Wednesday, March 11, 2020

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 Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN), IBM Corp. (IBM) and Biogen Inc. (BIIB). 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 >>>

Amazon’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Internet - Commerce industry so far this year (+2.4% vs. -1.3%). Amazon reported impressive fourth-quarter results wherein both earnings and revenues topped the estimates and grew on a year-over-year basis.

The company benefited from solid Prime momentum owing to ultrafast delivery services and expanding original content portfolio. Moreover, it witnessed strong growth in the Prime paid membership. Further, strengthening AWS services and its growing adoption rate contributed well.

However, rising transportation cost related to its free one-day shipping service remains an overhang. Further, foreign exchange headwinds are concerns. Also, rising cloud competition from Microsoft and Google poses risk.

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

IBM’s shares have declined 9.8% over the past one-year period against the Zacks Computer - Integrated Systems industry’s fall of 11.2%. But things are looking up for IBM after it reported stellar Q4 results. Moreover, the company provided promising bottom-line guidance for 2020. IBM’s improving position in the hosted cloud, security and analytics aided revenue performance.

The RedHat acquisition has helped IBM to enhance containerized software capabilities. Robust adoption of security solutions, including Resilient and QRadar, bodes well.

Further, gains from z15 and high demand for data privacy and resiliency solutions across hybrid cloud are positives. Also, IBM’s time-consuming business model transition to cloud is a headwind.

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

Biogen’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry on a year-to-date basis (+3.0% vs. -5.7%). Biogen’s efforts to diversify beyond MS to other areas are commendable. Spinraza has multi-billion-dollar potential. Biogen regularly in-licenses assets to build its pipeline.

Several important data readouts are expected in 2020-2021. Its intention to seek U.S. approval of Alzheimer’s treatment, aducanumab, a few months after it halted late-stage studies on the same drug following a futility analysis, gave a major boost to the stock.

However, competitive pressure is expected to rise in 2020 in MS market. And even though Biogen’s CNS pipeline is attractive, it is a high-risk area. 

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Newmont Corp. (NEM), UBS Group AG (UBS) and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B).

The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All                

Last year, it generated $24 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $77.6 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce "the world's first trillionaires," but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early.

See Zacks' 3 Best Stocks to Play This Trend >>

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>>>