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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Lululemon, Oracle, Costco and Broadcom

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – December 11, 2020 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU - Free Report) , Oracle Corporation (ORCL - Free Report) , Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST - Free Report) and Broadcom Inc. (AVGO - Free Report) .

Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

Big Afternoon for Earnings Reports: LULU, ORCL, COST and More

Market indexes were mixed this Thursday, continuing a slower-paced week where bullish sentiment looks to be on the wane a bit. This, considering Covid-19 vaccines have at last begun to be administered, and there is light at the end of this pandemic tunnel. The Dow and S&P 500, down 0.24% and 0.13%, respectively, are on pace for their first down week in the past three. The Nasdaq, which rose 0.54% on the day, is still on trajectory for its first down week in the last four.

Reporting fiscal Q3 earnings after Thursday’s closing bell is lululemon, which easily beat expectations on both top and bottom lines: $1.16 per share was a big beat over the 87 cents in the Zacks consensus, while $1.12 billion in quarterly revenues surpassed the $1.01 billion expected. Its Direct-to-Consumer business really took off in the quarter, +94% year over year, and now consisting of 43% of total company sales. North America grew 19% for the Vancouver, Canada-based company, while International rose 45%. The company gave no guidance in the press release. For more on LULU’s earnings, click here.

Oracle also reported fiscal Q2 numbers yesterday afternoon, beating its earnings consensus by 6 cents to $1.06 per share on revenues of $9.80 billion, a smidge above our $9.79 billion estimate. Non-GAAP operating margins rose 5% to 47% in the quarter, but no guidance was provided in the earnings release. Oracle has not missed on earnings since we changed how we dealt with stock-based compensation, in calendar Q2 of 2017. Oracle trades at a discount to more high-profile software vendors, but still dropped 1% on the report. For more on ORCL’s earnings, click here.

Costco well-outpaced earnings late Thursday as well, posting $2.62 per share from a $2.04 Zacks consensus. Revenues also came in stronger than expected, though not by the same margin: $43.21 billion versus $43.16 billion estimated. The company reported a $212 million pre-tax hit on Covid-related premium wages in the quarter, accounting for 35 cents per share. Net sales rose 17%, while comps reached 15.4% year over year. For more on COST’s earnings, click here.

Broadcom also posted earnings results on a busy Thursday afternoon in between earnings seasons, reporting $6.35 per share on $6.47 billion in revenues, topping the estimated $6.26 per share and $6.42 billion, respectively. Guidance for next-quarter sales was upped to $6.6 billion — higher than the Zacks consensus $6.51 billion. The company also hiked its dividend 11% and announced some shifting chairs in its front office. Shares sold the news, after having risen 160% from its March lows.

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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

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