Friday, May 5, 2023
 

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 Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM), Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST), and Activision Blizzard, Inc. (ATVI). 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 >>>
 

Exxon Mobil shares have outperformed the Zacks Oil and Gas - Integrated - International industry over the past year (+15.6% vs. +3.5%) on the back of the company's bellwether status and an optimal integrated capital structure that has historically produced industry-leading returns make it a relatively lower-risk energy sector play.
 

The firm has made more than 30 discoveries in offshore Guyana since 2015. ExxonMobil also has a strong presence in the prolific Permian Basin, where it delivered record production in 2022. Also, a strong presence in chemicals and refining operations is noteworthy.
 

However, ExxonMobil has constantly been bearing the brunt of increasing costs, adversely affecting its income. Also, the company’s financials were weakened by years-long significant spending on low-return developments and the pandemic.
 

(You can read the full research report on Exxon Mobil here >>>)
 

Shares of Costco have declined -2.6% over the past year against the Zacks Retail - Discount Stores industry’s decline of -4.5%. The Zacks analyst, however, believes that the company being a consumer defensive stock, has been surviving the market turmoil pretty well. The discount retailer’s key strengths are strategic investments, a customer-centric approach, merchandise initiatives, and an emphasis on membership growth.
 

Its business can navigate the ongoing inflationary environment and supply chain bottlenecks on several fronts. A favorable product mix, steady store traffic, pricing power, and strong liquidity position should help Costco.
 

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

Activision Blizzard shares have outperformed the Zacks Toys - Games - Hobbies industry over the past six months (+5.0% vs. +1.6%), though the stock has lost ground lately following unfavorable regulatory action on its Microsoft deal out of the U.K.

Activision’s first-quarter 2023 earnings and revenues increased year-over-year. First-quarter growth was broad-based, with net bookings increasing year-over-year in Call of Duty, Candy Crush, Warcraft, Overwatch, and Diablo. Call of Duty in-game net bookings on console and PC grew strongly year-over-year in the first quarter.
 

The Zacks analyst believes that Diablo Immortal on mobile and PC also contributed to Blizzard’s first-quarter net bookings growth. Candy Crush payer numbers again grew year-over-year, and Candy Crush was the top-grossing game franchise in the U.S. app stores for the 23rd quarter in a row.
 

(You can read the full research report on Activision Blizzard here >>>)
 

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Biogen Inc. (BIIB), General Dynamics Corporation (GD) and Arista Networks, Inc. (ANET).
 

Director of Research
 

Sheraz Mian
 

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>>>