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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Meta Platforms, Berkshire Hathaway, Costco Wholesale, Comcast and PACCAR

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – January 30, 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: Meta Platforms, Inc. (META - Free Report) , Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B - Free Report) , Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST - Free Report) , Comcast Corp. (CMCSA - Free Report) and PACCAR Inc (PCAR - Free Report) .

Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:

Top Research Reports for Meta Platforms, Berkshire Hathaway and Costco

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 Meta Platforms, Inc., Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp. 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 >>>

Meta Platforms shares have outperformed the Zacks Internet - Software industry over the past year (+168.0% vs. +65.0%). The company is benefiting from steady user growth across all regions, particularly Asia Pacific. Increased engagement for its offerings like Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Facebook has been a major growth driver.

Meta Platforms is leveraging AI to recommend Reels content, which is driving traffic on Instagram and Facebook. Its innovative portfolio, which includes Threads, Reels and Llama 2, is likely to aid prospects.

However, challenging macroeconomic conditions remain a headwind for Meta's advertising revenues, along with targeting and measurement headwinds due to Apple's iOS changes. Slow monetization of Reels, along with mounting operating losses at Reality Labs, are concerns

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

Shares of Berkshire Hathaway have outperformed the Zacks Insurance - Property and Casualty industry over the past year (+25.4% vs. +21.4%). The company is one of the largest property and casualty insurance companies with numerous diverse business activities. A strong cash position supports earnings-accretive bolt-on buyouts and is indicative of its financial flexibility.

Continued insurance business growth fuels increase in float, drives earnings and generates maximum return on equity. The non-insurance businesses have also been doing well in the last few years. The addition of Pilot Travel Centers (PTC) has strengthened its energy business. A sturdy capital level provides further impetus.

However, exposure to cat loss induces earnings volatility and also affects the underwriting results. Huge capital expenditure remains a headwind. With the demise of Charles Munger, uncertainty looms over the company's performance.

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

Costco Wholesale's shares have outperformed the Zacks Retail - Discount Stores industry over the past year (+40.6% vs. +15.6%). The company being a consumer defensive stock, has been surviving the market turmoil pretty well. The discount retailer's key strengths are strategic investments, a customer-centric approach, merchandise initiatives, and an emphasis on membership growth.

These factors have been helping it register decent sales and earnings numbers. This outlook reflects Costco's ability to navigate the challenging operating environment, generate solid sales, and register high membership renewal rates.

A favorable product mix, steady store traffic, pricing power and strong liquidity position should help Costco keep outperforming. While trading at a premium to its peers, its long-term growth prospects should help the stock see a solid upside.

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Comcast Corp. and PACCAR 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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