Monday, January 23 2017

Today's Research Daily features the updated scorecard for the Q4 earnings season and new research reports on 16 major stocks, including IBM (IBM) and Union Pacific (UNP). To see all of today's research reports, click here >>>

Q4 Earnings Scorecard: We now have Q4 results from 65 S&P 500 members that combined account for 19.8% of the index's total market capitalization. The reporting cycle ramps materially this week, with more than 100 S&P 500 members posting numbers. Total earnings for the 65 index members that have reported are up +4.2% on +2.4% higher revenues, with 67.7% beating EPS estimates and 50.8% beating revenue estimates. Other than positive EPS surprises that are currently tracking below the proportion we have been seeing from the same group of 65 index members, the 2016 Q4 results thus far represent an improvement over other recent historical periods in all respects.

You can read about the Q4 earnings season at our weekly Earnings Preview report: Q4 Earnings Growth the Highest in 8 Quarters

IBM shares have turned around over the last one year (up +39.7% vs. +20.4% for the Zacks Technology sector) on greater appreciation for the company's outlook. The Zacks analyst likes IBM's strategic growth initiatives, including its Big Data & business analytics, cloud computing, mobile and social business. The recent better than expected Q4 earnings report has helped sentiment as well. (You can read the full research report on IBM here >>)

Union Pacific shares have increased +19.9% since Nov 8, outperforming the Zacks Transportation sector, which has gained +13.5% over the same period. Driving the stock's outperformance despite well-known headwinds facing the transportation group as a whole is its track record of operating efficiencies, strong cash flows and shareholder-friendly policies. Ushering in further good news, Union Pacific reported better-than-expected earnings per share in the final quarter of 2016. Growing optimism about the economy following hopes of market friendly policies from the new administration is helping the stock as well as the broader transportation group. (You can read the full research report on Union Pacific here >>)

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Yahoo (YHOO), General Motors (GM) and Google (GOOGL).

Today's Long-Term Buys & Sells
Today you can gain access to the best long-term trades unearthed by Zacks Research. These moves have double and triple-digit profit potential and are rarely available to the public. Starting now, you can look inside our stocks under $10, home run and value stock portfolios, plus more. Want a peek at this private information? Click here >>

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 >>>