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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Apple, Netflix, Amazon and Disney
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For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – August 10, 2018 – 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 Apple (AAPL - Free Report) , Netflix (NFLX - Free Report) , Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) and Disney (DIS - Free Report) .
Apple (AAPL - Free Report) Stock Remains A Buy Even At New High
Apple has seen its stock price soar over 10% since it reported impressive quarterly financial results at the end of July. The iPhone giant’s performance has it trading over $200 per share for the first time in company history. Yet, Apple stock still looks like a buy even at its new all-time high for an array of reasons.
Overview
Apple’s fiscal third-quarter revenues climbed by 17% to reach $53.27 billion, topping our Zacks Consensus Estimate. Meanwhile, the firm’s adjusted Q3 earnings skyrocketed 40% to $2.34 per share, also coming in above our estimate. Apple’s top and bottom line growth was insane for a company of its size and age.
Plus, total iPhone revenue jumped by 20% to $29.906 billion, which is great news for investors since the smartphone is still by far its biggest revenue driver. It is worth noting that iPhone unit sales rose by only 0.7% to 41.300 million, which illuminates how much the high-priced iPhone X has helped Apple. However, this contrast is why Apple has pushed so heavily into new growth areas.
Apple’s Services business, which includes AppleCare, Apple Music, Apple Pay, and others, saw its quarterly revenues soar 31% from $7.266 billion to reach $9.548 billion. More specifically, Apple Pay was used for more than 1 billion transactions, which is triple the amount in the year-ago quarter. The firm boasted that its payment platform completed more total transactions than Square and more mobile transactions than PayPal.
Apple Music has grown in popularity rather quickly and is already nearly neck and neck with streaming power Spotify in the U.S. The firm’s “Other Products” unit also soared 37% to reach $3.74 billion, making it Apple’s fastest growing unit for the fifth quarter in a row. Apple’s less-talked-about growth segment includes sales from AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.
Price Movement
Shares of Apple have climbed over 94% during the last two years, which crushes the S&P 500’s 32% and its industry’s 55% growth. Over the 12 months, Apple stock is up roughly 35%, including some rather massive turbulence. AAPL stock has surged nearly 29% over the last six months.
Valuation
Moving on, AAPL stock is currently trading at 16.1X forward 12-month Zacks Consensus EPS estimates, which represents a discount compared to the S&P’s 17.4X. Apple is trading at a slight premium compared to its industry’s 14.9X, but AAPL has traded as high as 17.2X over the last year with a one-year median of 15.1X.
Investors will see that Apple is currently trading near its five-year high. Yet, based on its massive stock price movement and growth outlook, Apple's valuation picture is hardly stretched at the moment.
Outlook
Apple’s fiscal fourth-quarter revenues are projected to climb by nearly 16% to hit $60.98 billion, based on our current Zacks Consensus Estimate. The firm’s full-year revenues are expected to expand by over 15% from $229.23 billion to a mind-blowing $263.68 billion.
At the other end of the income statement, Apple is expected to see its adjusted Q4 earnings surge by roughly 33% to hit $2.75 per share. For fiscal 2018, Apple’s earnings are projected to climb by roughly 27% to hit $11.68 per share.
Bottom Line
Apple has earned nine earnings estimate revisions for Q4 over the last 30 days, with 100% agreement to the upside. The company has also received 10 full-year and nine fiscal 2019 upward earnings revisions during this same stretch, against zero downward changes. Therefore, analyst sentiment about Apple’s earnings growth picture has grown more positive recently, which helps Apple earn its Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Plus, investors should remember that Apple has prepared to make a streaming TV splash sometime in the next few years, which will see the company try to take on Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and soon enough Disney.
Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.
Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.
Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News
Many are little publicized and fly under the Wall Street radar. They're virtually unknown to the general public. Yet today's 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" were generated by the stock-picking system that has nearly tripled the market from 1988 through 2015. Its average gain has been a stellar +26% per year. See these high-potential stocks free >>.
Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.
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: Apple, Netflix, Amazon and Disney
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – August 10, 2018 – 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 Apple (AAPL - Free Report) , Netflix (NFLX - Free Report) , Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) and Disney (DIS - Free Report) .
Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.
Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:
Apple (AAPL - Free Report) Stock Remains A Buy Even At New High
Apple has seen its stock price soar over 10% since it reported impressive quarterly financial results at the end of July. The iPhone giant’s performance has it trading over $200 per share for the first time in company history. Yet, Apple stock still looks like a buy even at its new all-time high for an array of reasons.
Overview
Apple’s fiscal third-quarter revenues climbed by 17% to reach $53.27 billion, topping our Zacks Consensus Estimate. Meanwhile, the firm’s adjusted Q3 earnings skyrocketed 40% to $2.34 per share, also coming in above our estimate. Apple’s top and bottom line growth was insane for a company of its size and age.
Plus, total iPhone revenue jumped by 20% to $29.906 billion, which is great news for investors since the smartphone is still by far its biggest revenue driver. It is worth noting that iPhone unit sales rose by only 0.7% to 41.300 million, which illuminates how much the high-priced iPhone X has helped Apple. However, this contrast is why Apple has pushed so heavily into new growth areas.
Apple’s Services business, which includes AppleCare, Apple Music, Apple Pay, and others, saw its quarterly revenues soar 31% from $7.266 billion to reach $9.548 billion. More specifically, Apple Pay was used for more than 1 billion transactions, which is triple the amount in the year-ago quarter. The firm boasted that its payment platform completed more total transactions than Square and more mobile transactions than PayPal.
Apple Music has grown in popularity rather quickly and is already nearly neck and neck with streaming power Spotify in the U.S. The firm’s “Other Products” unit also soared 37% to reach $3.74 billion, making it Apple’s fastest growing unit for the fifth quarter in a row. Apple’s less-talked-about growth segment includes sales from AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.
Price Movement
Shares of Apple have climbed over 94% during the last two years, which crushes the S&P 500’s 32% and its industry’s 55% growth. Over the 12 months, Apple stock is up roughly 35%, including some rather massive turbulence. AAPL stock has surged nearly 29% over the last six months.
Valuation
Moving on, AAPL stock is currently trading at 16.1X forward 12-month Zacks Consensus EPS estimates, which represents a discount compared to the S&P’s 17.4X. Apple is trading at a slight premium compared to its industry’s 14.9X, but AAPL has traded as high as 17.2X over the last year with a one-year median of 15.1X.
Investors will see that Apple is currently trading near its five-year high. Yet, based on its massive stock price movement and growth outlook, Apple's valuation picture is hardly stretched at the moment.
Outlook
Apple’s fiscal fourth-quarter revenues are projected to climb by nearly 16% to hit $60.98 billion, based on our current Zacks Consensus Estimate. The firm’s full-year revenues are expected to expand by over 15% from $229.23 billion to a mind-blowing $263.68 billion.
At the other end of the income statement, Apple is expected to see its adjusted Q4 earnings surge by roughly 33% to hit $2.75 per share. For fiscal 2018, Apple’s earnings are projected to climb by roughly 27% to hit $11.68 per share.
Bottom Line
Apple has earned nine earnings estimate revisions for Q4 over the last 30 days, with 100% agreement to the upside. The company has also received 10 full-year and nine fiscal 2019 upward earnings revisions during this same stretch, against zero downward changes. Therefore, analyst sentiment about Apple’s earnings growth picture has grown more positive recently, which helps Apple earn its Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Plus, investors should remember that Apple has prepared to make a streaming TV splash sometime in the next few years, which will see the company try to take on Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and soon enough Disney.
Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1 Stock of the Day pick for free.
About Zacks Equity Research
Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.
Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.
Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News
Many are little publicized and fly under the Wall Street radar. They're virtually unknown to the general public. Yet today's 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" were generated by the stock-picking system that has nearly tripled the market from 1988 through 2015. Its average gain has been a stellar +26% per year. See these high-potential 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.