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Tech titans Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) and Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) are cheap on a price-to-earnings basis and they generate buckets of free cash flow (FCF). Their FCF generation combined is about as much as the GDP of Uganda’s 38 million people. Even if all they did was grow earnings and FCF in line with inflation, they would be raging buys. But, of course, investing is rarely this simple, so let’s take a look at what you need to know before deciding whether to buy these large-cap cash cows.
The value proposition
As you can see in the table below, both have attractive FCF-to-enterprise value (market cap plus net debt) multiples. In plain English, this means that Cisco Systems is currently generating more than 10% of its market cap in FCF, while Oracle clocks in around 8%. However, as is often the case with cash cow stocks, revenue growth is low.
Top 5 Growth Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Nordstrom Inc.(JWN)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By JJ Kinahan]
It’s all retail all the time this week, with Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE: KSS), Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT), Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW), Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS), Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE: FL), and Tiffany & Co (NYSE: TIF) among the big names scheduled to report. Last week saw mixed signals from retailers, with Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) and Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) both delivering impressive results while J.C. Penney Company Inc. (NYSE: JCP) and Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN) received poor reviews from the Street. TGT is arguably the biggest one to watch in the days ahead (see more detail below).
- [By Paul Ausick]
One bit of good news for Walmart is that its Sam’s Club warehouse stores scored an 80 to tie for third behind Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) at 83 and Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN) at 81.
- [By Jim Crumly]
As for individual stocks, PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) popped on strong earnings and Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) fell after its investor day didn’t generate enthusiasm for its future.
- [By Chris Lange]
When Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN) reported its most recent quarterly results after the markets closed on Thursday, the department store chain said that it had $0.95 in earnings per share (EPS) and $4.07 billion in revenue. Consensus estimates had called for $0.84 in EPS and revenue of $3.96 billion. The fiscal second-quarter of last year reportedly had EPS of $0.65 and $3.79 billion in revenue.
- [By Jeremy Bowman]
Shares of department store stocks, including Macy’s (NYSE:M), Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN), Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS), and J.C. Penney (NYSE:JCP), were down broadly today after Macy’s reported second-quarter earnings this morning. Oddly, Macy’s turned in a strong quarter. But the market seemed to see an opportunity to take profits in the sector as department store stocks have already run up considerably so far this year, and fears about the threat from e-commerce persist.
Top 5 Growth Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Buffalo Wild Wings Inc.(BWLD)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Steve Symington]
That’s not to say it was a quiet day for every stock on the market. With earnings season ramping up, brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE:BUD) and restaurant chain Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ:BWLD) served as an exercise in contrast as investors reacted to their respective quarterly reports.
- [By Peter Graham]
A long term performance chart shows Dave & Busters Entertainment tripling in value before falling back while small cap upscale gentlemen’s clubs and restaurant owner RCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: RICK) began taking off in 2016 and small cap Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) is being acquired by Arby’s Restaurant Group:
Top 5 Growth Stocks To Invest In Right Now: TrueBlue Inc.(TBI)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Logan Wallace]
Media stories about Trueblue (NYSE:TBI) have trended somewhat positive on Monday, according to Accern Sentiment. The research firm rates the sentiment of news coverage by reviewing more than 20 million news and blog sources in real time. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of negative one to one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Trueblue earned a media sentiment score of 0.09 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned media stories about the business services provider an impact score of 45.3296498009881 out of 100, meaning that recent news coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the near future.
- [By Logan Wallace]
Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Trueblue (TBI)
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- [By Logan Wallace]
Trueblue (NYSE: TBI) is one of 23 public companies in the “Help supply services” industry, but how does it contrast to its rivals? We will compare Trueblue to similar businesses based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, dividends, earnings and risk.
- [By Joseph Griffin]
Trueblue Inc (NYSE:TBI) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and three have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $27.50.
- [By Max Byerly]
Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Trueblue Inc (NYSE:TBI) by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,700 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Trueblue were worth $823,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
- [By Stephan Byrd]
American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Trueblue Inc (NYSE:TBI) by 24.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 95,307 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,680 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of Trueblue worth $2,468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Top 5 Growth Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Intuitive Surgical Inc.(ISRG)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By George Budwell]
The big deal here is that investors are hoping TransEnterix can eventually transform into the next Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG), a company that has so far generated returns on capital for early shareholders in excess of 8,500%. Before doing so, however, TransEnterix has a long way to go. Intuitive’s market-leading da Vinci system, after all, remains the gold standard in robotic surgery, evidenced by the fact that the company sold a whopping 220 systems in the second quarter of this year alone.
- [By Brian Stoffel]
That’s because these three companies — Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL), and Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) — share the three characteristics I value above all else in my portfolio: a wide and defendable moat, multiple ways of growing their businesses moving forward, and stellar balance sheets.
- [By Logan Wallace]
Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG). Sanford C. Bernstein issued an outperform rating on the stock.
Argus started coverage on shares of Integer (NYSE:ITGR). The firm issued a buy rating on the stock.
- [By Garrett Baldwin]
Earnings season is well underway. And if you’re looking to make real money, the time to get started is now. Money Morning Quantitative Specialist Chris Johnson argues the markets are at a tipping point. And with just a few smart plays in today’s classic stock picker’s market… you can pull in triple-digit gains with just a small investment. Read those picks right here.
The Top Stock Market Stories for Thursday
This morning, the U.S. Department of Labor said that weekly jobless claims came in at 207,000 for the week. That figure is below the 220,000 jobless claims expected by economists and brings U.S. unemployment claims to a 48.5-year low. It’s a big day of earnings reports, as dozens of blue chip companies will report results from the June-ending quarter. The biggest name today will be Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT), which reports earnings after the bell. Wall Street expects that the technology giant will report earnings of $1.07 per share. Analysts project quarterly revenue of $29.17 billion.
Three Stocks to Watch Today: PM, IBM, AA
International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM) stock added 2.5% in pre-market hours after Big Blue topped Wall Street earnings and revenue expectations. The tech giant continues to post positive results as it accelerates its turnaround efforts. IBM reported earnings per share of $3.08, a figure that beat estimates by $0.04 per share. It also reported quarterly revenue of $20.0 billion, a figure that surpassed estimates of $19.85 billion. Shares of Alcoa Corp. (NYSE: AA) fell 2% this morning. The aluminum manufacturer slashed its 2018 outlook due to falling prices and the recent round of metals tariffs introduced by the Trump administration. But there could be more pain in sight. Today, the U.S. Justice Department will hold a hearing that aims to determine whether vehicle and light truck imports present a national security threat to the United States. The hearing is due to President Trump’s pledge to hit European auto man
Top 5 Growth Stocks To Invest In Right Now: MEDIFAST INC(MED)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Lisa Levin]
Medifast, Inc. (NYSE: MED) shares were also up, gaining 22 percent to $121.06 after the company reported strong Q1 results and raised its FY18 guidance.
- [By Lisa Levin] Gainers
Biostar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: BSPM) shares jumped 29.86 percent to close at $2.87 on Friday.
Commercial Vehicle Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CVGI) shares gained 28.87 percent to close at $8.75 after reporting upbeat Q1 earnings.
Mexco Energy Corporation (NYSE: MXC) gained 27.02 percent to close at $5.4744.
Carbon Black, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBLK) climbed 26 percent to close at $23.94. Carbon Black priced its IPO at $19 per share.
Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTLA) rose 25.64 percent to close at $42.44 after the FDA approved the company's Andexxa, the only antidote indicated for patients treated with rivaroxaban and apixaban.
Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc. (NYSE: NGVC) rose 23.19 percent to close at $8.50 after reporting Q2 results.
California Resources Corporation (NYSE: CRC) shares gained 22.45 percent to close at $31.58 following upbeat Q1 earnings.
Atomera Incorporated (NASDAQ: ATOM) gained 22.31 percent to close at $6.25 after reporting Q1 results.
Medifast, Inc. (NYSE: MED) shares jumped 22.27 percent to close at $121.46 after the company reported strong Q1 results and raised its FY18 guidance.
Jerash Holdings (US), Inc. (NASDAQ: JRSH) gained 20.86 percent to close at $8.46.
Pandora Media, Inc. (NYSE: P) rose 19.83 percent to close at $6.89 after reporting strong quarterly results.
Shake Shack Inc (NYSE: SHAK) rose 18.01 percent to close at $55.95 on Friday after the company reported upbeat results for its first quarter and raised its FY18 guidance.
Super Micro Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ: SMCI) rose 17.73 percent to close at $21.25 after reporting strong preliminary results for the third quarter.
Schmitt Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: SMIT) rose 17.41 percent to close at $2.36.
Titan International, Inc. (NYSE: TWI) shares gained 16.78 percent to close at $12.25 following Q1 earnings.
Integer Holdings Corporation (NYSE: ITGR) shares rose 14.23 percent to close at $63.40 following Q1 result - [By Joseph Griffin]
MediBloc [QRC] (MED) is a proof-of-work (PoW) token that uses the HybridScryptHash256 hashing algorithm. Its genesis date was January 3rd, 2014. MediBloc [QRC]’s total supply is 4,097,545,844 tokens and its circulating supply is 2,966,384,100 tokens. The official website for MediBloc [QRC] is medibloc.org/en. MediBloc [QRC]’s official Twitter account is @MEDDevTeam. The Reddit community for MediBloc [QRC] is /r/MediBloc and the currency’s Github account can be viewed here. The official message board for MediBloc [QRC] is medium.com/@MediBloc.
- [By Logan Wallace]
MediBloc [MED] (CURRENCY:MED) traded 11.7% lower against the U.S. dollar during the 1 day period ending at 20:00 PM ET on February 16th. MediBloc [MED] has a total market capitalization of $19.63 million and $281,103.00 worth of MediBloc [MED] was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. During the last seven days, MediBloc [MED] has traded down 27.6% against the U.S. dollar. One MediBloc [MED] token can currently be bought for $0.0066 or 0.00000100 BTC on major exchanges including Coinrail, Bibox and Gate.io.
- [By Max Byerly]
McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE: MKC) and Medifast (NYSE:MED) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk and dividends.