Month: November 2016

Global engineering, procurement and construction conglomerate Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V. CBI secured a contract with Puget Sound Energy Inc. […]

Finance sector stocks, which have been off investors’ radar for quite some time now, seems to be regaining strength. With higher chances of the Fed raising rates next month, finance stocks are expected to witness improvement in revenues in the quarters ahead. […]

On Nov 29, we issued an updated research report on Wilsonville, OR-based FLIR Systems Inc. FLIR . […]

Cytori Therapeutics, Inc. CYTX announced that two-year follow-up data from the SCLERADEC-I pilot study in patients with hand dysfunction associated with scleroderma when treated with single administration of Cytori Cell Therapy were published in the Current Research in Translational Medicine journal. […]

The past week saw U.S. based carriers like American Airlines Group AAL , JetBlue Airways JBLU and United Continental Holdings UAL commencing regularly scheduled commercial flights to Havana after more than five decades. Germany’s Lufthansa DLAKY also grabbed headlines, albeit for the wrong reasons. […]

With continued focus on expansion and innovation of product offerings, CME Group Inc. CME teamed up with the UK’s Royal Mint to offer a new way of trading physical gold using the blockchain technology. In a joint press release issued on Tuesday, the Royal Mint stated that the partnership is set to build and launch a digitized gold product – Royal Mint Gold (RMG) – to be available in 2017 […]

Per Bloomberg , leading independent refiner Valero Energy Corporation VLO has joined the leading trade association for ethanol industry of U.S. – Renewable Fuels Association (RFA). […]

Baker Hughes Incorporated BHI recently declared that it has entered into an accord with CSL Capital Management and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. GS to create a fracturing joint venture (JV). The oilfield services player has gained 31% year to date compared with a 23% gain witnessed by the Zacks-categorized oil and gas field services market. […]

In a bid to fortify its human capital management (‘HCM’) solutions, German software giant SAP SE SAP , has recently boosted its SAP SuccessFactors portfolio. The company announced “intelligent mentoring” which will now be part of SAP SuccessFactors Succession & Development solution and also launched a career site builder that will aid easy maintenance of responsive career sites. Numbers Signals Bleak Times Ahead Despite a string of launches to boost its business, SAP's shares have declined 3.9% over the past three months, in stark contrast to the Zacks categorized Computer Software industry which yielded an average positive return of 2.1%. […]

On Nov 29, we issued an updated research report on PulteGroup Inc. PHM which engages in homebuilding and financial services, primarily in the U.S. PulteGroup benefits from its value-creation strategy as it focuses on generating solid returns, maintains strong margins, with balanced approach across its portfolio and capital allocation plans […]

President Obama’s decision to normalize U.S. diplomatic and economic relations with Cuba, which had been considerably strained since 1961, is again under threat. Recently, President-elect Donald Trump threatened to terminate the Obama administration's efforts to normalize US-Cuba relations. […]

The oil market faces many uncertainties and it may not be time to buy stocks indiscriminately, but McDermott International Inc. MDR looks like a pretty compelling investment. Though some investors might be worried about the energy-focused engineering and construction firm’s immediate future due to the cyclical downturn across the markets it serves, we believe the Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company's broad product portfolio and strong geographical footprint insulates the operations to a large extent and increases its attractiveness as an investment. […]

On Nov 29, 2016, shares of Aon plc AON hit a 52-week high of $113.99. The upside is believed to have been driven by recent acquisition deals and a profitable third quarter reported last month. Notably, over the past 52 weeks the stock has gained 19%, compared with a rise of just 6% for the S&P 500 index and price appreciation of 21.4% for the Zacks categorized Insurance-Brokers Industry Investors favorably viewed the company’s third-quarter results, wherein earnings of $1.29 per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.28 and increased 4% year over year. […]

Cyber Monday online sales increased 12.1% this year compared to 2015, due to massive growth in mobile traffic and sales. As per Adobe Digital Insights, Cyber Monday sales reached a record $3.45 billion, much better than the initial estimate of $3.36 billion. Per Adobe, mobile shopping accounted for 47% of visits to retail websites and 31% of sales […]

After declining slightly last month, consumer confidence rebounded strongly this month to hit a nine-year high. This indicates that the Presidential election had not dampened consumer spending. This was also supported by a significant upward revision by the Commerce Department in consumer spending during the third quarter, which played a major role in boosting the economy during the quarter and helped it to expand at a better-than-expected rate. […]