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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Sony, Allstate and Incyte
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For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – November 5, 2019 – 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: Sony Corp. , Allstate Corp. (ALL - Free Report) and Incyte Corp. (INCY - Free Report) .
Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:
Earnings Season Clean-Up: Global Week Ahead
I see a little bit of earnings season clean-up to accomplish in the Global Week Ahead.
In the U.S., Zacks has 1290 total companies (both large & small) reporting this week.
For the S&P 500 companies, Disney earningswill be a highlight. The company reports its latest results on Thursday, after the market closes:
According to Zacks, based on 4 analysts' forecasts, the consensus EPS forecast for Q3 is $0.97
Investors see a tough quarter for its media networks division, with financial pain delivered via its acquisition of Fox assets
Investors also await updates on the eagerly anticipated Disney+ OTT streaming service. They seek to challenge streaming giant Netflix and go up against Amazon Prime and Apple’s newly launched TV+ service
Retailers Under Armour, Tapestry, Coty, Ralph Lauren and Capri Holdings also report Q3 earnings, along with Qualcomm, Booking Holdings and TripAdvisor.
Across the Pond, Marks and Spencer, J. Sainsbury, Associated British Foods and Ryanair report in London.
To Friday, November 1st, Zacks Research Director Sheraz Mian says 357 of S&P 500 members (71%) have reported Q3 results:
Total S&P 500 earnings were down -1.9%
Total S&P 500 revenues were up +3.6%
Note: At Zacks, ‘total earnings’ mean ‘aggregate net income’ for those 357 S&P 500 members — not mean, median or market-cap weighted EPS.
We prefer to look at net income as a measure of earnings, not EPS. This removes distorting effects from share buybacks on EPS-based growth rates.
Next are Reuters’ five world market themes, reordered for equity traders.
(1) U.S. and European Earnings Seasons Show Negative Earnings Results Overall
It’s a close call, but for the S&P 500, third 2019 quarter could bring the first quarterly year-over-year earnings decline since 2016.
Despite juicy beats from heavyweights Apple and Facebook, earnings are expected to have declined -0.8%, according to IBES Refinitiv. That’s better than earlier forecasts a month ago: a -2.2% decline was predicted.
Remember also that Q1 and Q2 estimates started negative, yet ended positive. So upcoming reports by names such Occidental Petroleum, CVS Health, Qualcomm and Walt Disney Co. may well move the needle across the line.
No such hope for Europe. The STOXX index is seeing the worst quarterly earnings in more than three years, Refinitiv says. It expects Q3 earnings to drop -8.4%, the biggest quarterly fall since mid-2016.
Also, of European companies to report so far, 59.3% exceeded analyst estimates. The U.S. figure is 75%.
(2) Tough to Find U.S. China Trade Optimism
Any optimism that China and the United States will settle their trade differences this month has been doused.
And not merely because Chile called off the Nov 16-17 Asia-Pacific summit where the first phase of the bilateral Sino-U.S. trade deal was to be signed. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has stepped up verbal attacks on China, and Beijing is expressing doubts that long-standing issues with Washington can be resolved.
With the trade war now almost two years old, upcoming data from China, Malaysia and Taiwan should underscore the deterioration in global demand. Surveys showing Chinese exports in a slump haven’t left much hope for positive surprise.
Meanwhile, the Communist Party’s 4-day plenum has wrapped up, with little visibility on what the plans are to tackle the effects of the trade war, food inflation and pro-democracy tensions in Hong Kong.
(3) Will the BoE Cut Rates on Thursday, or Not?
Rate cut or rate rise — that’s the question Bank of England-watchers have been puzzling over.
Bank policymakers have sometimes argued for an interest rate cut to offset Brexit-linked economic weakness, and at other times warned a rate rise might be required as currency weakness risks sparking inflation.
On Thursday, though, the biggest change at the BoE meeting could be the rebranding of the 20-year-old Inflation Report as the Monetary Policy Report. That will focus it on forecasts and ad-hoc analysis rather than merely reviewing the previous quarter.
Policy rates should stay at 0.75%, with little chance that dovish commentary from policymakers Michael Saunders and Gertjan Vlieghe will translate into a rate cut vote.
But the BoE has been edging away from long-term guidance that rates are on an upward path, noting in September that this hinged on Brexit and the global economy picking up. Saunders has said since then the BoE cannot wait indefinitely for Brexit uncertainty to lift, and that economic slowdown strengthens the case for easing policy.
For now, policymakers appear happy to sit on their hands, given the Dec. 12 snap election and a new Jan. 31 Brexit deadline. Also, the government is promising a spending boost that the BoE estimates will add +0.4% to GDP in the next couple of years.
On the other hand, if the opposition wins power, Brexit may be delayed or even revoked, reducing the need to cut.
Some policymakers doubt a rate cut would do much good anyway. Deputy Governor Dave Ramsden fears the slowdown is damaging the economy’s productive capacity so lower interest rates are more likely to boost inflation than lift growth. Brexit and the election will keep the Bank of England playing a waiting game.
(4) Is Three Decades of Globalization All That We See?
Nov. 9 marks 30 years since the Berlin Wall fell – an event many see as the starting gun for the latest wave of globalization.
It’s been three decades of trade and political liberalization and a golden age for financial globalization. It was a period when unfettered cross-border investment and booming trade pulled hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, MSCI’s global equity index almost quadrupled in value and world growth rose from the 1990s average of +3.1% to almost +4.0% by 2009.
But the globalization wave may have crested.
The market booms of the late 1990s and 2000s, and the crazy banking excesses they spawned, culminated in the 2008 crash — the effects of which still linger. Rising inequality has led to electoral backlashes, bringing us Trump and his trade wars, Brexit and a host of populist, illiberal political movements and ‘strongmen’ — all keen on nationalism rather than cross-border cooperation.
If that heady 30-year period is indeed ending, should world markets be running scared? It’s an $80 trillion global GDP question. Is the much-vaunted peace dividend talked about in 1990 about to be whipped away? Elections in the United States, Britain and elsewhere may well dictate the path from here.
(5) South Africa Barely Keeps Investment Grade Credit Rating
South Africa is going through a momentous time — its rugby team put on a scintillating display to win the World Cup for the first time since 2007, and its government has escaped losing the investment grade credit rating it has held for almost 20 years.
That rating has afforded South Africa abundant foreign investment and low borrowing costs. But its membership of that club would have ended on Friday if Moody’s had decided to join the other two big rating agencies in consigning the government’s Baa3 rating to ‘junk.'
An immediate downgrade was possible but unlikely, despite Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s recent budget bombshell forecasting a big budget deficit and ballooning debt. Moody’s did still opt for a negative assessment, but rather put South Africa on CreditWatch negative, a stance that portends a downgrade within 90 days, it merely cut the outlook to Negative.
Losing investment grade would have raised borrowing costs and led to South Africa’s ejection from the elite World Government Bond Index (WGBI). Goldman Sachs estimates this would trigger around $15 billion in investment outflows.
But the outlook downgrade gives South Africa up to 18 months to put its house in order. That — and of course a rugby win — were probably what Mboweni is hoping for before the weekend and so far his prayers have been answered.
Zacks #1 Rank (STRONG BUY) Stocks
Sony Corp.: This is a $75B market-cap stock at $61 a share. I see an A for Zacks Value, a C for Zacks Growth, and a C for Zacks Momentum.
The forward P/E is 15.3 and the PEG ratio is 1.99. This strikes me as fully valued. The stock market beta is 1.4 though. If you want to beat the S&P 500 index, look here, as long as the bull runs. The share price was a $44 in April 2019.
Allstate Corp.:This is a $34.5B market-cap stock at $106 a share. I see an A for Zacks Growth, a B for Zacks Value and an A for Zacks Momentum.
The forward P/E is 10.65 and the PEG ratio is 1.28. That strikes me as a low valuation for a steady insurance player like this. The stock market beta at 0.8 shows why the stock is not strong. Momentum players can’t get much of a lift from it, vis-à-vis the S&P 500 index.
Incyte Corp.:This is a $18B market-cap stock at nearly $84 a share. I see a C for Zacks Value, an A for Zacks Growth and an A for Zacks Momentum.
The forward P/E is 30.78, but with its +32% y/y EPS growth rate, that delivers a nice PEG ratio of 0.96. And while this biomedical stock looks best, based on these metrics, the stock is just range-trading this year. Go figure? I will. Worries about “Medicare for All” dominate.
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 http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Sony, Allstate and Incyte
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – November 5, 2019 – 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: Sony Corp. , Allstate Corp. (ALL - Free Report) and Incyte Corp. (INCY - Free Report) .
Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:
Earnings Season Clean-Up: Global Week Ahead
I see a little bit of earnings season clean-up to accomplish in the Global Week Ahead.
In the U.S., Zacks has 1290 total companies (both large & small) reporting this week.
For the S&P 500 companies, Disney earningswill be a highlight. The company reports its latest results on Thursday, after the market closes:
Retailers Under Armour, Tapestry, Coty, Ralph Lauren and Capri Holdings also report Q3 earnings, along with Qualcomm, Booking Holdings and TripAdvisor.
Across the Pond, Marks and Spencer, J. Sainsbury, Associated British Foods and Ryanair report in London.
To Friday, November 1st, Zacks Research Director Sheraz Mian says 357 of S&P 500 members (71%) have reported Q3 results:
Note: At Zacks, ‘total earnings’ mean ‘aggregate net income’ for those 357 S&P 500 members — not mean, median or market-cap weighted EPS.
We prefer to look at net income as a measure of earnings, not EPS. This removes distorting effects from share buybacks on EPS-based growth rates.
Next are Reuters’ five world market themes, reordered for equity traders.
(1) U.S. and European Earnings Seasons Show Negative Earnings Results Overall
It’s a close call, but for the S&P 500, third 2019 quarter could bring the first quarterly year-over-year earnings decline since 2016.
Despite juicy beats from heavyweights Apple and Facebook, earnings are expected to have declined -0.8%, according to IBES Refinitiv. That’s better than earlier forecasts a month ago: a -2.2% decline was predicted.
Remember also that Q1 and Q2 estimates started negative, yet ended positive. So upcoming reports by names such Occidental Petroleum, CVS Health, Qualcomm and Walt Disney Co. may well move the needle across the line.
No such hope for Europe. The STOXX index is seeing the worst quarterly earnings in more than three years, Refinitiv says. It expects Q3 earnings to drop -8.4%, the biggest quarterly fall since mid-2016.
Also, of European companies to report so far, 59.3% exceeded analyst estimates. The U.S. figure is 75%.
(2) Tough to Find U.S. China Trade Optimism
Any optimism that China and the United States will settle their trade differences this month has been doused.
And not merely because Chile called off the Nov 16-17 Asia-Pacific summit where the first phase of the bilateral Sino-U.S. trade deal was to be signed. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has stepped up verbal attacks on China, and Beijing is expressing doubts that long-standing issues with Washington can be resolved.
With the trade war now almost two years old, upcoming data from China, Malaysia and Taiwan should underscore the deterioration in global demand. Surveys showing Chinese exports in a slump haven’t left much hope for positive surprise.
Meanwhile, the Communist Party’s 4-day plenum has wrapped up, with little visibility on what the plans are to tackle the effects of the trade war, food inflation and pro-democracy tensions in Hong Kong.
(3) Will the BoE Cut Rates on Thursday, or Not?
Rate cut or rate rise — that’s the question Bank of England-watchers have been puzzling over.
Bank policymakers have sometimes argued for an interest rate cut to offset Brexit-linked economic weakness, and at other times warned a rate rise might be required as currency weakness risks sparking inflation.
On Thursday, though, the biggest change at the BoE meeting could be the rebranding of the 20-year-old Inflation Report as the Monetary Policy Report. That will focus it on forecasts and ad-hoc analysis rather than merely reviewing the previous quarter.
Policy rates should stay at 0.75%, with little chance that dovish commentary from policymakers Michael Saunders and Gertjan Vlieghe will translate into a rate cut vote.
But the BoE has been edging away from long-term guidance that rates are on an upward path, noting in September that this hinged on Brexit and the global economy picking up. Saunders has said since then the BoE cannot wait indefinitely for Brexit uncertainty to lift, and that economic slowdown strengthens the case for easing policy.
For now, policymakers appear happy to sit on their hands, given the Dec. 12 snap election and a new Jan. 31 Brexit deadline. Also, the government is promising a spending boost that the BoE estimates will add +0.4% to GDP in the next couple of years.
On the other hand, if the opposition wins power, Brexit may be delayed or even revoked, reducing the need to cut.
Some policymakers doubt a rate cut would do much good anyway. Deputy Governor Dave Ramsden fears the slowdown is damaging the economy’s productive capacity so lower interest rates are more likely to boost inflation than lift growth. Brexit and the election will keep the Bank of England playing a waiting game.
(4) Is Three Decades of Globalization All That We See?
Nov. 9 marks 30 years since the Berlin Wall fell – an event many see as the starting gun for the latest wave of globalization.
It’s been three decades of trade and political liberalization and a golden age for financial globalization. It was a period when unfettered cross-border investment and booming trade pulled hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, MSCI’s global equity index almost quadrupled in value and world growth rose from the 1990s average of +3.1% to almost +4.0% by 2009.
But the globalization wave may have crested.
The market booms of the late 1990s and 2000s, and the crazy banking excesses they spawned, culminated in the 2008 crash — the effects of which still linger. Rising inequality has led to electoral backlashes, bringing us Trump and his trade wars, Brexit and a host of populist, illiberal political movements and ‘strongmen’ — all keen on nationalism rather than cross-border cooperation.
If that heady 30-year period is indeed ending, should world markets be running scared? It’s an $80 trillion global GDP question. Is the much-vaunted peace dividend talked about in 1990 about to be whipped away? Elections in the United States, Britain and elsewhere may well dictate the path from here.
(5) South Africa Barely Keeps Investment Grade Credit Rating
South Africa is going through a momentous time — its rugby team put on a scintillating display to win the World Cup for the first time since 2007, and its government has escaped losing the investment grade credit rating it has held for almost 20 years.
That rating has afforded South Africa abundant foreign investment and low borrowing costs. But its membership of that club would have ended on Friday if Moody’s had decided to join the other two big rating agencies in consigning the government’s Baa3 rating to ‘junk.'
An immediate downgrade was possible but unlikely, despite Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s recent budget bombshell forecasting a big budget deficit and ballooning debt. Moody’s did still opt for a negative assessment, but rather put South Africa on CreditWatch negative, a stance that portends a downgrade within 90 days, it merely cut the outlook to Negative.
Losing investment grade would have raised borrowing costs and led to South Africa’s ejection from the elite World Government Bond Index (WGBI). Goldman Sachs estimates this would trigger around $15 billion in investment outflows.
But the outlook downgrade gives South Africa up to 18 months to put its house in order. That — and of course a rugby win — were probably what Mboweni is hoping for before the weekend and so far his prayers have been answered.
Zacks #1 Rank (STRONG BUY) Stocks
Sony Corp.: This is a $75B market-cap stock at $61 a share. I see an A for Zacks Value, a C for Zacks Growth, and a C for Zacks Momentum.
The forward P/E is 15.3 and the PEG ratio is 1.99. This strikes me as fully valued. The stock market beta is 1.4 though. If you want to beat the S&P 500 index, look here, as long as the bull runs. The share price was a $44 in April 2019.
Allstate Corp.:This is a $34.5B market-cap stock at $106 a share. I see an A for Zacks Growth, a B for Zacks Value and an A for Zacks Momentum.
The forward P/E is 10.65 and the PEG ratio is 1.28. That strikes me as a low valuation for a steady insurance player like this. The stock market beta at 0.8 shows why the stock is not strong. Momentum players can’t get much of a lift from it, vis-à-vis the S&P 500 index.
Incyte Corp.:This is a $18B market-cap stock at nearly $84 a share. I see a C for Zacks Value, an A for Zacks Growth and an A for Zacks Momentum.
The forward P/E is 30.78, but with its +32% y/y EPS growth rate, that delivers a nice PEG ratio of 0.96. And while this biomedical stock looks best, based on these metrics, the stock is just range-trading this year. Go figure? I will. Worries about “Medicare for All” dominate.
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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 http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.