Monday, January 17, 2022

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 JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), NIKE, Inc. (NKE), and Union Pacific Corporation (UNP). 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 >>>

Shares of JPMorgan lost ground following last week's Q4 earnings report when the company beat EPS estimates but modestly missed on revenues. More important than the top-line miss was management's outlook on the costs side that were significantly above what analysts were projecting. These issues aside, the Zacks analyst sees the company as well positioned given its diversified business, strategic add-on acquisitions, as well as the initiatives to expand into new markets.

Opening new branches, digitization initiatives, and a robust IB pipeline are expected to support JPMorgan's financials. JPM is likely to keep enhancing shareholder value through impressive capital deployment activities. Lower interest rates in the near term, however, weigh on its margins. Normalization of the trading business is another major headwind.

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

NIKE shares have lost -5.7% over the past six months against the Zacks Shoes and Retail Apparel industry’s loss of -5.8%. NIKE expects to experience volatility in fiscal 2022 on the back of disruptions caused by the COVID-variants. The inventory supply is also likely to significantly lag consumer demand in the year across brands.

The Zacks analyst, however, believes that return of sports activity, reopening of stores and continued growth of NIKE Digital due to rapid digitization efforts aided NIKE’s Q2 revenues. NIKE Direct business also benefited from robust growth in North America Direct, including record sales during the Black Friday week. NKE remains on track to deliver on its fiscal 2025 outlook.

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

Shares of Union Pacific have gained +9.5% in the last three months against the Zacks Rail industry’s gain of +5.6%. The Zacks analyst is impressed with Union Pacific's efforts to reward its shareholders even during the current uncertain times. UNP's strong free cash flow generating ability also supports its shareholder-friendly activities.

In December 2021, Union Pacific's board announced a 10% hike in its quarterly dividend. Management anticipates share repurchases worth roughly $7 billion in 2021. Uptick in freight revenues as economic activities pick up the pace is another major positive. Increase in expenditure on fuel, however, has been weighing on the margins.

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT), BlackRock, Inc. (BLK) and Lam Research Corporation (LRCX).

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>>>