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DRDGold, Daimler, Apple and Alphabet highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – April 14, 2020 – Zacks Equity Research Shares of DRDGold (DRD - Free Report) as the Bull of the Day, Daimler as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Apple (AAPL - Free Report) and Alphabet (GOOGL - Free Report) .

Here is a synopsis of all four stocks:

Bull of the Day:

With the market rallying off the lows, there are some folks out here making a fortune. Shrewd additions can lead to outsized returns in the long run. But how do you separate solid, consistent, long-term earners from the flash in pan? One way is by leaning on the Zacks Rank. Stocks with strong Zacks Ranks have had the most consistent and positive earnings trends. This tool can help lead the way to long-term profits by finding stocks delivering solid results quarter after quarter.

Today’s Bull of the Day is a stock in a very strong industry that’s also a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). I’m talking about DRDGold. DRDGOLD Limited engages in surface gold tailings retreatment business in South Africa. The company's activities include exploration, extraction, processing, and smelting. It recovers gold from surface tailings in the central and western Witwatersrand basin in Gauteng province. The company was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Rosebank, South Africa.

Gold prices have been on the move lately as the Federal Reserve has been easing across the board. Expensive government spending programs, loans and grants mean the market is being flooded with US dollars. This is helping the gold bugs anti-fiat currency trade with gold. It’s helped gold prices up north of $1,700 for the first time since 2012.

DRDGold is a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) in an industry which ranks in the Top 8% of our Zacks Industry Rank. The reason for the positive rating is the recent earnings estimate revisions coming into the upside for the company. Over the last 60 days, analysts on Wall Street have increased their estimates for the current year and next year. The bullish moves have pushed up the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year form 13 cents to 53 cents. Should the company hit that mark, it would post earnings growth of 562.5% over last year’s number.

Bear of the Day:

The sharp bounce off the lows for the market have caused many stocks to rally. The dramatic shift to the new “stay-home” economy will leave some companies behind, while others will thrive. It may feel impossible to figure out which is which. One of the best tools an investor can use is the Zacks Rank. Stocks with unfavorable Zacks Ranks have seen analysts cutting their earnings estimates. If analysts all over Wall Street are dropping their numbers, there is probably a negative trend beginning to develop on the earnings front with that stock. Knowing that is coming, investors can then decide if that’s a trend they’d like to wait out or avoid altogether. This way, you can let the analysts all over Wall Street do the research while you just follow the money.

Today’s Bear of the Day is a stock that’s currently a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), Daimler. Daimler AG, together its subsidiaries, develops and manufactures passenger cars, trucks, vans, and buses in Germany and internationally. It operates through Mercedes-Benz Cars, Daimler Trucks, Mercedes-Benz Vans, Daimler Buses, and Daimler Mobility divisions. 

Cars are costly items people tend to buy when they feel good about their personal economic situation. Most cars are financed over several years and take up a solid chunk of someone’s daily budget. If you’re under quarantine right now, you are probably not gassing up and using your car all that much. For many unfortunate folks, job losses are causing economic pain as well. Those are two of a multitude of negative factors facing the automotive industry right now.

Analysts have taken note, cutting their earnings estimates for Daimler. Over the last 60 days, three analysts have cut their estimates for the current year while two have done so for next year. The collective bearishness has cut the Zacks Consensus Estimates for each period considerably. Current year consensus was $6.45 ninety days ago. Now that number has been slashed to $2.44. Next year’s numbers are dropping as well, coming down from $6.76 to $4.93.

The Automotive – Foreign industry is in the Bottom 17% of our Zacks Industry Rank.

Additional content:

Apple partnered with Alphabet’s Google to fight the coronavirus. The company announced a new set of tools that will allow mobile devices to trade information via Bluetooth connections to alert people when they are in close proximity with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.

The technology will first be available in mid-May as software tools available to contact tracing apps endorsed by public health authorities.

Moreover, the tech behemoths also plan to build the tracking technology directly into their underlying operating systems in the coming months so that users do not have to download any apps to begin logging nearby phones.

We believe that this partnership, which is targeted toward iPhone and Android devices, could inject valuable new technological support into contact tracing. Per strategy public health officials, this move is essential to allow people to return to work and normal life while containing the spread of the pandemic.

Addressing User Health Data Privacy Concerns

The tech giants believe that this approach — designed for users whose participation would be voluntary and anonymous — duly addresses privacy concerns. Notably, GPS location data of any user is not part of the effort.

The contact tracing technology will not track the location or identity of users, but instead will only capture data about when users' phones have been near each other, with data being decrypted on the user's phone than the companies' servers.

Notably, the data will only be used for contact tracing by public health authorities for COVID-19 pandemic management.

Moreover, the tech giants have released extensive Bluetooth and cryptology documentation for the apps in an attempt to be transparent about how these solutions will work.

Per Apple’s report, the contact tracing method will use Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and a 32-byte tracing key — a cryptographically protected code — to log contact between devices.

To address concerns about potential abuse, users would have to get a confirmed diagnosis from a public health agency along with a special code that triggers the signal to other devices.

Governments worldwide have been scrambling to develop or evaluate software meant to improve the normally labor-intensive process of contact tracing, in which health officials go to recent contacts of an infected person and ask them to self-quarantine or get tested.

Singapore has shown some early success through its Bluetooth tracking app, TraceTogether, which links people’s infection status to their phone number. Officials in Germany and France and across Europe have discussed a similar Bluetooth system that could track the outbreak’s spread while preserving users’ privacy.

Apple and Google’s Battle Against Coronavirus

On March 27, Apple announced a COVID-19 screening website and app built with the CDC and the White House.

Last month, Verily — the life sciences arm of Alphabet — launched a website that gives people in California information about virus testing. The website, developed in partnership with the White House, lets people fill in symptoms and complete an online screener.

Google also committed more than $800 million to help small businesses and crisis responders dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

At a time when COVID-19 is spreading rampantly, Apple and Google’s initiative will likely help prevent people from getting misinformed and generate some positivity around their brand names.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Apple currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

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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/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.


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