Wednesday, December 22 2016

Today's Research Daily features new research reports on 16 major stocks, including FedEx  (FDX), Verizon (VZ) and Morgan Stanley (MS).

FedEx shares lost ground following the weaker than expected quarterly results, but they have been strong performers in the post-election period (up +6% vs. +4.6 for the Zacks Air Freight industry & +5.5% for the S&P 500 index). The earnings miss reflected margin pressures in the Ground business, though management reiterated prior guidance and indicated that the TNT integration was proceeding as planned. FedEx's package delivery dominance has made it a proxy for the secular growth in e-commerce, but it has to continue spending a lot of money in capital expenditure to realize its full potential. (You can read the full research report on FedEx here>>>)

Verizon shares have been strong performers since the election, but have modestly lagged the Zacks Wireless industry ( the stock is up +11.1% since Nov 8th vs. +13.8% gain for the industry). Driving these stocks appear to be optimism about the incoming administration's tax policies; the telecom service firms are big tax payers. In the updated research report issued today, the Zacks analyst points out Verizon's efforts to diversify its businesses beyond telecom and launch of 5G wireless network in 2017 that is expected to drive the company's Internet of Things (IoT) market opportunity . On the flip side, the Yahoo deal may be in jeopardy after Yahoo’s data breach reports. (You can read the full research report on Verizon here>>>)

Strong Buy rated Morgan Stanley shares have outperformed the Zacks Finance sector since Nov 8, gaining 27.2% over the period versus the sector’s 11.8% increase. The analyst likes the company’s efforts to offload its non-core assets to lower balance-sheet risks and shift focus toward less capital-incentive businesses. Further, the company’s expense saving initiatives by implementing significant infrastructure expense reductions by 2017 are commendable. In addition, the company has been enhancing shareholder value with steady capital deployment activities. However, equity trading income distress, new regulatory requirements and intense pricing competition are concerns. (You can read the full research report on Morgan Stanley here>>>)

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Caterpillar (CAT), Baker Hughes (BHI) and Allergan (AGN). You can see all of today's research reports here >>>

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Sheraz Mian

Director of Research

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