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Research Daily

Sheraz Mian

Top Research Reports for Meta Platforms, UnitedHealth & salesforce

CRM UNH AMGN MMM AXP

Trades from $3

Thursday, January 27, 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 Meta Platforms, Inc. (FB), UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH), and salesforce.com, inc. (CRM). 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 Meta Platforms have underperformed the S&P 500 over the past year (+11.2% vs. +16.7%) on persistent worries about stringent regulatory measures. The Zacks analyst believes that Meta Platforms has been benefiting from steady user growth across all regions, particularly Asia Pacific. Increased engagement for Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Facebook Watch has been a major growth driver.

Fb’s focus on becoming a metaverse company is noteworthy. Meta’s strong balance sheet and cash flow generating ability is another key catalyst. Meta, however, is facing stiff competition from Snap and Twitter in the advertising space. Increasing regulatory headwinds in the EU and other countries is a major concern.

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

UnitedHealth shares have gained +12.8% over the past six months against the Zacks Medical HMO industry’s gain of +9.2%. The Zacks analyst believes that the strong growth at Optum as well as UnitedHealthcare segments have been driving revenues.  A growing government business and a strong capital position are other positives.

UNH’s top line is likely to benefit from a strong market position as well as new deals, renewed agreements and expansion of service offerings. A sturdy balance sheet and solid cash generation abilities enable business investments as well as prudent capital deployment.  Softness in commercial business due to the pandemic remains a major concern, though.

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

Shares of salesforce have lost -29.3% in the last three months against the Zacks Computer Software industry’s loss of -12.2% as sentiment has soured on the stock and other faster-growing software players in the evolving new interest rate environment. Stiff competition, unfavorable currency fluctuations and increasing investments on international expansion and data centers have been impacting CRM’s near-term profitability.

The Zacks analyst, however, believes that salesforce has been benefiting from a robust demand environment amid the ongoing major digital transformation. The rapid adoption of its cloud-based solutions has also been driving demand. salesforce’s focus on introducing more aligned products as per customer needs is driving its top-line.

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include American Express Company (AXP), Amgen Inc. (AMGN) and 3M Company (MMM).

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>>>

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