Yahoo Finance The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Exxon Mobil, Costco Wholesale, Activision Blizzard, Biogen and Arista Networks
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – May 8, 2023 – 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: Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM, Costco Wholesale Corp. COST, Activision Blizzard, Inc. ATVI, Biogen Inc. BIIB and Arista Networks, Inc. ANET
Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:
Top Analyst Reports for Exxon Mobil, Costco and Activision Blizzard
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 Exxon Mobil Corp, Costco Wholesale Corp., and Activision Blizzard, Inc. 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 >>>
Exxon Mobil shares have outperformed the Zacks Oil and Gas - Integrated - International industry over the past year (+15.6% vs. +3.5%) on the back of the company's bellwether status and an optimal integrated capital structure that has historically produced industry-leading returns make it a relatively lower-risk energy sector play.
The firm has made more than 30 discoveries in offshore Guyana since 2015. ExxonMobil also has a strong presence in the prolific Permian Basin, where it delivered record production in 2022. Also, a strong presence in chemicals and refining operations is noteworthy.
However, ExxonMobil has constantly been bearing the brunt of increasing costs, adversely affecting its income. Also, the company's financials were weakened by years-long significant spending on low-return developments and the pandemic.
(You can read the full research report on Exxon Mobil here >>>)
Shares of Costco have declined -2.6% over the past year against the Zacks Retail - Discount Stores industry's decline of -4.5%. The Zacks analyst, however, believes that the company being a consumer defensive stock, has been surviving the market turmoil pretty well. The discount retailer's key strengths are strategic investments, a customer-centric approach, merchandise initiatives, and an emphasis on membership growth.
Its business can navigate the ongoing inflationary environment and supply chain bottlenecks on several fronts. A favorable product mix, steady store traffic, pricing power, and strong liquidity position should help Costco.
(You can read the full research report on Costco here >>>)
Activision Blizzard shares have outperformed the Zacks Toys - Games - Hobbies industry over the past six months (+5.0% vs. +1.6%), though the stock has lost ground lately following unfavorable regulatory action on its Microsoft deal out of the U.K.
Activision's first-quarter 2023 earnings and revenues increased year-over-year. First-quarter growth was broad-based, with net bookings increasing year-over-year in Call of Duty, Candy Crush, Warcraft, Overwatch, and Diablo. Call of Duty in-game net bookings on console and PC grew strongly year-over-year in the first quarter.
The Zacks analyst believes that Diablo Immortal on mobile and PC also contributed to Blizzard's first-quarter net bookings growth. Candy Crush payer numbers again grew year-over-year, and Candy Crush was the top-grossing game franchise in the U.S. app stores for the 23rd quarter in a row.
(You can read the full research report on Activision Blizzard here >>>)
Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Biogen Inc. and Arista Networks, Inc.
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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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Biogen Inc. (BIIB) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Activision Blizzard, Inc (ATVI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Arista Networks, Inc. (ANET) : Free Stock Analysis Report
