Since late 2016, I have been bullish on Pfizer (NYSE:PFE). To know my rationale for supporting this stock, please refer to “Should You Buy Pfizer Now?.” I have also discussed why I was bullish for the stock after 3Q16. To know more about my reasons, please refer to “Top 4 Reasons Why Pfizer Continues To Be A Buy In 2016.”
Since the last article, some things have changed. But many are seen to be changing in favor of Pfizer. The 45th President of USA, Donald Trump, is extremely keen on reducing corporate tax rates as well as regulations for businesses. Corporate tax rates currently hover close to 35%. Donald Trump has proposed to reduce them to somewhere in the range of 15% to 20%. If this proposal goes through, it will be definitely a big positive for the entire corporate America. However, it will be even bigger plus for cash-rich companies such as Pfizer and Apple.
Pfizer will be able to buy growth assets hitherto considered to be too costly.
Reduced tax rates will definitely increase Pfizer’s free cash flows, which can be then used for creating jobs in USA. The reduced tax outflow is also expected to spur mergers and acquisitions or M&A activity in USA. These tax reforms are expected to create a level playing field for American companies as they will be able to compete with foreign companies who acquire targets and then shift to low-tax locations. Pfizer has always maintained an appetite for targeted acquisitions and has managed to complete deals worth $40 billion since September 2015.
Top 5 Growth Stocks To Buy Right Now: Intuitive Surgical Inc.(ISRG)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Benzinga News Desk]
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Reports Q4 EPS $0.69 vs. Est. $0.58, Rev. $22.64B vs. Est. $22.14B
Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG) Reports Q2 GAAP EPS $4.71, Adj. EPS $5.62 vs $4.97 Est., Sales $670.1M vs $540.7M Est.
Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) Q2 EPS ($0.14) vs ($0.19) est, Revenue $3.84B vs $3.75B est
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) Q2 EPS $0.75 vs $0.59 est, Revenue $8.9B vs $8.3B est - [By Ashley Moore]
Here is a table of the 10 most expensive stocks trading on U.S. markets today:
Company (Ticker)Price per ShareMarket CapBerkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A)$ 257,227.52$ 419.50 billionSeaboard Corp. (NYSEMKT: SEB)$ 3,760.00$ 4.48 billionNVR Inc. (NYSE: NVR)$ 1,944.23$ 7.19 billionThe Priceline Group Inc. (Nasdaq: PCLN)$ 1,727.94$ 80.82 billionMarkel Corp. (NYSE: MKL)$ 978.51$ 13.78 billionWhite Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. (NYSE: WTM)$ 935.01$ 4.25 billionAmazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN)$ 846.08$ 408.27 billionAlphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOGL)$ 844.06$ 582.85 billionAutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO)$ 744.26$ 21.04 billionIntuitive Surgical Inc. (Nasdaq: ISRG)$ 735.63$ 28.41 billion
- [By Joseph Hogue]
Enter Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq: ISRG) and Da Vinci, a robotic arm that allows surgeons to operate with just a single incision less than an inch in size.
Top 5 Growth Stocks To Buy Right Now: Nordstrom Inc.(JWN)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Sean Williams]
Another top dividend stock income investors would be wise not to ignore is high-end mall-based retailer Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN). Shares of Nordstrom have fallen 24% over the trailing year, meaning they’ve underperformed the benchmark S&P 500 by roughly 40 percentage points.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Nordstrom (JWN) tumbled to the bottom of the S&P 500 today after getting downgraded at JPMorgan.
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Nordstrom dropped 8.7% to $50.48 today, while the S&P 500 dipped 0.2% to 2,258.07.
JPMorgan’s Matthew Boss and team explain why they cut Nordstrom to Underweight from Neutral today:
Nordstroms top-line profile has moderated to low-to-mid single digits with mgmt citing tighter expense control as a near-term fix rather than long term model solution clarifying its mid-teens ROIC target as more an aspiration rather than near-term reality. Cutting FY18 EPS power to $3.00 (< Street at $3.27) based on flattish same-store sales the next two years (negative low-single digits Full-line offset by +LSD Rack) and modest SG&A deleverage (initial Manhattan pressure in FY17 building into FY18) partially offset by slight GPM expansion. With shares ofNordstrom up 57% the past 6 months (vs S&P 500 +13%), we downgrade to Underweight, lowering our price target to $48 based on 6.0x our 18 EBITDA (= 16.5x FY18 EPS).
Nordstrom’s market capitalization fell to $8.8 today from $9.6 billion yesterday. It reported net income of $600 million on sales of $14.4 billion in fiscal 2016.
Barron’s Johanna Bennett also panned Nordstrom today.
- [By Dan Caplinger]
The stock market mounted a last-minute rally to keep its string of winning days alive, as all three major market benchmarks recovered from losses during most of the day to close higher. The performance again showed the complete confidence that investors seem to have in the market’s longer-term future, despite the fact that some believe that stocks have generally risen too quickly and have been hoping for a pullback. Enough investors seem to be waiting for an opportunity to buy that losses have generally been muted and short-lived. Moreover, some good news sent many individual stocks higher, and Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN), RH (NYSE:RH), and Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) were among the top performers on the day. Below, we’ll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so well.
- [By Timothy Green]
For dividend investors wanting a solid yield, Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN), International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM), and Garmin (NASDAQ:GRMN) look like solid choices. None is risk-free, particularly Nordstrom, which is in an extremely competitive industry. But all three offer dividend yields above 3% and a least a few reasons to be optimistic about the company.
- [By Jeremy Bowman]
Downbeat holiday sales reports byKohl’s(NYSE:KSS) andMacy’s(NYSE:M) pushed the department store sector, and much of retail, in the red on Thursday. As of 11:38 a.m. EST, Kohl’s was down 19.5%, Macy’s was down 14.4%, and peers includingNordstrom(NYSE: JWN) andJ.C. Penney(NYSE: JCP) also tumbled, falling 9.8% and 6.7%, respectively.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
By now, we all know retailers are facing a tough time. More and more, people are choosing to shop online, putting sales under pressure and leaving many with too many stores. Some department stores have begun to acknowledge the problems–but will they be able to adjust quickly enough in a rapidly changing landscape? Credit Suisse analyst Christian Bussand team believe this process is “well under way” but that didn’t stop them from downgrading Kohl’s (KSS) and J.C. Penney (JCP), even as they upgraded Nordstrom (JWN) and Burlington Stores(BURL). They explain why:
Top 5 Growth Stocks To Buy Right Now: MEDIFAST INC(MED)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Peter Graham]
Although obesity is widespread, small cap dieting stocks havetended to causeinvestor portfolios to loose weight. A long term performance chart shows small cap weight loss or dieting stocks Weight Watchers International and Reliv International, Inc (NASDAQ: RELV) stillbelow or at breakeven for longer term investors whileMedifast Inc (NYSE: MED)has performed better and NutriSystem Inc (NASDAQ: NTRI) hasfinally begun to take offearly last year:
- [By Lee Jackson]
These companies also reported insider buying last week: Carrizo Oil and Gas Inc. (NASDAQ: CRZO), Medifast Inc. (NYSE: MED), Medley Capital Corp. (NYSE: MCC), Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY) and Sothebys (NYSE: BID).
- [By Peter Graham]
A long term performance chart shows small cap weight loss or dieting stocks Weight Watchers International and Reliv International, Inc (NASDAQ: RELV) still underperforming whileNutriSystem Inc (NASDAQ: NTRI) and Medifast Inc (NYSE: MED) began taking off early last year:
- [By Lisa Levin]
In trading on Friday, non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares rose by just 0.3 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Medifast Inc (NYSE: MED), down 5 percent, and Bridgford Foods Corporation (NASDAQ: BRID), down 6 percent.
Top 5 Growth Stocks To Buy Right Now: Buffalo Wild Wings Inc.(BWLD)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Peter Graham]
After the market closed yesterday, small cap restaurant and entertainment stockDave & Busters Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ: PLAY) reported Q4 2016 earnings with shares falling by mid single digit percentagesin after hours trading. The Company apparently beat expectations on earnings, but fell short of expectations for comps. Likewise, the stock has already had a very good run meaning expectations were super high.Take a look at the following long term chart which shows Dave & Busters Entertainmentsshare performanceascompared to potential peers such as Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) and upscale gentlemen’s clubs and restaurant ownerRCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: RICK):
- [By Lisa Levin]
Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) shares were also up, gaining 20 percent to $121.75 after the company posted better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter and raised its forecast for the full year.
- [By Rich Duprey]
Is Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) original programming likeThe Crown more interesting to watch than the Golden State Warriors’ bid to run away with the NBA championship? Could be, as the movie streaming giant continues to add to its subscriber base while sports bars like Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ:BWLD) lose customers quarter after quarter.
- [By WWW.THESTREET.COM]
Meanwhile, over on Real Money, Cramer looks at the heated battle at Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD) and says activism still lives. Get his insight strategies with a free trial subscription to Real Money.
- [By Hilary Kramer]
We welcome host of Fox Business Network’s Making Money with Charles Payne to this year’s contest. When he’s not on air, the rags-to-riches financial guru is editing his free weekly newsletter, Charles Payne’s Smart Talk, as well as his new newsletter, Charles Payne’sSmart Investing, which allows individuals insights into picks that were formerly only available to institutions.
Payne is going with the owner, operator and franchiser of a wildly popular sports and wings bar for this year’s pick: Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD).
With commodities prices in the dumps, BWLD stands to benefit as Americans have more cash lining their pockets thanks to lower gas prices. That’s cash, Charles reasons, that Buffalo Wild Wings will be able to claim a chunk of. Not to mention the fact that if chicken prices remain subdued, it’ll mean a beefier bottom line.
- [By Peter Graham]
A long term performance chart shows Dave & Busters Entertainment being a pretty steady performer up until June while potential peer, upscale gentlemen’s clubs and restaurant ownerRCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: RICK), took off last yearand Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) has started to fall off:
