Monday, May 6, 2019

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 Mastercard (MA), PayPal (PYPL) and Thermo Fisher (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 >>>

Buy-ranked Mastercard’s shares have increased +31.1% in the past year, significantly outperforming the Zacks Financial Transaction Services industry’s rally of +18.6%. Mastercard’s first-quarter earnings beat expectations and increased year over year.

Solid results were led by higher switched transactions, increase in cross-border volume and gross dollar volume, and gains from acquisitions, partly offset by an increase in rebates and incentives. The Zacks analyst thinks the company is poised for growth, given its solid market position, ongoing expansion and digital initiatives, and opportunities from the shift toward electronic payments. Its numerous acquisitions have aided revenue growth.

However, escalating costs will put pressure on margins. Also, in order to gain customers and new business, Mastercard has been incurring quite high levels of costs under rebates and incentives, which remains a concern. Nevertheless, its strong balance sheet enables business investment, thereby driving growth.

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

Shares of Buy-ranked PayPal have outperformed the Zacks Internet Software industry in the past year (+50% vs. +26%). PayPal reported mixed first quarter results with earnings surpassing expectations and falling short. However, both top-line as well as bottom line reflected year over year growth on the back of benefits from investment in MercadoLibre and increasing customer engagements on PayPal’s platform.

Further, robust Venmo and One Touch contributed well. Additionally, rapidly rising net new active accounts boosted growth in the company’s total active accounts. Growing momentum of the company’s core peer to peer also acted as a tailwind in accelerating its total payment volume.

The Zacks analyst thinks the weak eBay performance remains a headwind for the company’s total payment volume. Further, negative impacts of sale of the U.S. consumer credit receivables portfolio to Synchrony are risks to the company’s top-line growth.

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

Thermo Fisher’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Medical Instruments industry in the past three months (+14.7% vs. +2.6%).Thermo Fisher ended first quarter 2019 with adjusted earnings and revenues surpassing expectations. The Zacks analyst thinks the company is demonstrating strength in all end markets categorized by customer type or geography.

In the quarter, the company registered solid international performance with strong growth in Asia-Pacific including China. Also, a series of product launches aided its performance. The company’s recent purchase of Brammer Bio, operating in the field of Gene and Cell Therapy, provides cause for optimism.

This apart, the purchase of Gatan should boost electron microscopy suite. Even after considering the impact of impending divestiture of its Anatomical Pathology business, the company's 2019 guidance looks encouraging.

On the flip side, Thermo Fisher’s operating segments are getting impacted by unfavorable business mix. Competitive headwinds and escalating costs pose a threat.

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Texas Instruments (TXN), Starbucks (SBUX) and Simon Property Group (SPG).

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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>>>