Monday, October 9, 2023

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 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (TMO), Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) and BP p.l.c. (BP). 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 >>>

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific have declined -9.3% over the year-to-date period against the Zacks Medical - Instruments industry’s decline of -10.4%. The company’s overall business growth is dented by lower economic activity in China and cautious spending across its customer base globally, particularly in biotech. Declining COVID-19 testing revenues impede the company’s growth. The contraction of margins, due to escalating costs remain a concern.

However, on a positive note, strong execution of proven growth strategy, launching a range of high-impact, innovative new products are likely to aid the company’s growth in coming quarters. The company strengthened its commercial engine and trusted partner status with the opening of a customer center of excellence in Milan.

(You can read the full research report on Thermo Fisher Scientific here >>>)

AMD shares have outperformed the Zacks Electronics - Semiconductors industry over the year-to-date period (+65.6% vs. +42.0%). The company is benefiting from the growing adoption of fourth-generation EPYC. Genoa adoption has been strong in the second quarter of 2023, with deployments from the likes of Microsoft, AWS, Alibaba and Oracle.

Availability of Bergamo is crucial as a number of server providers like Dell, HPE, Lenovo and Supermicro are set to launch their new Bergamo-based platforms in the third quarter. AMD continues to benefit from acquisitions, including Xilinx and Pensando, which has diversified its business.

However, weakness in the Gaming and Embedded segment revenues are expected to hurt top-line growth. For 2023, our estimate for the Gaming segment is pegged at $6.55 billion, indicating a decline of 3.8% year over year.

(You can read the full research report on AMD here >>>)

Shares of BP have outperformed the Zacks Oil and Gas - Integrated - International industry over the year-to-date period (+10.2% vs. +1.7%). The company has cleared the huge litigation expenses related to the oil spill incident of 2010, it had to divest some of its best operating properties. The asset divestments might hinder BP’s future cash generating opportunities going forward.

BP’s balance sheet is more levered than most peers, limiting its financial flexibility. Thus, the integrated energy company is more vulnerable to economic downturn than its peers. While crude oil prices are currently on an upward trend, the broader commodity pricing environment is not as robust as it was a year ago.

As a result, the Zacks analyst anticipates that the leading integrated energy company's revenue to decrease in 2023. Also, we project that exploration expenses will rise by 47% this year, impacting the company’s bottom line. Given these headwinds, it's advisable to avoid BP stock for now.

(You can read the full research report on BP here >>>)

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Medtronic plc (MDT), Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (MMC) and Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW).

Director of Research

Sheraz Mian

Note: Sheraz Mian heads the Zacks Equity Research department and is a well-regarded expert of aggregate earnings. He is frequently quoted in the print and electronic media and publishes the weekly Earnings Trends and Earnings Preview reports. If you want an email notification each time Sheraz publishes a new article, please click here>>>