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Research Daily

Mark Vickery

Top Stock Reports for BlackRock, Charter Communications & Intuitive Surgical

BLK ISRG CHTR AON DEO

Trades from $3

Monday, April 23, 2018

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 BlackRock (BLK), Charter Communications (CHTR) and Intuitive Surgical (ISRG). 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 >>>

BlackRock’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Investment Management industry in the last six months, (+10.7% vs. -1.5%). This performance was supported by impressive earnings surprise history as the company surpassed expectations in three of the trailing four quarters. Its first-quarter 2018 results were supported by higher revenues and growth in assets under management (AUM).

The company is undertaking initiatives to restructure its actively managed equities business and expand globally via acquisitions to further boost top-line growth. Also, its efficient capital deployment activities will continue to enhance shareholder value. However, mounting expenses, mainly due to continued rise in marketing costs, might hurt the bottom-line growth to some extent. The company's high dependence on overseas revenues remains a matter of concern.

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

Shares of Charter Communications have outperformed the Zacks Cable TV industry over the past three months (-17.4% vs. -18.1%). Charter’s residential and commercial internet and voice customer growth continues to accelerate, which is evident from the revenue growth and subscriber gain. The Zacks analyst thinks the recently announced partnership with Comcast to develop back-end software to support services for Xfinity and Spectrum mobile offerings is significantly positive for the company’s growth prospects.

The collaboration will help in saving costs for both the companies. However, the company continues to struggle due to sluggish growth in a saturated and competitive multi-channel U.S. video market. Charter also faces stiff competition from online TV streaming service providers. The company's high debt level and consolidation-related woes are other potential hazards.

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

Strong Buy-ranked Intuitive Surgical’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Medical Instruments industry over the last year, gaining +66.5% vs +1%. Intuitive Surgical ended the first quarter of 2018 on a solid note, with both earnings and revenues surpassing expectations. The company’s flagship da Vinci procedures recorded solid growth and holds promise for the quarters ahead.

The company also saw solid expansion outside the United States in the recent past. A suite of regulatory approvals buoys optimism. Solid growth in prostatectomy procedure volumes lent Intuitive Surgical a competitive edge in the broader prostate surgery market. However, the company expects U.S. sales to decline in the quarters ahead, which raises concern.

Furthermore, looming foreign exchange volatility also adds to the woes. Intense competition in niche space and long sale and purchase order cycles of da Vinci unit has been currently plaguing the company.

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Statoil (STO), Diageo (DEO) and Aon (AON).

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Mark Vickery

Senior Editor

Note: Sheraz Mian heads the Zacks Equity Research department and is a well-regarded expert of aggregate earnings. He is frequently quoted in the print and electronic media and publishes the weekly Earnings Trends and Earnings Preview reports. If you want an email notification each time Sheraz publishes a new article, please click here>>>

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