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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Merck, Salesforce, Philip Morris International, Novartis and CME Group
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For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – January 8, 2024 – 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: Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK - Free Report) , Salesforce, Inc. (CRM - Free Report) , Philip Morris International Inc. (PM - Free Report) , Novartis AG (NVS - Free Report) and CME Group Inc. (CME - Free Report) .
Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:
Top Analyst Reports for Merck, Salesforce and Philip Morris
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 Merck & Co., Inc., Salesforce, Inc. and Philip Morris International Inc.. These research reports have been hand-picked from the roughly 70 reports published by our analyst team today.
Shares of Merck have gained +4.7% over the past year against the Zacks Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry's gain of +13.0%. The company's products like Keytruda and Gardasil have been driving sales. With continued label expansion into new indications, particularly earlier-stage launches, Keytruda is expected to remain a key top-line driver.
Animal health and vaccine products are core growth drivers. Merck boasts a strong cancer pipeline, including Keytruda, which should drive long-term growth. Merck is investing in M&A activity to strengthen its pipeline.
However, generic competition for several drugs and rising competitive pressure, mainly on the diabetes franchise, will continue to be overhangs on the top line. There are concerns about Merck's ability to grow its non-oncology business ahead of Keytruda's loss of exclusivity later in the decade.
Shares of Salesforce have outperformed the Zacks Computer - Software industry over the past year (+78.8% vs. +57.3%). The company is benefiting from a robust demand environment as customers are undergoing a major digital transformation. The company's sustained focus on aligning products with customer needs is driving the top line.
Continued deal wins in the international market are another growth driver. The buyout of Slack has positioned the company as a leader in enterprise team collaboration and improved its competitive standing versus Microsoft Teams. Salesforce's strategy of continuously expanding generative AI offerings will help the company tap the growing opportunities in the space.
However, stiff competition and unfavorable currency fluctuations are concerns. Also, the challenging macroeconomic environment could hurt its growth prospects.
Shares of Philip Morris have outperformed the Zacks Tobacco industry over the past six months (+0.9% vs. -1.5%). The company has been gaining from its pricing power. Higher pricing variance was an upside to the company's performance in the third quarter of 2023 and is likely to remain a driver.
A focus on reduced-risk products, especially IQOS, has been working well for Philip Morris, which is well-placed to become a majority smoke-free company by 2025. Strength in ZYN is also expected to drive performance in 2023. Management expects net revenues to increase by nearly 8% on an organic basis in 2023.
Philip Morris expects to make additional growth-oriented investments in 2023, including the commercialization of ILUMA. However, this may impact margins. Apart from this, soft cigarette shipment volumes have been a concern. In 2023, cigarette shipment volumes are expected to decline by 1-2%.
Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Novartis AG and CME Group 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 Merck, Salesforce, Philip Morris International, Novartis and CME Group
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – January 8, 2024 – 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: Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK - Free Report) , Salesforce, Inc. (CRM - Free Report) , Philip Morris International Inc. (PM - Free Report) , Novartis AG (NVS - Free Report) and CME Group Inc. (CME - Free Report) .
Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:
Top Analyst Reports for Merck, Salesforce and Philip Morris
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 Merck & Co., Inc., Salesforce, Inc. and Philip Morris International 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 >>>
Shares of Merck have gained +4.7% over the past year against the Zacks Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry's gain of +13.0%. The company's products like Keytruda and Gardasil have been driving sales. With continued label expansion into new indications, particularly earlier-stage launches, Keytruda is expected to remain a key top-line driver.
Animal health and vaccine products are core growth drivers. Merck boasts a strong cancer pipeline, including Keytruda, which should drive long-term growth. Merck is investing in M&A activity to strengthen its pipeline.
However, generic competition for several drugs and rising competitive pressure, mainly on the diabetes franchise, will continue to be overhangs on the top line. There are concerns about Merck's ability to grow its non-oncology business ahead of Keytruda's loss of exclusivity later in the decade.
(You can read the full research report on Merk here >>>)
Shares of Salesforce have outperformed the Zacks Computer - Software industry over the past year (+78.8% vs. +57.3%). The company is benefiting from a robust demand environment as customers are undergoing a major digital transformation. The company's sustained focus on aligning products with customer needs is driving the top line.
Continued deal wins in the international market are another growth driver. The buyout of Slack has positioned the company as a leader in enterprise team collaboration and improved its competitive standing versus Microsoft Teams. Salesforce's strategy of continuously expanding generative AI offerings will help the company tap the growing opportunities in the space.
However, stiff competition and unfavorable currency fluctuations are concerns. Also, the challenging macroeconomic environment could hurt its growth prospects.
(You can read the full research report on Salesforce here >>>)
Shares of Philip Morris have outperformed the Zacks Tobacco industry over the past six months (+0.9% vs. -1.5%). The company has been gaining from its pricing power. Higher pricing variance was an upside to the company's performance in the third quarter of 2023 and is likely to remain a driver.
A focus on reduced-risk products, especially IQOS, has been working well for Philip Morris, which is well-placed to become a majority smoke-free company by 2025. Strength in ZYN is also expected to drive performance in 2023. Management expects net revenues to increase by nearly 8% on an organic basis in 2023.
Philip Morris expects to make additional growth-oriented investments in 2023, including the commercialization of ILUMA. However, this may impact margins. Apart from this, soft cigarette shipment volumes have been a concern. In 2023, cigarette shipment volumes are expected to decline by 1-2%.
(You can read the full research report on Phillip Morris here >>>)
Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Novartis AG and CME Group 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.