Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Today's Research Daily features new research reports on 16 major stocks, including Amazon (AMZN), Simon Property Group (SPG) and Halliburton (HAL).

Amazon shares have outperformed the broader market in the year-to-date period (the stock is up 12.8% vs. the 6% gain for the S&P 500 as a whole). A persistent concern in the Amazon story is the company's ever-growing need to build fulfillment centers that continues to weigh on its margins.

However, the analyst likes the company’s solid loyalty system in Prime and its FBA strategy, and content addition continues to add selection to Prime memberships. Also, the AWS generates much higher margins than retail, so it has a very positive impact on Amazon’s profitability. (You can read the full research report on Amazon here.)

Shares of Simon Property Group have been under pressure recently and have underperformed the Zacks REIT and Equity Trust – Retail industry over the past 3 months as well as in the year-to-date period. However, the company recently declared that it was extending its $2 billion stock repurchase program by two years. Also, Simon Property has reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.

The Zacks analyst particularly likes the declaration of a sequential dividend hike of 6.1%. Exposure to various retail assets, adoption of an omni-channel strategy and portfolio-restructuring moves will help the company ride the growth curve amidst a recovering economy. But, rise in online sales is a concern as it cuts the demand for retail real estate space, thereby affecting occupancy and rent growth.

An imminent hike in the interest rate will add to its woes. The company’s FFO estimate for 2017 moved down over the last 7 days. (You can read the full research report on Simon Property Group here.)

Halliburton’s shares have gained almost 53% in the last one year, handily outperforming both the Zacks Oil & Gas-Field Services industry and bigger rival Schlumberger that gained 21.2% and 10% over the same time period. The analyst likes the company’s intention to focus on international markets instead of remaining confined only to North America.

Additionally, Haliburton has managed to beat expectations in each of the last four quarters through effective cost management. However, increasing U.S production following the gathering of producers on the oil patch has offset crude price improvement to some extent. This could lead to lower activity and limit demand for Halliburton's goods and services. (You can read the full research report on Halliburton here.)

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include IBM (IBM), Netflix (NFLX) and CME Group (CME).

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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 >>>