Friday, January 16, 2026

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 Visa Inc. (V), Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (TMO). 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 >>>

Ahead of Wall Street

The daily 'Ahead of Wall Street' article is a must-read for all investors who would like to be ready for that day's trading action. The article comes out before the market opens, attempting to make sense of that morning's economic releases and how they will affect that day's market action. You can read this article for free on our home page and can actually sign up there to get an email notification as this article comes out each morning.

You can read today's AWS here >>> Pre-Markets Lower on Bank Earnings, Ahead of Bigger Week

Today's Featured Research Reports

Visa’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Financial Transaction Services industry over the past year (+3.1% vs. -12.5%). The company’s strong market position is underpinned by consistent volume-driven growth, acquisitions and technological leadership in digital payments. Expansion in cross-border volumes, rising transactions and investments in AI and stablecoin infrastructure enhance its future prospects. 

Total revenue rose 11% YoY in FY25, along with 13% cross-border growth. A robust financial position with ample liquidity and shareholder returns further supports long-term growth. However, it faces rising client incentives and expenses, which can affect margin growth. 

The Zacks analyst expects FY26 adjusted costs to rise nearly 11%. Regulatory pressures and potential legislative changes pose additional risks to its fee structure. While declining cash volumes align with its digital strategy, regional softness calls for monitoring. As such, the stock warrants a cautious stance.

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

Shares of AMD have gained +91.3% over the past year against the Zacks Computer - Integrated Systems industry’s gain of +91.7%. The company’s prospects are benefiting from strong demand for EPYC processors that power cloud and enterprise workloads. Emerging AI use cases and rapid adoption of agentic AI are generating demand for general-purpose compute infrastructure, benefiting EPYC demand. 

Adoption of EPYC by the largest cloud hyperscalers is increasing significantly. Apart from EPYC, AMD’s prospects are driven by strong demand for Instinct accelerators. The launch of the Instinct MI350 series that supports deployments powered by AMD CPUs, GPUs and NICs has strengthened AMD’s system-level capabilities. 

A rich partner base that includes the likes of OpenAI, HPE, Dell, Lenovo, Super Micro, AWS, Oracle, Cisco, IBM, Cohere, Vultr, DigitalOcean and others is driving AMD’s prospects. However, stiff competition from NVIDIA and Intel doesn’t bode well for AMD.

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

Thermo Fisher's shares have outperformed the Zacks Medical - Instruments industry over the past year (+12.4% vs. -0.6%). The company continues to strengthen its foundation by consistently advancing its growth strategy. Thermo Fisher’s latest round of innovations supports scientific breakthroughs, advances precision medicine and greater lab productivity for customers.

The company is embedding OpenAI’s capabilities into its products and services to make an even bigger impact for customers and enhance productivity. Strategic acquisitions, such as the newly added Solventum’s Purification and Filtration Business, further enhance its offerings. 

The Zacks model forecasts a 5.1% CAGR growth in the company’s revenues through 2025-2027. Meanwhile, a highly leveraged balance sheet poses liquidity concerns. Shifting U.S. policies have weighed on the academic and government end-market clients, affecting its sales. Currency woes add to the worry. 

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Moody's Corp. (MCO), Phillips 66 (PSX) and Cardinal Health, Inc. (CAH).

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>>>