Monday, November 2, 2020

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 PayPal (PYPL), Comcast (CMCSA) and Novartis (NVS). 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 >>>

PayPal shares have been stellar performers lately, bu they have modestly lagged the Zacks Internet Software industry in the year-to-date period (+72% vs. +74.1%). The Zacks analyst believes that PayPal is benefiting from robust growth in total payments volume owing to increasing net new active accounts.

Further, strengthening customer engagement on the company’s platform is a major positive. Furthermore, Venmo’s improving monetization efforts and rising adoption rate across various platforms are aiding the total active accounts. Additionally, growing momentum of core peer to peer and PayPal Checkout experiences is a tailwind.

Also, benefits from Honey buyout are positives. However, increasing credit loss reserves owing to macroeconomic projections on account of coronavirus is a serious matter of concern. Also, intensifying digital payment competition is a risk.

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

Shares of Comcast have lost -3.7% over the past year against the Zacks Cable Television industry’s rise of +2.5%. The Zacks analyst believes that growing high-speed Internet user base due to coronavirus, solid demand for Xfinity X1 and Flex services and newly launched Peacock ad-supported streaming service are key catalysts for Comcast’s growth.

Comcast’s third-quarter 2020 results were driven by solid growth in high-speed Internet, Business Services, Wireless and Sky segments. The growth in advertising revenues reflected an increase in political advertising revenues. However, Comcast persistently suffered video-subscriber attrition due to cord-cutting.

Moreover, its Universal Studios Hollywood theme park remains closed. Further, Comcast expects Sky EBITDA for the fourth quarter to decline. Weakness in film business is also a headwind. Moreover, the balance sheet remains significantly leveraged, which is a concern.

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

Novartis shares have lost -7.1% over the past six months against the Zacks Large-Cap Pharmaceuticals industry’s fall of -6%. The Zacks analyst believes that new launches like Piqray, Mayzent and Beovu should boost sales despite a slowdown due to the pandemic. The biosimilars portfolio also gains traction with new approvals and is expected to drive growth.

Novartis’ third-quarter results were mixed as sales were hit by the coronavirus pandemic but earnings beat expectations. Particularly, the dermatology, ophthalmology and Sandoz retail businesses were affected. Entresto maintained momentum on increased patient share across markets, although Cosentyx’s sales were soft.

Contributions from Kisqali and gene therapy, Zolgensma, have also boosted the performance in recent times. However, Sandoz’s generics business has been soft in the past few quarters. Moreover, pipeline setbacks and generic competition for key drugs are concerning.

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include BlackRock (BLK), Stryker (SYK) and FedEx (FDX).

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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>>>