Friday, April 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 Linde plc (LIN), Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) and Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (EW). 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 >>>

Linde’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Chemical - Specialty industry over the past year (+20.4% vs. -1.6%). The company is making the world more productive by the day, with its wide range of applications for industrial gases. Linde’s primary products in industrial gases include oxygen, which is used as life support in hospitals. Its process gas, like hydrogen, is being utilized for clean fuels, while its high-purity and specialty gases are employed to manufacture electronics.

Linde has long-term contracts with on-site customers backed by minimum purchase requirements, thereby securing stable cashflows. In the profitable industrial gas market, the merger of Praxair and Linde has created an efficient player with considerable size advantages.

However, the cost of sales continues to increase, hurting the firm’s bottom line. The firm has mostly been paying a lower dividend yield than the industry’s composite stocks over the past two years.

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

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals have outperformed the Zacks Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry over the past year (+21.7% vs. -7.0%). The company’s cystic franchise sales continue to grow driven by its triple therapy, Trikafta/Kaftrio. New reimbursement agreements in ex-U.S. markets and label expansions to younger age groups are driving Trikafta/Kaftrio sales higher.

Vertex has reported double-digit revenue growth over the last several years. It has a broad clinical non-CF pipeline across six disease areas, which are progressing rapidly with multiple clinical milestones in 2023. Multiple late-stage projects have established proof of concept. Vertex faces only minimal competition in its core CF franchise.

However, Vertex’s dependence on just the CF franchise for commercial revenues is a concern. Vertex’s non-CF programs carry significant risk, which is a concern.

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

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences have outperformed the Zacks Medical - Instruments industry over the year-to-date period (+14.9% vs. +4.8%). The company’s TMTT segment registered strong growth driven by the continued adoption of the PASCAL platform in Europe.

Further, the growth within Surgical Structural Heart was lifted by increased adoption of the company's premium RESILIA technologies around the world, including the recent launch of the company's MITRIS surgical mitral valve.

Moreover, the expansion of both margins is encouraging. However, during the quarter, TAVR procedure volumes were impacted by the U.S. hospital staffing constraints and the holiday season slowdown.

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include General Motors Co. (GM) and MSCI Inc. (MSCI).

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>>>