Thursday, June 4, 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 JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Oracle (ORCL). 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 >>>

JPMorgan shares have outperformed the Zacks Major Banks industry over the past year (-1.9% vs. -12.4%), but this Finance sector bellwether has lagged the broad market (-1.9% vs. +13.6%) in the same time period. The Zacks analyst cites the Fed’s accommodative policy of near-zero interest rates that is hurting the bank’s interest income and margins as a big reason for the underperformance. Also, coronavirus-induced concerns will likely continue to hamper business activities.

The bank surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the trailing four quarters. Its first-quarter 2020 results were adversely impacted by a huge reserve build, which was done to combat coronavirus-induced economic slowdown. The acquisition of InstaMed, branch openings and focus on credit card business will continue aiding its financials.

However, loan growth will likely be muted in the near term. Challenges in expanding mortgage operations and significant dependence on capital market revenues will hurt fee income growth to an extent.

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

Exxon Mobil shares have lagged the broader market lately on the back of a very tough commodity-price environment that has hobbled this super major as well as all other operators in this space. Outlook for ExxonMobil’s chemical business is also gloomy since demand for petrochemicals remains weak.

ExxonMobil’s bellwether status in the energy space, optimal integrated capital structure that has historically produced industry-leading returns and management’s track record of capex discipline across the commodity price cycle makes it a relatively lower-risk energy sector play.

Notably, the company estimates gross recoverable resource of more than 8 billion oil-equivalent barrels from offshore Guyana discoveries. The integrated firm also has a strong balance sheet with significant low debt exposure. This will help the firm weather the low commodity pricing environment.

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

Oracle’s shares have gained +11.5% over the past three months against the Zacks Computer Software industry’s rise of +11.2%. The Zacks analyst believes that Oracle is benefiting from strong adoption of cloud-based solutions, comprising NetSuite ERP, Fusion ERP and Fusion HCM.

Recently, 8x8 and Zoom Video Communications selected Oracle Cloud Infrastructure services to address business needs, which is a testament to the strength of its cloud offerings. Strong demand for the latest autonomous database supported by ML is anticipated to drive top line and provide the company a competitive edge against Amazon Web Services (“AWS”) in the Database-as-a-Service market.

Although the company’s shares have underperformed in the past year, these factors are expected to help it grow in the rest of 2020. However, increasing expenses on product enhancements amid stiff competition in the cloud market from dominant players are anticipated to weigh on profitability.  

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Chevron (CVX), Tesla (TSLA) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A).

These Stocks Are Poised to Soar Past the Pandemic

The COVID-19 outbreak has shifted consumer behavior dramatically, and a handful of high-tech companies have stepped up to keep America running. Right now, investors in these companies have a shot at serious profits. For example, Zoom jumped 108.5% in less than 4 months while most other stocks were sinking.

Our research shows that 5 cutting-edge stocks could skyrocket from the exponential increase in demand for “stay at home” technologies. This could be one of the biggest buying opportunities of this decade, especially for those who get in early.

See the 5 high-tech stocks now>>

Sheraz Mian

Director of Research

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>>>