For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – December 15, 2020 – 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: Facebook, Inc.
FB
, Verizon Communications Inc.
VZ
, Sanofi
SNY
, QUALCOMM Incorporated
QCOM
and ICICI Bank Limited
IBN
.
Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:
Top Research Reports for Facebook, Verizon and Sanofi
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 Facebook, Verizon and Sanofi. 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 >>>
Facebook
shares have outperformed the S&P 500 in the year to date period (+33.2% vs. +13.9%). The Zacks analyst believes that Facebook is benefiting from steady user growth across all regions, particularly Asia Pacific. Increased engagement for its products like Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Facebook Watch is a major growth driver.
However, Facebook expects user-base growth to be flat or slightly down in the United States and Canada in the fourth quarter of 2020, sequentially. The company expects ad-revenue growth on a year-over-year basis to be better than the third quarter’s growth rate, driven by continued strong advertiser demand during the holiday season.
Strong demand for Oculus 2 is expected to boost other revenues. However, changes made by Apple and Google in their mobile operating systems and browser platforms have limited Facebook’s ability to track user-activity trend, which is a headwind.
(You can
read the full research report on Facebook here >>>
)
Shares of
Verizon
have lost -1.4% over the past year against the Zacks Wireless National industry’s gain of +2.7%. The Zacks analyst believes that Verizon is well positioned to gain from a disciplined network strategy, including accelerated 5G deployment, despite uncertainties stemming from the ongoing pandemic.
The company has been building its 5G Ultra-Wideband network to enable innovations that will support the evolving customer behavior. It expects to witness solid 5G momentum as it heads into the fourth quarter of 2020 backed by customer-centric business model and diligent execution of operational plans.
However, Verizon is facing significant headwinds within the media business due to weak advertising trends. It operates in an intensely competitive U.S. wireless market that strains margins. Adoption of unlimited data plans has resulted in reduction of wireless service revenues.
(You can
read the full research report on Verizon here >>>
)
Sanofi
shares have lost -5.5% over the past six months against the Zacks Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry’s rise of +9.1%. The Zacks analyst believes that Sanofi’s Specialty Care unit is on a strong footing, particularly with regular label expansion of Dupixent, which has become the key top-line driver for Sanofi.
Meanwhile, Sanofi’s R&D pipeline is strong and several data read-outs are expected in 2021. Its cost-savings and efficiency initiatives are supporting bottom-line growth. However, headwinds include weak performance of the Diabetes unit, generic competition for many drugs and slower-than-expected uptake of core products like Praluent.
(You can
read the full research report on Sanofi here >>>
)
Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include QUALCOMM and ICICI Bank.
The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All
Last year, it generated $24 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it’s predicted to blast through the roof to $77.6 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce “the world’s first trillionaires,” but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early.
See Zacks’ 3 Best Stocks to Play This Trend >>
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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.
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