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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights PepsiCo, Salesforce, Advanced Micro Devices, Centene and Gartner

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – May 19, 2023 – 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: PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP - Free Report) , Salesforce, Inc. (CRM - Free Report) , Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD - Free Report) , Centene Corp. (CNC - Free Report) and Gartner, Inc. (IT - Free Report) .

Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

Top Analyst Reports for PepsiCo, Salesforce and AMD

The Zacks Research Daily presents the best research output of our analyst team. Today's Research Daily features new research reports on 14 major stocks, including PepsiCo, Inc., Salesforce, Inc. and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.. 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 >>>

PepsiCo shares have lagged the S&P 500 index this year (+5.4% vs. +9.4%), but have handily outperformed rival Coke (down -1.7% year-to-date). The company's Q1 results on April 25th reflected gains from strength and resilience in its diversified portfolio, modernized supply chain, improved digital capabilities, flexible go-to-market distribution systems and robust consumer demand trends.

It also gained from the resilience and strength in the global beverage and convenient food businesses. However, PepsiCo witnessed margin pressures in the first quarter driven by impacts of supply-chain disruptions and inflationary labor, transportation and commodity costs. Adverse currency rates also remain headwinds.

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

Shares of Salesforce have outperformed the Zacks Computer - Software industry over the past year (+34.5% vs. +24.5%). The company is benefiting from a robust demand environment as customers are undergoing a major digital transformation. The rapid adoption of its cloud-based solutions is driving demand for its products. Its sustained focus on introducing more aligned products as per customer needs is driving its top-line.

Continued deal wins in the international market is another growth driver. The acquisition of Slack would position the company to be a leader in the enterprise team collaboration solution space and better compete with Microsoft's Teams product.

However, stiff competition and unfavorable currency fluctuations are concerns. Besides, a challenging macroeconomic environment might hurt its growth prospects in the near-term.

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

AMD shares have outperformed the Zacks Electronics - Semiconductors industry over the past six months (+43.2% vs. +24.2%). The company is benefiting from strong demand for its products in industrial, vision and health care, test and emulation, communications, aerospace and defense, and automotive end-markets. Embedded segment reported strong growth.

For the second quarter of 2023, AMD expects to witness growth in Embedded segment, partially offset by a decline in the Client, Gaming and Data Center segments on a year-over-year basis. AMD is benefiting from a strong product portfolio and acquisitions including Xilinx and Pensando, which has diversified its business.

Robust adoption of EPYC processors by North American hyperscalers has been a tailwind. Alliances with Amazon, Microsoft, Baidu and JD.com augment business prospects. However, stiff competition from NVIDIA and Intel is a concern.

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Centene Corp. and Gartner, Inc..

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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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