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Research Daily

Wednesday, September 28, 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 Broadcom Inc. (AVGO), Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) and Equinor ASA (EQNR). 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 >>>

Broadcom shares have declined -5.4% over the past year against the Zacks Electronics - Semiconductors industry’s decline of -22.0%. Increasing competition, along with high debt levels, are persistent overhangs for the company. However, the top-line growth was driven by strength in cloud and service provider segments.

Networking is riding on strong adoption of Broadcom’s next-gen merchant switching and routing solutions by hyperscalers, enterprises and service providers. Aggressive adoption of its next-generation server storage solutions by hyperscalers is expected to drive top-line growth.

Broadcom expects fiscal fourth-quarter networking and server storage revenues to grow 30% and 45% on a year-over-year basis, respectively. Upbeat fourth-quarter fiscal 2022 guidance is encouraging. The VMware acquisition will aid prospects over the long term.

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

Comcast shares have declined -44.8% over the past year against the Zacks Cable Television industry’s decline of -49.0%. The company second-quarter 2022 results reflected slowing broadband user-base additions, primarily due to reversal of pandemic trends and increased competition. It also persistently suffers from video-subscriber attrition due to cord-cutting. Moreover, a leveraged balance sheet is a major concern.

Nevertheless, the company benefited from a growing wireless subscriber base. Comcast’s plan to transition to DOCSIS 4.0 is noteworthy in this regard. The technology will help it in expanding much faster and at a lower cost compared to competitors.

Recovery in park and movie business bodes well for Comcast’s profitability. Its streaming service Peacock is a key catalyst in driving broadband sales. Strong free cash flow generation ability is noteworthy.

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

Equinor shares have outperformed the Zacks Oil and Gas - Refining and Marketing industry over the past year (+31.2% vs. +15.9%). The company is one of the premier integrated energy companies, with operations spreading across 30 countries. The company reaffirmed production growth expectations at 2% for 2022.

In the second quarter, it made three commercial discoveries on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, making its production outlook bright. To combat climate change, the company is actively investing in renewable energy projects, comprising power generation from solar and wind energy. Also, it announced the increase of the share buy-back program of up to $6 billion for 2022.

However, the company’s balance sheet has significant debt exposure as compared to the composite stocks in the industry. Also, the company is not being able to capture the potential profit growth from commodity prices that have reached record highs. As such, the stock warrants a cautious stance.

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Chevron Corp. (CVX), Intuit Inc. (INTU), and Sanofi (SNY).

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>>>

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