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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Microsoft, NIKE, BP, Hilton and W.W. Grainger
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For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – November 9, 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: Microsoft Corp. (MSFT - Free Report) , NIKE, Inc. (NKE - Free Report) , BP p.l.c. (BP - Free Report) , Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (HLT - Free Report) and W.W. Grainger, Inc. (GWW - Free Report) .
Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:
Top Stock Reports for Microsoft, NIKE and BP
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 Microsoft Corp., NIKE, Inc. and BP p.l.c. These research reports have been hand-picked from the roughly 70 reports published by our analyst team today.
Microsoft shares have outperformed the Zacks Computer - Software industry over the year-to-date period (+51.4% vs. +47.7%), reflecting the company's AI momentum that was further confirmed by the recent strong quarterly results. The company’s quarterly results on October 24th gained from strong Intelligent Cloud and Productivity and Business Processes revenues. Intelligent Cloud revenues were driven by growth in Azure and other cloud services.
Productivity and Business Processes revenues rose due to a strong adoption of Office 365 Commercial solutions. Continued momentum in the small and medium businesses, frontline worker offerings and a gain in revenue per user drove the top line. Steady growth in Dynamics products and cloud services aided LinkedIn revenues.
However, continued customer shift to cloud offerings is hurting growth in Office's commercial licensing revenues. Higher operating expenses driven by marketing, LinkedIn and cloud engineering amid intense competition in the cloud space remain a concern.
Shares of NIKE have outperformed the Zacks Shoes and Retail Apparel industry over the past year (+20.2% vs. +14.2%). Company’s continued progress on Consumer Direct Acceleration strategy, compelling product innovation and digital leadership have been drivers. This aided retail sales across Nike Direct and wholesale businesses in first-quarter fiscal 2024.
The digital business has been gaining from robust consumer trends, including momentum in the NIKE mobile app led by improved traffic and increased member buying frequency. The company posted top and bottom-line growth in first-quarter fiscal 2024.
Backed by solid consumer momentum, a robust innovation pipeline and strong inventory, management provided a solid outlook for fiscal 2024. However, NIKE has been witnessing gross margin pressures owing to the rising inflation. Elevated demand creation expenses lead to higher SG&A expenses.
BP shares have outperformed the Zacks Oil and Gas - Integrated - International industry over the year-to-date period (+4.8% vs. -2.5%). The company has a strong portfolio of upstream projects, backing impressive production growth. The integrated energy company has set an aggressive energy transition plan to capitalize on the mounting clean energy demand.
In a decade, BP has set an ambitious goal of developing 50 gigawatts (GW) of net renewable energy generating capacity, representing a massive improvement from the 2.5 GW capacity the company has developed so far. By 2030, it plans to reduce emissions from operations by 30-35%. BP has consistently given higher dividend yields in the past few years, compared to the composite stocks belonging to the industry.
However, BP’s balance sheet is more levered than most peers, limiting its financial flexibility and suggesting balance sheet weakness. Thus, BP is vulnerable to an economic downturn. As such the stock warrants a cautious stance.
Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. and W.W. Grainger, Inc.
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.
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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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Microsoft, NIKE, BP, Hilton and W.W. Grainger
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – November 9, 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: Microsoft Corp. (MSFT - Free Report) , NIKE, Inc. (NKE - Free Report) , BP p.l.c. (BP - Free Report) , Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (HLT - Free Report) and W.W. Grainger, Inc. (GWW - Free Report) .
Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:
Top Stock Reports for Microsoft, NIKE and BP
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 Microsoft Corp., NIKE, Inc. and BP p.l.c. 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 >>>
Microsoft shares have outperformed the Zacks Computer - Software industry over the year-to-date period (+51.4% vs. +47.7%), reflecting the company's AI momentum that was further confirmed by the recent strong quarterly results. The company’s quarterly results on October 24th gained from strong Intelligent Cloud and Productivity and Business Processes revenues. Intelligent Cloud revenues were driven by growth in Azure and other cloud services.
Productivity and Business Processes revenues rose due to a strong adoption of Office 365 Commercial solutions. Continued momentum in the small and medium businesses, frontline worker offerings and a gain in revenue per user drove the top line. Steady growth in Dynamics products and cloud services aided LinkedIn revenues.
However, continued customer shift to cloud offerings is hurting growth in Office's commercial licensing revenues. Higher operating expenses driven by marketing, LinkedIn and cloud engineering amid intense competition in the cloud space remain a concern.
(You can read the full research report on Microsoft here >>>)
Shares of NIKE have outperformed the Zacks Shoes and Retail Apparel industry over the past year (+20.2% vs. +14.2%). Company’s continued progress on Consumer Direct Acceleration strategy, compelling product innovation and digital leadership have been drivers. This aided retail sales across Nike Direct and wholesale businesses in first-quarter fiscal 2024.
The digital business has been gaining from robust consumer trends, including momentum in the NIKE mobile app led by improved traffic and increased member buying frequency. The company posted top and bottom-line growth in first-quarter fiscal 2024.
Backed by solid consumer momentum, a robust innovation pipeline and strong inventory, management provided a solid outlook for fiscal 2024. However, NIKE has been witnessing gross margin pressures owing to the rising inflation. Elevated demand creation expenses lead to higher SG&A expenses.
(You can read the full research report on NIKE here >>>)
BP shares have outperformed the Zacks Oil and Gas - Integrated - International industry over the year-to-date period (+4.8% vs. -2.5%). The company has a strong portfolio of upstream projects, backing impressive production growth. The integrated energy company has set an aggressive energy transition plan to capitalize on the mounting clean energy demand.
In a decade, BP has set an ambitious goal of developing 50 gigawatts (GW) of net renewable energy generating capacity, representing a massive improvement from the 2.5 GW capacity the company has developed so far. By 2030, it plans to reduce emissions from operations by 30-35%. BP has consistently given higher dividend yields in the past few years, compared to the composite stocks belonging to the industry.
However, BP’s balance sheet is more levered than most peers, limiting its financial flexibility and suggesting balance sheet weakness. Thus, BP is vulnerable to an economic downturn. As such the stock warrants a cautious stance.
(You canread the full research report on BP here >>>)
Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. and W.W. Grainger, Inc.
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 >>
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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.