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Zacks Market Edge Highlights: Activision Blizzard, Dollar General, JPMorgan Chase, Korn Ferry and Darden

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – June 11, 2020 – Zacks Market Edge is a podcast hosted weekly by cks Stock Strategist Tracey Ryniec. Every week, Tracey will be joined by guests to discuss the hottest investing topics in stocks, bonds and ETFs and how it impacts your life. To listen to the podcast, click here:

How to Use the Zacks Rank to Find Top Stocks

Welcome to Episode #228 of the Zacks Market Edge Podcast.

Every week, host and Zacks stock strategist, Tracey Ryniec, will be joined by guests to discuss the hottest investing topics in stocks, bonds and ETFs and how it impacts your life.

This week, she’s going solo to discuss how you can use the Zacks Rank system to find hidden gems during this coronavirus crisis.

Many companies have withdrawn their full year earnings guidance. Many also reported much lower earnings in the first quarter due to the coronavirus shutdowns.

For that reason, earnings seem to be up in the air with many companies. Companies are taking it day-to-day. It has led to many earnings cuts in 2020.

The Zacks Rank is a Powerful Tool

The Zacks Rank is a short-term stock recommendation of 1-3 months that is based on analyst earnings estimate revisions. It is designed to weed out the companies with rising earnings estimates.

Isn’t that what all investors want right now?

Today, screening for only the Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks, which should have rising earnings estimates, there were just 215.

That’s out of over 4,000 stocks that have the Zacks Rank. It’s an elite group of companies.

If you’re an investor trying to find companies that are performing the best during the coronavirus crisis, this list is the place to start.

Remember, the Zacks Rank is generated daily. It can change from one day to the next, as the analysts continually revise their earnings estimates.

Secrets of the Zacks Rank Revealed

But the Zacks Rank also has quirks that you should know if you’re going to deploy it. Here are some of its “secrets.”

1.       Agreement is important. If a dozen analysts all revise their earnings estimates higher at the same time, and none cut, something pretty good is probably going on at that company. Such is the scenario with Activision Blizzard  and Dollar General (DG - Free Report) , both Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buys) and rising earnings estimates for 2020.

2.       Most stocks are Zacks Rank #3 (Holds). JPMorgan Chase (JPM - Free Report)  is now a Zacks Rank #3, despite 8 estimates being revised lower after it reported earnings in April. Second quarter earnings are fast approaching so JPM’s Rank will likely be changing again in the next few weeks.

3.       The Zacks Rank can get volatile before an earnings report. Korn Ferry (KFY - Free Report)  reports next week. It has dropped to a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) even though there has been no change in its earnings estimates for the last 60 days. The older estimates are being ignored by the Rank. Look for the Zacks Rank to change after the earnings report.

4.       Sometimes there really IS disagreement among the analysts. Darden (DRI - Free Report)  is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) because 6 estimates have been revised higher, but 3 have been cut, in the last month. As many companies keep saying, they are taking the business day-by-day. The analysts are too.

What else do you need to know to use the Zacks Rank to find hidden gems?

Listen to this week’s podcast to find out.

5 Stocks Set to Double

Each was hand-picked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2020. Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth.

Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.

Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>

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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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