Blucora and Ping Identity have been highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – April 12, 2022 – Zacks Equity Research shares Blucora BCOR as the Bull of the Day and Ping Identity Holding Corp. PING asthe Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on United Airlines UAL, Golar LNG Ltd. GLNG, and Textainer Group TGH.
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
Bull of the Day:
Blucora is a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) is a timely name to look at as we have just about a week left before the tax deadline. You may not know it from the name of the company, but Blucora is the parent company of TaxAct and HD Vest. Let's explore more about this stock in this Bull Of The Day article.
Description
Blucora, Inc. provides technology-enabled financial solutions to consumers, small businesses and tax professionals. The company's products and services consist of tax preparation and wealth management, through TaxAct and HD Vest. TaxAct provides digital tax preparation solutions for individuals, business owners and tax professionals. HD Vest Financial Services (R) supports an independent network of tax professionals who provide comprehensive financial planning solutions. Blucora, Inc. is based in IRVING, Texas.
Earnings History
When I look at a stock, the first thing I do is look to see if the company is beating the number. This tells me right away where the market's expectations have been for the company and how management has communicated to the market. A stock that consistently beats has management communicating expectations to Wall Street that can be achieved. That is what you want to see.
For BCOR, I see four straight beats of the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The beats have been getting better and better over the course of the last year.
Four quarters ago, the company posted a positive earning surprise of 8.3%. That was followed by a positive earnings surprise of 12% and then a 29% beat. The most recent quarter saw the best beat yet, a positive earnings surprise of 43%.
Earnings Estimates Revisions
The Zacks Rank tells us which stocks are seeing earnings estimates move higher. For BCOR, I see annual estimates moving higher.
Over the last 60 days, I see a few increases.
The full fiscal year 2022 has moved from $1.66 to $1.99.
Next year has also seen a nice increase from $1.69 to $2.19.
Positive movement in earnings estimates like that is why this stock is a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Valuation
I see a great valuation for BCOR as it heads into crunch time for tax season. The forward PE is 9.6x and that is very low considering the 15% topline growth the company posted in the most recent quarter. The price to book of 2.7x is below the 3x level that keeps value investors interested. The price to sales is just over 1x.
Bear of the Day:
Ping Identity Holding Corp. is a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) after missing the number in the most recent earnings release. Despite missing the number, the stock has seen a big move to the upside. Let's look at why this stock is a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) and in this Bear of the Day article.
Description
Ping Identity Holding Corp. is a pioneering Intelligent Identity company. It provides flexible options to extend hybrid IT environments and accelerate digital business initiatives with multi-factor authentication, single sign-on, access management, intelligent API security, directory and data governance capabilities. Ping Intelligent Identity(TM) platform provides customers, employees, partners and increasingly, IoT, with access to cloud, mobile, SaaS and on-premises applications and APIs, while also managing identity and profile data at scale. Ping Identity Holding Corp. is based in Denver, Colorado.
Earnings History
When I look at a stock, the first thing I do is look to see if the company is beating the number. This tells me right away where the market's expectations have been for the company and how management has communicated to the market. A stock that consistently beats has management communicating expectations to Wall Street that can be achieved. That is what you want to see.
In the case of PING, I see one miss and three beats of the Zacks Consensus Estimate. This alone does not make the stock a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and it doesn't make it a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) either.
The Zacks Rank does care about the earnings history, but it is much more heavily influenced by the movement of earnings estimates.
Earnings Estimates
The Zacks Rank tells us which stocks are seeing earnings estimates move higher or in this case lower. For PING I see annual estimates moving lower.
The Zacks Rank is more heavily influenced by the move in the annual numbers, and the movement is mixed for those numbers.
The current year 2022 consensus number has dropped from a gain of $0.35 to a loss of $0.09.
The next year has dropped from $0.53 to $0.13 over the last 60 days.
Negative movement in earnings estimates like that is why this stock is a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
It should be noted that a majority of stocks in the Zacks universe are seeing positive earnings estimate revisions. That means that the stocks that are seeing small but negative earnings estimate revisions are falling to a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
Additional content:
United (UAL) Pushes Boeing 777 Return to Mid-May
United Airlines does not expect its grounded Boeing 777 planes to return to service until the second half of May, a CNBC report stated. The lack of availability of these large jets during the busy spring travel period is a setback to the company, which had expected some of the aircraft to return to service this month.
Last February, United Airlines removed the 52 Boeing 777 jets powered by Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines from its fleet after a Honolulu-bound flight suffered an engine failure and made an emergency landing at the Denver International Airport. Following the explosion of the engine, which was manufactured by Pratt & Whitney, debris rained on Denver suburbs. However, no one suffered injuries and the aircraft landed safely.
In a note to pilots, which was seen by CNBC, United Airlines said that the Boeing 777 jets, powered by Pratt & Whitney 4000 engines, are "being removed from the schedule through May 12 and removed from international/Hawaii routes through May 25." Due to this delay in the return of the aircraft to service, UAL is reconfiguring its May flight schedule to account for the lack of the jets.
United Airlines Holdings Inc price | United Airlines Holdings Inc Quote
Per the CNBC report, the Federal Aviation Administration had issued directives last month to increase inspections of fan blades used on the Pratt & Whitney engines. The directives are set to go into effect on Apr 15.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
United Airlines carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks within the broader Transportation sector are as follows:
Golar LNG Ltd. carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). The company has an impressive earnings surprise history, having outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the past four quarters while missing the same in one. The average beat was 49.8%. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Shares of Golar LNG have rallied more than 100% in a year's time.
Textainer Group carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). The company's earnings have outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average beat being 21.6%.
Shares of Textainer Group have gained more than 18% in a year's time.
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United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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