Tuesday, March 21, 2023

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 Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK), Intel Corporation (INTC) and MercadoLibre, Inc. (MELI). 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 Merck have outperformed the Zacks Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry over the past year (+33.5% vs. +2.2%). The company’s products like Keytruda and Gardasil have been driving sales. With continued label expansion into new indications & early-stage settings, Keytruda is expected to remain a key top-line driver.

Animal health and vaccine products are core growth drivers. Merck boasts a strong cancer pipeline, including Keytruda, which should drive long-term growth.

However, generic competition for several drugs and rising competitive pressure, mainly on the diabetes franchise, will continue to be overhangs on the top line. There are concerns about Merck’s ability to grow its non-oncology business ahead of Keytruda’s loss of exclusivity later in the decade.

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

Intel’s shares have underperformed the Zacks Semiconductor - General industry over the past year (-39.8% vs. -9.7%). The company is facing challenging macroeconomic environment, uncertain business conditions and softening demand trends are likely to remain an overhang on Intel’s performance. In addition, production delays remain a concern.

Imposition of fresh lockdown restrictions in some markets, forex woes and high debt burden are other headwinds. Intensifying competition, inflated raw material costs and signs of market saturation are worrisome.

However, Intel is gaining rapid strides in the data center business with integrated solutions that are highly competitive in prices. The company is also focusing on developing a complete product range targeting different segments of the market. Healthy traction from Mobileye’s technologies related to cameras, in-car networking, sensor-chips, roadway mapping, cloud software, machine learning and data management are tailwinds.

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

Shares of MercadoLibre have outperformed the Zacks Internet - Commerce industry over the past six months (+39.2% vs. -9.7%). The company is benefiting from strength in the commerce and fintech businesses. Robust product offerings and credit portfolio expansion are respectively driving the company’s commerce and fintech revenues.

Further, robust mobile-point-of-sale business and growing adoption of MercadoPago are driving the total payment volume growth of the company. Our estimate suggests that the total payment volume is likely to witness a 30% rise in the current year from the last year’s figure.

Also, rapid adoption of Mobile Wallet remains a positive. Further, robust shipments growth via MercadoEnvios is another positive. However, mounting expenses related to warehousing, free shipping subsidies and mPOS discounts remain overhangs.

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include The Travelers Companies, Inc. (TRV), Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (PEG) and Halliburton Company (HAL).

Director of Research

Sheraz Mian

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>>>