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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Verizon, SAP, PetroChina, Moderna and General Motors

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 2, 2021 – 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: Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ - Free Report) , SAP SE (SAP - Free Report) , PetroChina Company Limited , Moderna, Inc. (MRNA - Free Report) and General Motors Company (GM - Free Report) .

Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

Top Research Reports for Verizon, SAP and PetroChina

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 Verizon, SAP and PetroChina. 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 >>>

Shares of Verizon have underperformed the Zacks Wireless National industry in the year-to-date period (-2.5% vs. +2.9%). The Zacks analyst, however, believes that Verizon is likely to benefit from a disciplined network strategy, including accelerated 5G deployment despite economic uncertainties stemming from the ongoing pandemic. 

The telecom giant plans to cover more than 175 million people between 2022 and 2023. Its disciplined network strategy for long-term sustainable growth, along with operational execution, is noteworthy. However, Verizon operates in an intensely competitive U.S. wireless market that strains margins. Also, hefty expenses on promotion and lucrative discounts to attract customers further hamper its profitability.

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

SAP’s shares have gained +10.2% over the last six months against the Zacks Computer Software industry’s gain of +21.4%. The Zacks analyst believes that SAP is benefiting from robust uptake of S/4HANA, and SuccessFactors Employee Central solutions. Momentum witnessed by Ariba and Fieldglass solutions is also noteworthy.

Further, SAP's alliances with IBM, Microsoft, Accenture and Verizon favor business prospects. Solid demand for e-commerce, digital supply chain and other cloud platform solutions, augurs well in the long run. However, soft uptake of software licenses and support offerings remains a headwind. Further, reduction in business travel due to pandemic is likely to weigh on Concur-related revenues.

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

Shares of PetroChina have gained +42.4% in the past three months against the Zacks International Integrated Oil industry’s gain of +7.4%. The Zacks analyst believes that with higher energy production and lower lifting costs supporting the company's exploration and production segment, the stock is likely to gain further.

Meanwhile, PetroChina is also well-positioned to capitalize on China’s growing natural gas demand. The company’s natural gas business offers lucrative growth prospects in the coming years as China moves from coal to natural gas. Notably, PetroChina's upstream unit witnessed a growth of 4.1% in production in 2020.

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Moderna and General Motors.

Zacks Names “Single Best Pick to Double”

From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.

You know this company from its past glory days, but few would expect that it’s poised for a monster turnaround. Fresh from a successful repositioning and flush with A-list celeb endorsements, it could rival or surpass other recent Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in a little more than 9 months and Nvidia which boomed +175.9% in one year.

Free: See Our Top Stock and 4 Runners Up >>

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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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