For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 9, 2026 – Zacks Equity Research shares Seagate Technology (STX Quick QuoteSTX - Free Report) as the Bull of the Day and Western Union (WU Quick QuoteWU - Free Report) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Tesla (TSLA Quick QuoteTSLA - Free Report) , BYD Company Limited (BYDDY Quick QuoteBYDDY - Free Report) and Geely Automobile Holdings Limited (GELHY Quick QuoteGELHY - Free Report) .

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Amid the mad dash to build bigger and more advanced data centers to power the AI boom, a wide range of technology companies have enjoyed enormous tailwinds. But few areas have benefited as dramatically as memory and data storage.

Stocks such as Micron Technology, Sandisk and SK Hynix have posted extraordinary gains as demand for supply-constrained high-bandwidth memory, DDR RAM, NAND flash and enterprise SSDs has surged to unprecedented levels.

One company tied closely to this boom, Seagate Technology, stands out today thanks to rapidly rising earnings estimates, favorable industry positioning and a compelling technical setup.

If you've been following my commentary over the last couple of months, you know I had become skeptical about the durability of the memory rally. Positioning and sentiment had grown increasingly stretched, and the group eventually corrected sharply as some of that excess was worked off.

I am now becoming more constructive again.

The underlying fundamentals remain exceptionally strong, earnings expectations continue to rise, and the recent period of consolidation has reset some of the excessive positioning that concerned me earlier. With those conditions improving, Seagate Technology and the broader memory and storage complex appear increasingly well positioned for another leg higher.

Seagate Technology's Role in the Memory Boom

Seagate plays a different role in the AI infrastructure boom than Micron, Sandisk, SK Hynix and Samsung. While those companies supply high-speed memory and flash storage, Seagate provides the mass-capacity hard drives that form the storage backbone of many large data centers.

AI workloads require enormous amounts of data to be collected, stored and accessed, both before models are trained and as they generate increasing volumes of new content. For hyperscalers storing data at petabyte and exabyte scale, Seagate's enterprise hard drives offer significantly lower costs per terabyte than high-performance flash.

That makes Seagate a complementary beneficiary of the same AI buildout. As spending on compute, memory and data-center infrastructure continues to surge, the amount of data requiring economical long-term storage is growing alongside it.

Seagate Stock Gets Upgraded

Despite its tremendous rally, Seagate's valuation remains reasonable relative to its earnings growth. Shares trade at 23.5x forward earnings, roughly in line with the stock's historical median.

Sales are expected to climb 55% this year and another 36% next year, while earnings are forecast to surge 132% and 61.5%, respectively.

More importantly, those estimates continue to move higher. Analyst forecasts have risen between 18% and 31% across key timeframes, with upward revisions broadly unanimous. That momentum has earned STX a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

With estimates still moving higher even after the stock's strong run, the earnings story appears to be keeping pace with the share-price gains.

Seagate Technology Stock Nears Breakout

After peaking in mid-June, STX shares have spent the last several months consolidating in a volatile but largely sideways pattern. Now, the stock appears to be either breaking out or approaching a breakout from that range.

Technical levels are never exact and will vary depending on how resistance is drawn, but the broader signal looks increasingly clear: momentum is turning higher again. That strength is also showing up across the broader memory and storage complex, adding support to the bullish setup.

Should Investors Buy Shares in STX?

Seagate offers investors a compelling combination of AI-driven demand, rapidly rising earnings estimates and a technical setup that appears ready to resolve higher.

The stock has already had a tremendous run, so volatility should be expected. But with earnings growth still accelerating, estimates moving higher and valuation remaining near historical norms, the fundamental story continues to support the price action.

For investors looking for continued exposure to the AI infrastructure and memory boom, STX remains one of the more attractive names in the group.

Bear of the Day:

Some businesses get disrupted quickly. Others decline slowly as competitive pressures build and the underlying economics gradually deteriorate. Western Union has increasingly fallen into the latter category.

The legacy money-transfer business has been under pressure for years as digital-first competitors such as Wise and Remitly offer faster and cheaper alternatives, while banks and fintech platforms increasingly absorb transactions that once flowed through Western Union's physical agent network.

Those structural pressures have become more acute this year. Tighter US immigration policy is weighing on one of Western Union's most important customer bases, while a new federal tax on cash-funded remittances adds another headwind to its highest-margin channel.

The result has been another deterioration in the earnings outlook, sending estimates sharply lower and pushing WU to a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

Western Union's Core Business Remains Under Pressure

Western Union still generates much of its business by moving cash across borders through its global retail network. But that model is becoming increasingly difficult to defend.

Digital remittance providers continue to take share, while Western Union's traditional customer base is facing additional pressure from reduced migration into the United States. Management acknowledged on its most recent earnings call that new migration is critical to replenishing retail customers as existing users eventually return home or migrate toward digital alternatives.

That pressure is already showing up in the numbers. US-to-Mexico transactions declined more than 3% during the quarter, while the broader retail business continues to struggle with organic growth.

Western Union's acquisition of Intermex should provide some revenue support, but buying additional volume does not change the structural challenges facing the legacy business.

Western Union Stock Gets Downgraded

The earnings revision trend is decisively negative.

Over the last 60 days, analysts have unanimously lowered their estimates across timeframes, with no upward revisions. Current year earnings estimates have fallen from $1.75 per share to $1.29, a decline of roughly 26%, while next year's estimate has dropped about 18%.

Near-term expectations have fallen even faster. The current quarter estimate has been cut roughly 34%, while the next quarter forecast has also moved sharply lower.

That revision trend has earned Western Union a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) and suggests the earnings outlook may still be deteriorating.

At around 5.6x forward earnings, WU certainly looks cheap. The stock also carries a dividend yield above 13%.

But both figures require some caution. A low earnings multiple becomes less attractive when the earnings denominator continues to fall, while such an unusually high dividend yield signals that investors are increasingly questioning the sustainability of the payout.

Should Investors Avoid WU Stock?

Western Union may look tempting to value investors after its steep decline, but the fundamental setup remains difficult.

The company's core business continues to face digital disruption, immigration policy has created an additional headwind, and earnings estimates are being revised sharply lower across the board. Meanwhile, the Intermex acquisition has yet to prove that it can offset the deterioration in the legacy business.

There will eventually be a price where Western Union becomes interesting again, particularly if estimates stabilize and the company's digital businesses begin offsetting the decline in retail transfers.

For now, however, the combination of weakening fundamentals, falling earnings expectations and a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) suggests investors should remain on the sidelines.

Additional content:

Can Tesla Overcome Mixed August Registration Trends Across Europe?

Tesla's August vehicle registrations across key European markets delivered a mixed performance, with sharp increases in France and Denmark offset by steep declines in Norway, Spain, Sweden, Portugal and Italy.

New Tesla registrations, which are generally used as an indicator of sales, jumped 279% year over year in France and 104% in Denmark, per the data from France's PFA and Denmark's bilstatistik.dk.

However, registrations plunged 79% in both Norway and Spain, while Sweden, Portugal and Italy recorded declines of 41%, 37% and 36%, respectively, per the data from national automotive industry organizations OFV, Mobility Sweden, ANFAC and ACAP, and Italy's Transport Ministry.

In Norway, the steep decline may partly reflect a difficult comparison with last year, when buyers accelerated purchases ahead of a fiscal policy change scheduled for the end of 2025, per the European auto market analyst Matthias Schmidt.

Tesla's European sales have generally recovered this year following two consecutive years of declines. The improvement has been supported by easier year-over-year comparisons, higher fuel prices, government incentives and increasing consumer interest in electric vehicles. Registration data from the United Kingdom and Germany, Europe's two largest auto markets, is expected later this week. TSLA carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) at present. 

You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Global Sales Data of Other Automakers

BYD Company Limited reported strong growth in August, selling 440,293 new energy vehicles (NEVs), up 17.8% year over year and 5.03% from July. The figure marked BYD's highest monthly sales total of the year and extended its recovery with a fourth consecutive year-over-year increase. Passenger NEV sales rose 16.7% year over year to 433,384 units, while BYD's commercial NEV sales jumped 225.1% to 6,909 units, despite declining from July.

Geely Automobile Holdings Limited also recorded another increase in monthly sales, with August deliveries reaching 270,194 vehicles, which increased 8.01% year over year and marked its strongest monthly performance this year. Geely's overseas shipments were particularly strong, surging 205.2% to 110,094 vehicles. Exports hit a record for the eighth consecutive month and represented about 41% of Geely's total sales, helping offset continued weakness in its domestic market.

Tesla's Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

Tesla has underperformed the Zacks Automotive – Domestic industry in the last six months. Tesla has lost 11.2% compared with the industry's decline of 5.8%.
From a valuation perspective, Tesla appears overvalued. Going by its price/sales ratio, the company is trading at a forward sales multiple of 12.24, higher than the industry's 3.24.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 and 2027 EPS has moved down 31 cents and 26 cents, respectively, in the past 60 days.

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