The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Bandwidth, Logitech, BlackLine, Microsoft and Mercury Systems

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – May 11, 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 Bandwidth Inc. BAND, Logitech International S.A. LOGI, BlackLine Inc. BL, Microsoft Corp. MSFT and Mercury Systems Inc. MRCY.

Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:

Nasdaq Trading in the Green Year-to-Date: 5 Top Picks to Tap the Rally

The Nasdaq Composite has become the first out of the three major stock indexes of Wall Street to rebound to the positive territory after these indexes entered in red zone due to the coronavirus-induced market assault. On May 7, the tech-laden index closed at 8979.66, marking a four-day winning streak. This is the first time the index has closed in the green year over  year since Feb 25.

Nasdaq's Robust Rally in Past One and Half Months

The Nasdaq Composite started rallying since the beginning of 2020 after finishing an impressive 2019 rally of 35.2%. Since then, the index had a dream run attaining fresh highs almost every day. On Feb 19, the tech-laden index reached its all-time high of 9,838.37 after which its took a backward bend on the verge of the coronavirus outbreak.

The index entered into negative territory on Feb 25 and then fell in bear market (characterized as decline of 20% or more from recent high) on Mar 12. The downtrend continued till Mar 23.

However, from Mar 24, the Nasdaq Composite started moving upward along with both the Dow and the S&P 500. The index has rallied a fabulous 30.9% so far. Despite this bull run, the Nasdaq Composite is still 9.6% away from its all-time high recorded on Feb 19. On Apr 14, it finally exited the bear market territory.

Nasdaq Sails Through the Tech Sector's Rally

Since the Nasdaq Composite is a tech-heavy index, its performance is directly related to the technology sector. This sector is benefiting from continued strong digital transformation. Rising demand for technologically superior products has been a silver lining for this sector in an otherwise tough environment.

The last few years witnessed a series of breakthroughs in cloud computing, predictive analysis, AI, self-driving vehicles, digital personal assistants and IoT, which have set the stage for robust growth. In this regard, large-scale commercial deployment of 5G wireless network has boosted the overall technology sector.

Notably, the Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK), is the only sector among the 11 broad sectors of the market's benchmark S&P 500 index, which is in positive territory year to date. The XLK has gained 1.9% so far this year. Among the other 10 sectors, five have suffered a double-digit decline year to date.

Our Top Picks

Consequently, it will be prudent to invest in Nasdaq Composite stocks with a favorable Zacks Rank. We have narrowed down our search to five such stocks that have strong growth potential for 2020 and robust EPS estimate revisions. Each of our picks carries either a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Bandwidth Inc. operates as a cloud-based software-powered communications platform-as-a-service (CPaaS) provider in the United States. It operates in two segments, CPaaS and Other. The Zacks Rank #1 company has an expected earnings growth rate of 108.7% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved by 108.3% over the past 7 days. The stock has jumped 40.4% in the past month.

Logitech International S.A.designs, manufactures and markets products that allow people to connect through music, gaming, video, computing and other digital platforms worldwide. The Zacks Rank #1 company has an expected earnings growth rate of 7.6% for the current year (ending March 2021). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved by 3.7% over the past 7 days. The stock has appreciated 12% in the past month.

BlackLine Inc.provides financial accounting close solutions delivered primarily as Software as a Service in the United States and internationally. The Zacks Rank #2 company has an expected earnings growth rate of 16.2% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved by 4.9% over the past 7 days. The stock has surged 16.9% in the past month.

Microsoft Corp.is one of the largest broad-based technology providers in the world. It dominates the PC software market with more than 80% share for operating systems. It is also one of the two public cloud providers that can deliver a wide variety of infrastructure-as-a-service and platform-as-a-service solutions. The Zacks Rank #2 company has an expected earnings growth rate of 19.8% for the current year (ending June 2020). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved by 0.4% over the past 7 days. The stock has advanced 11.2% in the past month.

Mercury Systems Inc. provides sensor and safety critical mission processing subsystems for various critical aerospace, commercial aviation, defence, and intelligence programs in the United States, Europe and the Asia Pacific. The Zacks Rank #2 company has an expected earnings growth rate of 17.4% for the current year (ending June 2020). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved by 1.9% over the past 30 days. The stock has climbed 17.4% in the past month.

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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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Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Logitech International SA (LOGI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Mercury Systems Inc (MRCY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
BLACKLINE INC (BL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Bandwidth Inc (BAND) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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