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The Zacks Analyst Blog UnitedHealth, Honeywell , Shopify and Optex Systems
Read MoreHide Full Article
For Immediate Releases
Chicago, IL – February 20, 2026 – 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 UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH - Free Report) , Honeywell International Inc. (HON - Free Report) , Shopify Inc. (SHOP - Free Report) and Optex Systems Holdings, Inc. (OPXS - Free Report) .
Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:
Top Stock Reports for UnitedHealth, Honeywell and Spotify
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 UnitedHealth Group Inc., Honeywell International Inc. and Shopify Inc., as well as a micro-cap stock Optex Systems Holdings, Inc. The Zacks microcap research is unique as our research content on these small and under-the-radar companies is the only research of its type in the country.
These research reports have been hand-picked from the roughly 70 reports published by our analyst team today.
The daily 'Ahead of Wall Street' article is a must-read for all investors who would like to be ready for that day's trading action. The article comes out before the market opens, attempting to make sense of that morning's economic releases and how they will affect that day's market action. You can read this article for free on our home page and can actually sign up there to get an email notification as this article comes out each morning.
Shares of UnitedHealth have declined -3.9% over the past six months against the Zacks Medical - HMOs industry’s decline of -4.6%. The company is facing rising medical costs which have pushed MCR to 89.1% in 2025, while elevated debt and interest expenses strain financial flexibility. Despite the share price fall over the past year, it is currently overvalued compared with the industry average. As such, the stock warrants a cautious stance.
Nevertheless, UnitedHealth Group’s fourth-quarter earnings beat estimates. It has shown steady revenue growth, driven by Optum and UnitedHealthcare. Its strong market position and expansion initiatives, amid rising healthcare demand, support long-term growth.
Optum remains a key driver via pharmacy services, tech integration and government solutions. Commercial membership also grew, aiding margins despite headwinds in government programs. Cash flow remains strong, with significant shareholder returns.
Honeywell’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Diversified Operations industry over the past six months (+18.6% vs. +1.4%). The company’s strength in the commercial aviation and building automation businesses augurs well. The Aerospace segment is particularly strong, driven by strength in the defense business and growth in air transport flight hours. Strong demand across the commercial aviation OEM and aftermarket businesses is aiding the segment.
Honeywell also continues to reward shareholders, which adds to the stock’s appeal. While acquisitions have expanded its product range and geographic reach, they have increased the company’s balance sheet debt significantly as well.
However, persistent weakness in the Industrial Automation segment, due to a lower demand environment, is worrisome. Also, the company has been dealing with increasing operating costs, which might hurt its margins and profitability. Foreign currency translation remains an overhang.
Shares of Shopify have underperformed the Zacks Internet - Services industry over the past six months (-12.7% vs. +43.1%). The company faces gross margin pressure due to higher hosting costs, the three-month paid trial program, and the expanded PayPal partnership, which carries lower margins.
Nevertheless, Shopify’s prospects are benefiting from an expanding merchant base. New merchant-friendly tools like Shop Minis, Shop Cash, and Sign in with Shop along with Shop Pay solutions are helping SHOP win merchants regularly. The company’s investment in AI-driven tools, such as Catalog, Universal Cart, and Sidekick, is helping merchants improve customer engagement and streamline operations.
Shopify’s expanding international footprint with strong growth in Europe is a key catalyst. A rich partner base is helping SHOP expand its merchant base. Strong free cash flow margin reflects solid liquidity and supports its share repurchase program.
Optex Systems’ shares have outperformed the Zacks Aerospace - Defense Equipment industry over the past six months (+20.1% vs. +18.6%). This microcap company with a market capitalization of $87.34 million is demonstrating strengthening demand momentum, with Q1 FY26 orders rising 31.7% YoY to $7.9 million, driven by a doubling of periscope bookings and sharp growth in optical assemblies.
Recent multi-year contract awards totaling more than $6 million extend production visibility into 2027, supporting revenue durability. Quarterly revenues increased 11.6% to $9.1 million, led by a 55.9% surge in the Richardson segment, which now represents 58% of sales. Liquidity remains solid, with $5.8 million in cash, $21.2 million in working capital and no revolver borrowings.
However, gross margins declined and operating income fell sharply due to mix pressure and higher G&A. Backlog decreased to $37.9 million, with notable softness in periscopes and laser filters. Shares have significantly outperformed over the past year and trade at 1.93X EV/sales and 10.89X EV/EBITDA, discounts to industry.
Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +7.7% average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +48.4%, +50.2% and +56.7% per year.
Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.
Note: Sheraz Mian heads the Zacks Equity Research department and is a well-regarded expert of aggregate earnings. He is frequently quoted in the print and electronic media and publishes the weekly Earnings Trends and Earnings Previewreports. If you want an email notification each time Sheraz publishes a new article, please click here>>>
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 UnitedHealth, Honeywell , Shopify and Optex Systems
For Immediate Releases
Chicago, IL – February 20, 2026 – 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 UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH - Free Report) , Honeywell International Inc. (HON - Free Report) , Shopify Inc. (SHOP - Free Report) and Optex Systems Holdings, Inc. (OPXS - Free Report) .
Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:
Top Stock Reports for UnitedHealth, Honeywell and Spotify
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 UnitedHealth Group Inc., Honeywell International Inc. and Shopify Inc., as well as a micro-cap stock Optex Systems Holdings, Inc. The Zacks microcap research is unique as our research content on these small and under-the-radar companies is the only research of its type in the country.
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 >>>
Ahead of Wall Street
The daily 'Ahead of Wall Street' article is a must-read for all investors who would like to be ready for that day's trading action. The article comes out before the market opens, attempting to make sense of that morning's economic releases and how they will affect that day's market action. You can read this article for free on our home page and can actually sign up there to get an email notification as this article comes out each morning.
You can read today's AWS here >>> Solid Reports This Morning for Jobless Claims & Earnings
Today's Featured Research Reports
Shares of UnitedHealth have declined -3.9% over the past six months against the Zacks Medical - HMOs industry’s decline of -4.6%. The company is facing rising medical costs which have pushed MCR to 89.1% in 2025, while elevated debt and interest expenses strain financial flexibility. Despite the share price fall over the past year, it is currently overvalued compared with the industry average. As such, the stock warrants a cautious stance.
Nevertheless, UnitedHealth Group’s fourth-quarter earnings beat estimates. It has shown steady revenue growth, driven by Optum and UnitedHealthcare. Its strong market position and expansion initiatives, amid rising healthcare demand, support long-term growth.
Optum remains a key driver via pharmacy services, tech integration and government solutions. Commercial membership also grew, aiding margins despite headwinds in government programs. Cash flow remains strong, with significant shareholder returns.
(You can read the full research report on UnitedHealth here >>>)
Honeywell’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Diversified Operations industry over the past six months (+18.6% vs. +1.4%). The company’s strength in the commercial aviation and building automation businesses augurs well. The Aerospace segment is particularly strong, driven by strength in the defense business and growth in air transport flight hours. Strong demand across the commercial aviation OEM and aftermarket businesses is aiding the segment.
Honeywell also continues to reward shareholders, which adds to the stock’s appeal. While acquisitions have expanded its product range and geographic reach, they have increased the company’s balance sheet debt significantly as well.
However, persistent weakness in the Industrial Automation segment, due to a lower demand environment, is worrisome. Also, the company has been dealing with increasing operating costs, which might hurt its margins and profitability. Foreign currency translation remains an overhang.
(You can read the full research report on Honeywell here >>>)
Shares of Shopify have underperformed the Zacks Internet - Services industry over the past six months (-12.7% vs. +43.1%). The company faces gross margin pressure due to higher hosting costs, the three-month paid trial program, and the expanded PayPal partnership, which carries lower margins.
Nevertheless, Shopify’s prospects are benefiting from an expanding merchant base. New merchant-friendly tools like Shop Minis, Shop Cash, and Sign in with Shop along with Shop Pay solutions are helping SHOP win merchants regularly. The company’s investment in AI-driven tools, such as Catalog, Universal Cart, and Sidekick, is helping merchants improve customer engagement and streamline operations.
Shopify’s expanding international footprint with strong growth in Europe is a key catalyst. A rich partner base is helping SHOP expand its merchant base. Strong free cash flow margin reflects solid liquidity and supports its share repurchase program.
(You can read the full research report on Shopify here >>>)
Optex Systems’ shares have outperformed the Zacks Aerospace - Defense Equipment industry over the past six months (+20.1% vs. +18.6%). This microcap company with a market capitalization of $87.34 million is demonstrating strengthening demand momentum, with Q1 FY26 orders rising 31.7% YoY to $7.9 million, driven by a doubling of periscope bookings and sharp growth in optical assemblies.
Recent multi-year contract awards totaling more than $6 million extend production visibility into 2027, supporting revenue durability. Quarterly revenues increased 11.6% to $9.1 million, led by a 55.9% surge in the Richardson segment, which now represents 58% of sales. Liquidity remains solid, with $5.8 million in cash, $21.2 million in working capital and no revolver borrowings.
However, gross margins declined and operating income fell sharply due to mix pressure and higher G&A. Backlog decreased to $37.9 million, with notable softness in periscopes and laser filters. Shares have significantly outperformed over the past year and trade at 1.93X EV/sales and 10.89X EV/EBITDA, discounts to industry.
(You can read the full research report on Optex Systems here >>>)
Why Haven't You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?
Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +7.7% average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +48.4%, +50.2% and +56.7% per year.
Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.
See Stocks Free >>
Note: Sheraz Mian heads the Zacks Equity Research department and is a well-regarded expert of aggregate earnings. He is frequently quoted in the print and electronic media and publishes the weekly Earnings Trends and Earnings Previewreports. If you want an email notification each time Sheraz publishes a new article, please click here>>>
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Zacks Investment Research
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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.