Halliburton, Anheuser Busch Inbev, IBM, Skyworks Solutions and American Express highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – January 20, 2017 –Zacks Equity Research highlights Halliburton (NYSE:HAL – Free Report ) as the Bull of the Day and Anheuser Busch Inbev (NYSE:BUD – Free Report ) as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on IBM Corporation (NYSE: IBM – Free Report ), Skyworks Solutions (NASDAQ: SWKS – Free Report ) and American Express (NYSE: AXP – Free Report ).

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day :

One of the bright spots about being at Zacks is I get to see EPS trends develop before most other people. My boss keeps a meticulous database of EPS estimates and clues us in to moves as they develop. The big story heading into Q4 earnings has been the Trump rotation and the rally we’ve seen since Election Day. Hiding behind those headlines is 4.7% EPS growth on the S&P 500. If you dig a little deeper, you’ll see that the energy sector is set for 7.4% EPS growth. This bucks the trend of 8 consecutive quarters of contraction.

Further, onshore oil exploration and production expenditures have been estimated to increase by as much as 45% by some analysts. Nobody has gained more market share in this business than today’s Bull of the Day Halliburton (NYSE:HAL – Free Report ) . Halliburton is currently a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) in a sector that ranks in the Top 13% of our Zacks Sector Rank.

A big reason for the bullish Zacks Rank is the recent earnings estimate revisions to the upside from analysts. Five analysts have increased their estimates for the current quarter while eight have done so for next year. The most dramatic increase can be seen in next year’s consensus number. Sixty days ago, analysts were expecting 96 cents per share. Now they are expecting to see $1.12.

This underlying bullish sentiment can be seen in the stock chart which has rallied sharply off the lows of 2016. Increasing estimates have allowed the stock to make two distinct moves this year. The first was a bounce off a double bottom near $27 in February. That move took shares to $46.69 before running out of steam in June. A consolidation period developed from then until October when speculation of an OPEC deal helped boost oil prices. A second wave of optimism pushed shares through the top end of the consolidation range and on to a fresh 52-week high just shy of $57.

Bear of the Day :

There’s an old saying that goes, “If you can’t beat em, join em.” When it comes to today’s Bear of the Daythis company put a different spin on the old saying. “If you can’t beat em, buy em” or something along those lines.

I’m having a tough time finding a beer that isn’t owned by Anheuser Busch Inbev (NYSE:BUD – Free Report ) . Remember the good old days when it was Bud versus Miller? Well that was before Belgian giant Inbev starting merging big beer companies together. It wasn’t enough to swallow up Anheuser Busch. Then the new company went and got SAB Miller, which was also the result of a big beer merger. Now they’re all bubbling around in the same keg.

It’s not that I’m hating on the beer company for being so large. I’m looking at the estimate revisions analysts have made recently and I don’t like what I see. Four analysts have dropped their earnings number for the current year and next year. The overall impact to the consensus estimate has been decidedly negative. This year’s number has gone down from $4.19 to $3.74 while next year’s number has dropped from $5.28 to $4.94. The good news is there is still plenty of growth in those numbers, a function of the merger activity no doubt. The bad news is all this negativity has dropped the stock down to a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell). It’s also in a sector that is dead last in our Zacks Sector Rank.

Additional content:

IBM, Skyworks Post Nice Earnings Beats, AmEx Mixed

IBM Corporation (NYSE: IBM – Free Report ), aka "Big Blue," posted a big beat on Q4 earnings results after the bell Thursday. Earnings of $5.01 per share on quarterly sales of $21.77 billion topped the Zacks consensus estimates of $4.89 per share and $21.62 billion, respectively. We are seeing after-hours trades of IBM up 3.3% after a regular trading day that saw IBM move up a mere penny.

Q4 cloud revenue rose 33% year over year. In the earnings press release, the company stated that the "cloud is helping to transform its industries." Overall Strategic Imperatives -- including Big Blue's wonder-brain known as Watson -- went up 14% since a year ago to $1,5 billion in the quarter and $32.8 billion for fiscal 2016. Strategic Imperatives now accounts for 41% of IBM's revenues.

Further, IBM has bumped up fiscal year 2017 guidance from $13.74 per share to $13.80. The Zacks consensus had been just $13.48. The only thing to have come in a little light in its Q4 report is free cash-flow, which reached $11.6 billion. In short, a very good quarter for Big Blue -- its best in at least the past 5 quarters.

Massachusetts-based semiconductor firm Skyworks Solutions (NASDAQ: SWKS – Free Report ) posted a big beat in its fiscal Q1 2017 earnings report, with earnings of $1.54 per share (accounting for stock-based compensation and other BNRI) on $914.3 million in quarterly sales. These figures topped the $1.48 per share and $902.3 million expected, and rose 9.4% quarter over quarter.

Skyworks reported record cash-flow from operations of $495.9 million, and also guided above consensus for full-year 2017. The company also announced a new share buyback program for $500 million. Shares are up 7.8% in late trading and more than 36% year over year. Skyworks is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock with a Zacks Style Score (Value/Growth/Momentum) of B.

American Express (NYSE: AXP – Free Report ) has also released results of its Q4 earnings report after the bell today, though these were mixed. Earnings per share of 91 cents missed the Zacks consensus estimate of 98 cents. Revenues in the quarter beat expectations, however: $8.02 billion topped the $7.04 billion in the estimate.

In late trading following the earnings announcement, shares immediately shot down 1.36%. Since then they have bid back up roughly half a percentage point; AXP trades a right around the same level it did 5 days ago.

Get today’s Zacks #1 Stock of the Day with your free subscription to Profit from the Pros newsletter:

About the Bull and Bear of the Day

Every day, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research select two stocks that are likely to outperform (Bull) or underperform (Bear) the markets over the next 3-6 months.

About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous analyst coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News

Many are little publicized and fly under the Wall Street radar. They're virtually unknown to the general public. Yet today's 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" were generated by the stock-picking system that has nearly tripled the market from 1988 through 2015. Its average gain has been a stellar +26% per year. See these high-potential stocks free >>.

Get the full Report on HAL - FREE

Get the full Report on BUD - FREE

Get the full Report on IBM - FREE

Get the full Report on SWKS - FREE

Get the full Report on AXP - FREE

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/zacksresearch

Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts

Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.

Media Contact
Zacks Investment Research

800-767-3771 ext. 9339

support@zacks.com

https://www.zacks.com

Zacks.com provides investment resources and informs you of these resources, which you may choose to use in making your own investment decisions. Zacks is providing information on this resource to you subject to the Zacks "Terms and Conditions of Service" disclaimer. www.zacks.com/disclaimer .

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.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
Halliburton Co. (HAL): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Anheuser Busch Inbev SA (BUD): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
American Express Co. (AXP): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.