Tuesday, May 3, 2022
 
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 Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN), ConocoPhillips (COP), and Stryker Corporation (SYK). 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 >>>
 

Amazon shares hadn't much even before the disappointing Q1 report, but the stock has really been hit hard following that report. The stock is now down -25.9% this year vs. -12.9% decline for the S&P 500 index. Weighing on the stock are worries about the company's outlook in the current environment of elevated expenses and continued supply-chain issues. 

While these are reasonable worries, the Zacks analyst believes that the company is gaining on solid Prime momentum owing to ultrafast delivery services and strong content portfolio. Further, strengthening relationship with third-party sellers is a positive. Also, growing momentum across Amazon Music is contributing well. Additionally, strong adoption rate of AWS is aiding the company’s cloud dominance.
 
Also, expanding AWS services portfolio is continuously helping Amazon in gaining further momentum among the customers. Further, robust Alexa skills and expanding smart home products portfolio are positives. Additionally, the company’s strong global presence and solid momentum among the small and medium businesses remain tailwinds.
 

(You can read the full research report on Amazon here >>>)
 
Shares of ConocoPhillips have outperformed the Zacks Oil and Gas - Integrated - United States over the past year (+84.1% vs +79.9%). The company holds a bulk of acres in the unconventional plays of Eagle Ford shale, Permian Basin and Bakken shale. Significant opportunities are there for the firm in Eagle Ford, where it owns about 1,600 undrilled locations that could provide access to huge reserves. Its balance sheet is significantly less leveraged than the industry it belongs to.
 

However, the company has been generating lower dividend yield than the composite stocks belonging to the energy sector over the past few years. Moreover, the upstream player has been constantly bearing the brunt of increasing costs and expenses over the past few quarters, adversely affecting the income.
 

(You can read the full research report on ConocoPhillips here >>>)
 
Stryker shares have declined -8.3% over the past year against the Zacks Medical - Products industry’s decline of -25.3%. The company’s pricing pressure continues to plague Stryker. Stiff competition in the MedTech space remains a woe. Contraction in both gross and operating margins is disappointing.
 

However, The company witnessed strong performance across both of its segments. Internationally, the company reported mid-single-digit organic growth, highlighted by double-digit organic growth in Europe and emerging markets.
 

As per the management, the company managed to deliver robust growth in both of its businesses and demonstrated promising integration of Wright Medical despite the COVID-19 led disruptions. Strength in flagship Mako platform continues to favor the company.
 

(You can read the full research report on Styker here >>>)
 
Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include The Southern Company (SO), Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG), and ONEOK, Inc. (OKE).

Sheraz Mian
 
Director of Research

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>>>