For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – December 22, 2022 – 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: Linde plc
LIN
, BP p.l.c.
BP
, PayPal Holdings, Inc.
PYPL
, BHP Group Ltd.
BHP
and Kimberly-Clark Corp.
KMB
Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:
Top Analyst Reports for Linde, BP and PayPal
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 Linde plc, BP p.l.c, and PayPal Holdings, 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 >>>
Shares of
Linde
, the maker of industrial gases, have held up better than the peer group as well as the broader market. The stock is down -5% this year vs. the decline of -8.2% for the Zacks Diversified Chemicals industry and -7.3% decline for the Zacks Basic Materials sector.
Driving the stock’s momentum is the wide range of applications for its industrial gases, Linde is making the world more productive by the day. The company’s primary products in industrial gases include oxygen, which is used as life support in hospitals. Its process gas, like hydrogen, is being utilized for clean fuels, while its high-purity and specialty gases are employed to manufacture electronics.
Linde has long-term contracts with on-site customers backed by minimum purchase requirements, thereby securing stable cashflows. The firm reported strong third-quarter results, owing to increased prices and volumes across all end markets, except for healthcare.
(You can
read the full research report on Linde here >>>
)
BP
shares have outperformed the Zacks Oil and Gas – Integrated – International industry over the past year (+28.9% vs. +15.9%). The company has a strong portfolio of upstream projects, backing impressive production growth. BP boasted that the target of adding a net production of 900 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2021 from key projects was met successfully.
It set an aggressive energy transition plan to capitalize on the mounting demand for clean energy. Although there is no production from its Russia incorporated joint ventures, BP is projecting higher upstream volumes this year. Before reporting its December-quarter results, the energy major is willing to complete an additional $2.5 billion in share buy-backs.
However, the leading integrated energy company’s balance sheet is considerably more leveraged than most peers, limiting its financial flexibility. Also, increasing production & manufacturing costs have been affecting the company’s income.
(You can
read the full research report on BP here >>>
)
Shares of
PayPal
have underperformed the Zacks Internet – Software industry over the past year (-63.6% vs. -62.5%). The company trimmed its guidance for revenue growth in anticipation of an economic downturn, which might slow down consumer spending. This is a major negative. Further, intensifying market competition and foreign exchange headwinds remain risks.
However, PayPal’s third quarter results were driven by strong growth in total payments volume owing to increasing net new active accounts. Strengthening customer engagement was a positive. Strong performance by Venmo contributed well to the TPV growth. The Zacks analyst believes growing transaction revenues are likely to continue driving the top-line growth.
Also, solid momentum across peer to peer and PayPal Checkout experiences is a tailwind. Further, PayPal’s growing traction in the United States remains a major positive. Considering the above-mentioned facts, the Zacks analyst expect net revenues in 2022 to rise 8.4% from 2021.
(You can
read the full research report on PayPal here >>>
)
Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include BHP Group Ltd. and Kimberly-Clark Corp..
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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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