Monday, March 27, 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 Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B), Roche Holding AG (RHHBY) and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (TMO). 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 Berkshire Hathaway have modestly outperformed the Zacks Insurance - Property and Casualty industry over the past six months (+9.9% vs. +9.0%). The company is one of the largest property and casualty insurance companies measured by premium volume. Berkshire's inorganic growth story remains impressive with strategic acquisitions. A strong cash position supports earnings-accretive bolt-on buyouts and indicates the financial flexibility.

Continued insurance business growth fuels increase in float, drive earnings and generates maximum return on equity. The non-insurance businesses are delivering improved results with increased revenues over the past few years. A sturdy capital level provides further impetus.

However, exposure to catastrophe loss induces earnings volatility and also affects the property and casualty underwriting results of Berkshire. Huge capital expenditure remains a headwind for the company.

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

Shares of Roche have underperformed the Zacks Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry over the past year (-29.4% vs. +2.4%). The company’s performance has been average of late as the demand for COVID-19 products declined significantly, even though the diagnostics base business and newer drugs, namely Hemlibra (hemophilia), Ocrevus (multiple sclerosis), Evrysdi (spinal muscular atrophy) and Tecentriq (cancer), maintained momentum.

Sales of Actemra/RoActemra and Ronapreve (COVID-19) are declining with the pandemic weakening in several countries since last year. However, 2023 is also expected to be a challenging year for the company due to the expected sharp decline in sales of COVID-19 products of roughly CHF 5 billion.

Nevertheless, the uptake of the new eye drug, Vabysmo, was outstanding. The Diagnostics business also remained stable in terms of the growth of its routine business.

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

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific have gained +7.8% over the past six months against the Zacks Medical - Instruments industry’s gain of +12.7%. The company’s robust year-over-year revenue growth in the Analytical Instruments and the Laboratory Products and Biopharma Services segments appears promising.

During the fourth quarter, the company opened a new bioanalytical lab in Richmond, VA, to support its clinical research business. The integration of PPD is largely complete and drove strong returns for the shareholders with outstanding execution and business performance throughout the year.

However, revenues within Europe declined in the low teens. The same in Asia Pacific fell in the mid-single digits, while China registered a decline in the mid-single digits. Revenues in the rest of the world declined in high-single digits.

(You can read the full research report on Thermo Fisher Scientific here >>>)

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Danaher Corporation (DHR), Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFG) and Synopsys, Inc. (SNPS).

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>>>