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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Visa, Home Depot, Toyota Motor, Applied Materials and Eaton

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – April 5, 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: Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) , The Home Depot, Inc. (HD - Free Report) , Toyota Motor Corp. (TM - Free Report) , Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT - Free Report) and Eaton Corp. plc (ETN - Free Report) .

Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

Top Stock Reports for Visa, Home Depot and Toyota

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 Visa Inc., The Home Depot, Inc. and Toyota Motor 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 >>>

Shares of Visa have gained +21.9% over the past year, modestly lagging the S&P 500 index's +25.4% gain and significantly underperforming rival Mastercard's +32.2% gain over the same time period. The company’s strategic acquisitions and alliances are fostering long-term growth and consistently driving its revenues. It expects net revenues to increase in low double digits for fiscal 2024.

Visa, fueled by increased payments, cross-border volumes and sustained investments in technology, is witnessing significant profit growth. The ongoing shift to digital payments is advantageous for Visa, with strong domestic volumes supporting its overall performance. A robust cash position enables the company to enhance shareholder value.

However, elevated operating expenses pose margin challenges. It is witnessing a declining cash volume from the Asia Pacific and CEMEA regions. Rising client incentives will affect its adjusted revenues. As such, the stock warrants a cautious stance.

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

Home Depot shares have gained +28% over the past year against the Zacks Building Products - Retail industry’s gain of +28.9%. The company has been witnessing benefits from the execution of the “One Home Depot” investment plan, which focuses on expanding supply chain facilities, technology investments and enhancement to the digital experience.

The interconnected retail strategy and underlying technology infrastructure have helped consistently boost web traffic for the past few quarters. It is on track with its strategic investments to build a Pro ecosystem.

However, Home Depot's top and bottom-lines declined year over year in fourth-quarter fiscal 2023. Results were impacted by a deflation in lumber and copper prices and pressures from softness in big-ticket discretionary categories, which weighed on comps.

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

Shares of Toyota Motor have outperformed the Zacks Automotive - Foreign industry over the past year (+72.2% vs. +51.1%). Japan's auto major put up a stellar show in the fiscal third quarter of 2024. A robust lineup of trucks and sport utility vehicles are set to fuel Toyota’s sales volumes.

Its electric vehicle (EV) push is a major tailwind. The Japanese auto giant aims to generate 40% of its global sales from EVs by 2025 and 70% by 2030. It aims to expand global sales of BEVs to 1.5 million units in 2026. Upbeat projections for profit and revenues for fiscal 2024 spark optimism. Revenues and operating income for the current fiscal are projected to be ¥43.5 trillion and ¥4.9 trillion, indicating a year-over-year surge of 18% and 79.8%, respectively.

Toyota’s commitment to maximize shareholders value via dividends and buyback is also praiseworthy. These factors account for our bullish stance on the stock for the time being.

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

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Applied Materials, Inc. and Eaton Corp. plc.

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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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