Back to top

Image: Bigstock

The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Robinhood Markets, Coinbase Global, Block, Visa and PayPal Holdings

Read MoreHide Full Article

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 25, 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: Robinhood Markets Inc. (HOOD - Free Report) , Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN - Free Report) , Block Inc. (SQ - Free Report) , Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) and PayPal Holdings Inc. (PYPL - Free Report) .

Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:

5 Crypto Stocks to Watch as Volatility Looms

On Sep 21, the cryptocurrency market suffered a setback courtesy of the Fed. In its September FOMC meeting, the Fed kept the benchmark lending rate unchanged at the existing 5.25-5.5%, as stated on Sep 20. However, the post-FOMC statement of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell dampened market participants' sentiments.

Although the Fed paused its rate hike in the September FOMC meeting, the current dot-plot has shown a strong likelihood of one more hike of 25 basis points in 2023. That will take the terminal interest rate of this hiking cycle to 5.6%, well above the 5.1% forecast in June. Notably, the current range of the Fed fund rate is the highest level since March 2001.

More importantly, the central bank said it would keep interest rates higher for a longer time period. The new projection has shown two maximum rate cuts in 2024 instead of four projected in June. The first cut in interest rate is not expected before September 2024.

As a result, the yield on the short-term 2-Year U.S. Treasury Note reached 5.202%, its highest level since 2006. This link is closely linked to the possibility of a near-term economic downturn. The yield on the benchmark 10-Year U.S. Treasury Note touched 4.494%, its highest level since 2007.

A higher market interest rate is detrimental to high-growth sectors like technology, consumer discretionary and cryptocurrency. Notably, the crypto space suffered a huge blow last year as the Fed pursued a rigorous interest rate hike regime.

Consequently, on Sep 21, prices of major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), Dogecoin (DOGE) and BNB (BNB) slid 1.7%, 1.9%, 1.9%, 2.3% and 1.6%, respectively.

Stocks in Focus

Robinhood Markets Inc. operates a financial services platform in the United States. Its platform allows users to invest in stocks, exchange-traded funds, options, gold, and cryptocurrencies. HOOD buys and sells Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and other cryptocurrencies using its Robinhood Crypto platform.

Robinhood Markets has an expected earnings growth rate of 57.3% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 18% over the last 60 days. HOOD currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Coinbase Global Inc. provides financial infrastructure and technology for the crypto economy in the United States and internationally. COIN offers the primary financial account in the crypto space for consumers, a marketplace with a pool of liquidity for transacting in crypto assets for institutions; and technology and services that enable developers to build crypto-based applications and securely accept crypto assets as payment.

Coinbase Global has an expected earnings growth rate of 84.8% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 30% over the last 60 days. COIN currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Block Inc. is an online digital and mobile payment platform for consumers and merchants and is the parent company of Square and Cash App. The users of Cash App can buy, sell, send and receive Bitcoin. In addition, SQ's decentralized tbd platform allows developers to build decentralized finance applications to run on programmable blockchains. SQ is also one of the largest Bitcoin investors.

Block has an expected earnings growth rate of 69% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.6% over the last 30 days. SQ currently has a Zacks Rank #3.

Visa Inc. is taking a significant step toward modernizing cross-border money movement. In a move aimed at enhancing the efficiency of global transactions, V is expanding its stablecoin settlement capabilities to the high-performing Solana blockchain. This expansion of V includes collaboration with prominent merchant acquirers Worldpay and Nuvei, marking a pivotal development in the world of digital payments.

Visa has an expected earnings growth rate of 15.3% for the current year (ending September 2024). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.8% over the last 60 days. V currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.

PayPal Holdings Inc. operates digital wallets and allows users to buy, transfer and sell cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin. PYPL's users can check out and pay using crypto to online merchants. Its mobile wallet Venmo also allows users to buy and sell cryptocurrency. PYPL has become the first major U.S. fintech company to offer its own crypto token with a dollar-pegged stablecoin known as PayPal USD.

PayPal Holdings has an expected earnings growth rate of 19.9% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.1% over the last 90 days. PYPL currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.

Why Haven't You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?

Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +6.2 average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +46.4%, +49.5% and +55.2% per year. Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.

See Stocks Free >>

Media Contact

Zacks Investment Research

800-767-3771 ext. 9339

support@zacks.com                                      

https://www.zacks.com                                                   

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.

Published in