We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
Lands' End, JOANN, NVIDIA, Microsoft and Applied Materials highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day
Read MoreHide Full Article
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – September 21, 2021 – Zacks Equity Research Shares of Lands' End, Inc. (LE - Free Report) as the Bull of the Day, JOANN Inc. as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA - Free Report) , Microsoft Corporation (MSFT - Free Report) and Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT - Free Report) .
Lands' End is seeing strong demand for clothing and accessories this year as consumers return to work and school. This Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) is expected to grow its revenue by 18% this year.
Lands' End is a retailer that sells men's, women's and children's clothing, accessories, footwear and home products both in retail stores and online at landsend.com.
A Record Second Quarter
On Sep 2, Lands' End reported its fiscal 2021 second quarter results and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $0.05. Earnings were $0.48 versus the consensus of $0.45.
Net revenue jumped 23.1% to a record $384.1 million from the 2020 quarter at $312.1 million. But that was a pandemic quarter.
Comparing revenue to 2019's Q2, which was pre-pandemic, and revenue was still up 28.8%.
Global ecommerce revenue rose 7.7% to $285.4 million from last year but was up 32.5% from Q2 of fiscal 2019, which was pre-pandemic. It was boosted by increased digital marketing spend and an improved product line that was popular with customers.
Outfitters net revenue soared 75.4% to $65.5 million from $37.4 million due to stronger demand within the travel-related national accounts and school uniform customers.
It also saw gains from offering its swimwear assortment in an additional 150 Kohl's stores.
Maintained Second Half Outlook
Despite all the good news, and continued strong customer demand, supply chain challenges were still hitting Lands' End and the industry.
As a result, it maintained its full year outlook even though business is bullish.
There is just one analyst covering Lands' End on Zacks.com.
That analyst is bullish as the Zacks Consensus Estimate has risen to $1.45 from $1.00 in the last 60 days.
That's earnings growth of 339% as it made just $0.33 in fiscal 2020.
Fiscal 2023 is also looking bullish, as the Zacks Consensus is calling for $1.65, or another 13.8% earnings growth.
Is the Sell-Off a Buying Opportunity?
Lands' End shares are up 55% over the last year as retail has recovered from the 2020 coronavirus sell-off.
However, the shares have taken a 31% dive in the last month.
They now trade with a forward P/E of 17.1.
That's cheaper than competitors Duluth Holdings and Columbia Sportswear, which are trading with forward P/E so 19.5 and 21.5, respectively.
And Lands' End is maximizing its partnerships with Kohl's and Reese Witherspoon's Draper James, which will launch its third shared collection this holiday season.
For those investors looking for an apparel retailer for the economic recovery, Lands' End is one to keep on your short list.
JOANN was a pandemic winner but sales have slowed on the reopen. This Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) is expected to see sales decline 12% this year.
JOANN is the leader in sewing and fabrics, and also is a fast growing player in arts and crafts. It operates 855 stores across 49 states and an e-commerce business.
A Miss in the Second Quarter
On Sep 2, JOANN reported its fiscal second quarter 2022 results and missed on the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 7 cents.
Earnings were a loss of $0.20 compared to the Zacks Consensus of a loss of $0.13.
Net sales fell by 29.8% to $496.9 million year-over-year as last year the company saw a surge of sales with people staying home during the pandemic.
Comparable sales also fell 29.9% but on a 2-year stack, total comparable sales rose 8.1%.
It's omni-channel net sales were up 115% to $53.5 million, on a two year basis and now represent about 11% of total second quarter sales versus about 5% pre-pandemic.
Analysts Cut Estimates
Like every retailer, JOANN is experiencing supply chain challenges as it heads into its two busiest seasons, fall and the winter holidays.
The analysts have gotten more cautious in the last month.
4 estimates have been cut for Fiscal 2022 and Fiscal 2023 in the last 30 days.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Fiscal 2022 has fallen to $2.09 from $2.84 in the last month.
Fiscal 2023 has also fallen to $2.16 from $3.03 during that time. That is just earnings growth of 3.5%.
Shareholder Friendly
On Sep 13, JOANN announced its board had authorized a share repurchase up to an aggregate of $20 million through Mar 9, 2022.
The company also pays a dividend, currently yielding 3.6%.
Shares are Dirt Cheap
JOANN only went public in March. The second quarter was its full quarter as a public company.
Shares have taken a tumble in the last month, falling 11%.
They are dirt cheap on a P/E basis, with a forward P/E of 5.7.
However, with the uncertainty around the earnings going forward, it might be best for investors to wait on the sidelines.
Additional content:
Stocks to Benefit from Continued A.I. Demand
Over the years, artificial intelligence ("AI") has become a major driving force behind technological advancement as it continues to bolster innovation, and increase efficiency and productivity across various segments. Thanks to these conveniences, companies around the world look set to increase their spending on AI solutions.
Per a report by the International Data Corporation published on Aug 4, worldwide revenues for the AI market are expected to grow 15.2% in 2021 to $341.8 billion. The report further stated that in 2022, the AI market is ready to grow 18.8% and also looks set to "break the $500 billion mark" by 2024.
AI is bringing myriad conveniences to the table and one of the segments taking advantage of it is industrial automation. AI is the driving force behind robots, along with other technologies like machine learning ("ML"), which is a subset of AI, as well as Internet of Things. AI-enabled robots can perform regular tasks with precision, thereby reducing the need for human intervention. The completion time for tasks can be reduced significantly as robots can continuously carry out their operations without any break.
Also, AI is making significant in-roads within the retail segment, especially in online shopping. The e-commerce platforms are tailoring product recommendations for their users with the help of AI, by studying their purchase and search history, among others. AI-powered chatbots are also being used to respond instantaneously to user inquiries, thereby enhancing the user experience.
AI is also improving supply chain management and logistics. With the help of AI, organizations are ensuring efficient management of inventory and warehouse, and improvements in delivery time of products, among others.
The battle of the voice assistants is also heating up as they are bringing more convenience to users. Owing to technologies like ML and natural language processing, voice assistants are improving their responses over time and carrying out more nuanced tasks. In fact, Statista estimated that by 2024, the number of digital voice assistants is set to cross the world's population and reach 8.4 billion units.
AI is also gaining ground within farming, potentially increasing agricultural output, while also offering other benefits to farmers. Per a TechTarget article, agricultural AI bots are harvesting higher volumes of crops faster than humans, finding and eliminating weeds with improved accuracy, and so on.
Reflective of the positive developments that AI is bringing across various segments, it is quite expected that the AI market is ready to grow ahead. Per another report by Research and Markets, the global AI market is set to witness a CAGR of 35% from 2021 to 2025, as mentioned in a Business Wire article.
3 Stocks to Keep an Eye On
The AI market seems poised to grow as companies look to increase their spending on AI solutions, owing to the benefits that AI is offering to users across several segments. This seems then a good time to look at stocks that can make the most of this trend. We have selected three such stocks that carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
NVIDIA Corp. offers Data Center platforms and systems for AI, high performance computing, and accelerated computing, via its Compute & Networking segment. NVIDIA offers its NVIDIA DRIVE PX2 which is an open AI car computing platform that enables automakers and their tier 1 suppliers to accelerate autonomous vehicle production. In partnership with VMware, on Aug 24, NVIDIA announced the availability of NVIDIA AI Enterprise, which is an end-to-end, cloud-native suite of AI and data analytics software.
Shares of NVIDIA have risen 67.8% year to date and it currently has a Zacks Rank #2. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings increased 5.8% over the past 60 days. The company's expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 68%.
Microsoft Corp. offers Azure AI which is a portfolio of AI services for developers and data scientists for building and deploying AI solutions. On Apr 12, the company announced that it is acquiring Nuance Communications in an all-cash transaction of $19.7 billion, combining solutions and expertise for delivering new cloud and AI capabilities across healthcare and other industries.
Shares of Zacks Rank #2 Microsoft have risen 34.8% year to date. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings increased 3.6% over the past 60 days. The company's expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 8%.
Applied Materials provides manufacturing equipment, services and software to the semiconductor, display and related industries. On Mar 16, the company unveiled its new playbook for process control that combines big data and AI technology to deliver an intelligent and adaptive solution. On Apr 5, the company unveiled its Actionable Insight Accelerator platform that uses big data and AI for accelerating semiconductor technology breakthroughs.
Shares of Applied Materials have risen 63.2% year to date. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings increased 4.4% over the past 60 days. This Zacks Rank #2 company's expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 64%.
Zacks.com provides investment resources and informs you of these resources, which you may choose to use in making your own investment decisions. Zacks is providing information on this resource to you subject to the Zacks "Terms and Conditions of Service" disclaimer. www.zacks.com/disclaimer.
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.
See More Zacks Research for These Tickers
Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:
Image: Bigstock
Lands' End, JOANN, NVIDIA, Microsoft and Applied Materials highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – September 21, 2021 – Zacks Equity Research Shares of Lands' End, Inc. (LE - Free Report) as the Bull of the Day, JOANN Inc. as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA - Free Report) , Microsoft Corporation (MSFT - Free Report) and Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT - Free Report) .
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
Bull of the Day:
Lands' End is seeing strong demand for clothing and accessories this year as consumers return to work and school. This Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) is expected to grow its revenue by 18% this year.
Lands' End is a retailer that sells men's, women's and children's clothing, accessories, footwear and home products both in retail stores and online at landsend.com.
A Record Second Quarter
On Sep 2, Lands' End reported its fiscal 2021 second quarter results and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $0.05. Earnings were $0.48 versus the consensus of $0.45.
Net revenue jumped 23.1% to a record $384.1 million from the 2020 quarter at $312.1 million. But that was a pandemic quarter.
Comparing revenue to 2019's Q2, which was pre-pandemic, and revenue was still up 28.8%.
Global ecommerce revenue rose 7.7% to $285.4 million from last year but was up 32.5% from Q2 of fiscal 2019, which was pre-pandemic. It was boosted by increased digital marketing spend and an improved product line that was popular with customers.
Outfitters net revenue soared 75.4% to $65.5 million from $37.4 million due to stronger demand within the travel-related national accounts and school uniform customers.
It also saw gains from offering its swimwear assortment in an additional 150 Kohl's stores.
Maintained Second Half Outlook
Despite all the good news, and continued strong customer demand, supply chain challenges were still hitting Lands' End and the industry.
As a result, it maintained its full year outlook even though business is bullish.
There is just one analyst covering Lands' End on Zacks.com.
That analyst is bullish as the Zacks Consensus Estimate has risen to $1.45 from $1.00 in the last 60 days.
That's earnings growth of 339% as it made just $0.33 in fiscal 2020.
Fiscal 2023 is also looking bullish, as the Zacks Consensus is calling for $1.65, or another 13.8% earnings growth.
Is the Sell-Off a Buying Opportunity?
Lands' End shares are up 55% over the last year as retail has recovered from the 2020 coronavirus sell-off.
However, the shares have taken a 31% dive in the last month.
They now trade with a forward P/E of 17.1.
That's cheaper than competitors Duluth Holdings and Columbia Sportswear, which are trading with forward P/E so 19.5 and 21.5, respectively.
And Lands' End is maximizing its partnerships with Kohl's and Reese Witherspoon's Draper James, which will launch its third shared collection this holiday season.
For those investors looking for an apparel retailer for the economic recovery, Lands' End is one to keep on your short list.
Bear of the Day:
JOANN was a pandemic winner but sales have slowed on the reopen. This Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) is expected to see sales decline 12% this year.
JOANN is the leader in sewing and fabrics, and also is a fast growing player in arts and crafts. It operates 855 stores across 49 states and an e-commerce business.
A Miss in the Second Quarter
On Sep 2, JOANN reported its fiscal second quarter 2022 results and missed on the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 7 cents.
Earnings were a loss of $0.20 compared to the Zacks Consensus of a loss of $0.13.
Net sales fell by 29.8% to $496.9 million year-over-year as last year the company saw a surge of sales with people staying home during the pandemic.
Comparable sales also fell 29.9% but on a 2-year stack, total comparable sales rose 8.1%.
It's omni-channel net sales were up 115% to $53.5 million, on a two year basis and now represent about 11% of total second quarter sales versus about 5% pre-pandemic.
Analysts Cut Estimates
Like every retailer, JOANN is experiencing supply chain challenges as it heads into its two busiest seasons, fall and the winter holidays.
The analysts have gotten more cautious in the last month.
4 estimates have been cut for Fiscal 2022 and Fiscal 2023 in the last 30 days.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Fiscal 2022 has fallen to $2.09 from $2.84 in the last month.
Fiscal 2023 has also fallen to $2.16 from $3.03 during that time. That is just earnings growth of 3.5%.
Shareholder Friendly
On Sep 13, JOANN announced its board had authorized a share repurchase up to an aggregate of $20 million through Mar 9, 2022.
The company also pays a dividend, currently yielding 3.6%.
Shares are Dirt Cheap
JOANN only went public in March. The second quarter was its full quarter as a public company.
Shares have taken a tumble in the last month, falling 11%.
They are dirt cheap on a P/E basis, with a forward P/E of 5.7.
However, with the uncertainty around the earnings going forward, it might be best for investors to wait on the sidelines.
Additional content:
Stocks to Benefit from Continued A.I. Demand
Over the years, artificial intelligence ("AI") has become a major driving force behind technological advancement as it continues to bolster innovation, and increase efficiency and productivity across various segments. Thanks to these conveniences, companies around the world look set to increase their spending on AI solutions.
Per a report by the International Data Corporation published on Aug 4, worldwide revenues for the AI market are expected to grow 15.2% in 2021 to $341.8 billion. The report further stated that in 2022, the AI market is ready to grow 18.8% and also looks set to "break the $500 billion mark" by 2024.
AI is bringing myriad conveniences to the table and one of the segments taking advantage of it is industrial automation. AI is the driving force behind robots, along with other technologies like machine learning ("ML"), which is a subset of AI, as well as Internet of Things. AI-enabled robots can perform regular tasks with precision, thereby reducing the need for human intervention. The completion time for tasks can be reduced significantly as robots can continuously carry out their operations without any break.
Also, AI is making significant in-roads within the retail segment, especially in online shopping. The e-commerce platforms are tailoring product recommendations for their users with the help of AI, by studying their purchase and search history, among others. AI-powered chatbots are also being used to respond instantaneously to user inquiries, thereby enhancing the user experience.
AI is also improving supply chain management and logistics. With the help of AI, organizations are ensuring efficient management of inventory and warehouse, and improvements in delivery time of products, among others.
The battle of the voice assistants is also heating up as they are bringing more convenience to users. Owing to technologies like ML and natural language processing, voice assistants are improving their responses over time and carrying out more nuanced tasks. In fact, Statista estimated that by 2024, the number of digital voice assistants is set to cross the world's population and reach 8.4 billion units.
AI is also gaining ground within farming, potentially increasing agricultural output, while also offering other benefits to farmers. Per a TechTarget article, agricultural AI bots are harvesting higher volumes of crops faster than humans, finding and eliminating weeds with improved accuracy, and so on.
Reflective of the positive developments that AI is bringing across various segments, it is quite expected that the AI market is ready to grow ahead. Per another report by Research and Markets, the global AI market is set to witness a CAGR of 35% from 2021 to 2025, as mentioned in a Business Wire article.
3 Stocks to Keep an Eye On
The AI market seems poised to grow as companies look to increase their spending on AI solutions, owing to the benefits that AI is offering to users across several segments. This seems then a good time to look at stocks that can make the most of this trend. We have selected three such stocks that carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
NVIDIA Corp. offers Data Center platforms and systems for AI, high performance computing, and accelerated computing, via its Compute & Networking segment. NVIDIA offers its NVIDIA DRIVE PX2 which is an open AI car computing platform that enables automakers and their tier 1 suppliers to accelerate autonomous vehicle production. In partnership with VMware, on Aug 24, NVIDIA announced the availability of NVIDIA AI Enterprise, which is an end-to-end, cloud-native suite of AI and data analytics software.
Shares of NVIDIA have risen 67.8% year to date and it currently has a Zacks Rank #2. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings increased 5.8% over the past 60 days. The company's expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 68%.
Microsoft Corp. offers Azure AI which is a portfolio of AI services for developers and data scientists for building and deploying AI solutions. On Apr 12, the company announced that it is acquiring Nuance Communications in an all-cash transaction of $19.7 billion, combining solutions and expertise for delivering new cloud and AI capabilities across healthcare and other industries.
Shares of Zacks Rank #2 Microsoft have risen 34.8% year to date. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings increased 3.6% over the past 60 days. The company's expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 8%.
Applied Materials provides manufacturing equipment, services and software to the semiconductor, display and related industries. On Mar 16, the company unveiled its new playbook for process control that combines big data and AI technology to deliver an intelligent and adaptive solution. On Apr 5, the company unveiled its Actionable Insight Accelerator platform that uses big data and AI for accelerating semiconductor technology breakthroughs.
Shares of Applied Materials have risen 63.2% year to date. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings increased 4.4% over the past 60 days. This Zacks Rank #2 company's expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 64%.
Media Contact
Zacks Investment Research
800-767-3771 ext. 9339
support@zacks.com
https://www.zacks.com
Zacks.com provides investment resources and informs you of these resources, which you may choose to use in making your own investment decisions. Zacks is providing information on this resource to you subject to the Zacks "Terms and Conditions of Service" disclaimer. www.zacks.com/disclaimer.
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.