Monday, June 16, 2025

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 Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL), IBM Corp. (IBM) and RTX Corp. (RTX), as well as a micro-cap stock National Presto Industries, Inc. (NPK). The Zacks microcap research is unique as our research content on these small and under-the-radar companies is the only research of its type in the country.

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 >>>

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You can read today's AWS here >>> Pre-Markets in the Green Ahead of Eventful Week

Today's Featured Research Reports

Shares of Alphabet have underperformed the Zacks Internet - Services industry over the year-to-date period (-7.5% vs. -5.9%). The company’s increasing litigation issues are a concern. Intensifying competition from Microsoft and Amazon in cloud computing is a headwind.

Nevertheless, Alphabet is riding on strong cloud and search growth. Google Cloud is benefiting from accelerated growth across AI infrastructure, enterprise AI platform Vertex and strong adoption of Generative AI solutions. The company expects capital expenditures in 2025 to be relatively higher than in 2024, aimed at building technical infrastructure, primarily for servers, followed by data centers and networking. 

Alphabet’s dominant position in the search engine market is a strong growth driver. In first-quarter 2025, GOOGL saw continued double-digit revenue growth in Search. Alphabet surpassed 270 million paid subscriptions with YouTube and Google One as key drivers.

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

IBM’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Computer - Integrated Systems industry over the past year (+68.5% vs. +1.2%). The company is likely to benefit from heterogeneous, dynamic and complex infrastructure strategies, which, in turn, has led firms to undertake a cloud-agnostic and interoperable approach to highly secure multi-cloud management. 

A combination of a better business mix, improving operating leverage through productivity gains and investments in growth opportunities will likely boost profitability. IBM is betting big on the watsonx platform, which is likely to be the core technology platform for its AI capabilities. Strategic acquisitions to boost portfolio is a positive. 

However, buyouts have negatively impacted the company’s balance sheet in the form of high level of goodwill and net intangible assets. IBM’s Consulting business is affected soft demand in some end markets and macroeconomic headwinds. A high debt burden remains a concern.

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

Shares of RTX have outperformed the Zacks Aerospace - Defense industry over the past year (+42.4% vs. +16.2%). The company continues to receive ample orders for its wide range of combat-proven defense products, from the Pentagon and its foreign allies. This resulted in RTX registering a robust defense backlog of $92 billion as of March 31, 2025. 

Steadily improving commercial air traffic worldwide has also been boosting the company's sales. The company also holds a solid solvency position, at least in the short term. 

However, the uncertainties created by the recent imposition of U.S. government-issued import tariffs and the counter-tariffs from other nations pose a risk for RTX. Supply-chain challenges continue to affect the aerospace sector, which may adversely affect RTX’s performance. The stock’s forward 12-month EV/SALES ratio is unimpressive when compared to its industry.

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

National Presto Industries’ shares have outperformed the Zacks Diversified Operations industry over the past year (+31% vs. +6.6%). This microcap company with market capitalization of $680.92 million is strategically positioned to capitalize on rising U.S. defense spending and global geopolitical tensions. Its Defense segment, aligned with key Department of Defense priorities such as Ukraine resupply and autonomous systems, benefits from a growing $1.2 billion contract backlog extending through 2029, supporting long-term revenue visibility. 

Vertically integrated operations enhance quality and cost control, solidifying its role as a sole-source contractor on several 40mm systems. Q1 2025 results show robust earnings growth driven by a 47% sales surge in Defense. Recent investments, including a $19.8 million logistics facility, bolster operational resilience in its Housewares segment.

However, risks remain, such as heavy reliance on DoD contracts, tariff-driven margin pressures in Housewares, a cybersecurity breach, and continued underperformance in the Safety segment. 

(You can read the full research report on National Presto Industries here >>>)

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Citigroup Inc. (C), Altria Group, Inc. (MO) and O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. (ORLY).

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>>>