to pressure margins.
Shares of United Parcel Service have outperformed the Zacks Air Freight and Cargo industry in the last six months, gaining +12.9% vs +7%. Additionally, solid e-commerce growth is a huge positive for the company.
The Zacks analyst is also impressed by UPS' efforts to reward shareholders. To this end, in February 2018, UPS hiked quarterly dividends by 10%. A further uptick in such shareholder-friendly activities cannot be ruled out, in the light of the savings induced by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. In fact, UPS' solid free cash flow in second-quarter and the bullish full-year forecast support the possibility of a dividend hike in the near future.
The metric is now expected to be $5 billion in 2018 (previous guidance was between $4.5 billion and $5 billion). However, high operating expenses continue to limit bottom-line growth. Also, UPS' 2018 capex forecast, which is higher than 2017 levels, is expected to weigh on the bottom line.
Occidental Petroleum’s shares have underperformed the Zacks Domestic Integrated Oil industry in the last six months, gaining +12.9% vs. +15.6%. Occidental Petroleum’s second-quarter earnings missed estimates. However, total revenues beat the same owing to a strong production from Permian Resources coupled with revenue growth from Midstream & Marketing segment.
As oil prices continue to improve, Occidental Petroleum gains from more oil production in the Permian Resources and concentrating on high-margin production region. The Zacks analyst thinks the ongoing capital investment will further strengthen the existing operations of the company. The company generates a stable cash flow and its Chemical plant will further improve the same.
Occidental Petroleum, like other oil and natural gas companies, faces the risks of cost overruns and development interruptions due to delays in drilling and other approvals. Stringent federal and state laws are tailwinds for the company.
Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Disney and Blackstone.
Today's Stocks from Zacks' Hottest Strategies
It's hard to believe, even for us at Zacks. But while the market gained +21.9% in 2017, our top stock-picking screens have returned +115.0%, +109.3%, +104.9%, +98.6%, and +67.1%.
And this outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. Over the years it has been remarkably consistent. From 2000 - 2017, the composite yearly average gain for these strategies has beaten the market more than 19X over. Maybe even more remarkable is the fact that we're willing to share their latest stocks with you without cost or obligation.
See Them 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 http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.