Equity Residential (EQR: $61)
Bull Market Report Target Price: $85
Bull Market Report Sell Price: $55
Earnings Date: Tuesday, After market close
Consensus: 4Q17
Revenues: $625 million
EPS: $0.36
Year Ago Quarter Results
Revenues: $605 million
EPS: $0.75
Key Things to Watch For in the Quarter
Analysts expect Equity Residential to report a 3% increase in revenues with a 50% decrease in earnings per share. Despite having beat estimates in each of the past four quarters, the stock is only trading 2% above its price this time last year. Nearly all of the stock’s 15% gains for the year have been wiped out since November with the oversupply issues in the real estate market. We believe the stock is oversold at its current levels, and will see support in the $60 range.
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Eli Lilly (LLY: $86)
Bull Market Report Target Price: $96
Bull Market Report Sell Price: $82
Earnings Date: Wednesday, 9:00 AM ET
Consensus: 4Q17
Revenues: $6.0 billion
EPS: $1.07
Year Ago Quarter Results
Revenues: $5.8 billion
EPS: $0.95
Key Things to Watch For in the Quarter
Eli Lilly is expected to report a 3% increase in revenues and a 13% increase in earnings per share for 4Q17. The stock has beat estimates in three of the past four quarters, and is currently trading 17% above its price levels from this time last year. The stock saw a bit of resistance at $86 earlier this year, and it had recently broken through, but with the tough market of the last two days, the stock is back to $86. This pharmaceutical company invests heavily in its research and development, which will drive its future sales and earnings growth.
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Facebook (FB: $186)
Bull Market Report Target Price: $190
Bull Market Report Sell Price: $155
Earnings Date: Wednesday, 5:00 PM ET
Consensus: 4Q17
Revenues: $12.5 billion
EPS: $1.95
Year Ago Quarter Results
Revenues: $8.8 billion
EPS: $1.41
Key Things to Watch For in the Quarter
Analysts expect Facebook to report a 42% increase in revenues and a 38% increase in earnings per share for 4Q17. Facebook has beaten estimates in three of the past four quarters which has been reflected in the stock’s 42% appreciation over the past year. Facebook’s growth over the past years has been unprecedented for a company of its size. It truly is adhering to its mission of creating a more connected world. We look forward to seeing what kind of developments CEO Mark Zuckerberg has in store for the connected world in 2018. We know it will be good.
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PayPal Holdings (PYPL: $83)
Bull Market Report Target Price: $87
Bull Market Report Sell Price: We would not sell PayPal
Earnings Date: Wednesday, 5:00 PM ET
Consensus: 4Q17
Revenues: $3.6 billion
EPS: $0.52
Year Ago Quarter Results
Revenues: $3.0 billion
EPS: $0.42
Key Things to Watch For in the Quarter
We are looking for a 20% increase in its sales and a 24% increase in its earnings per share for the 4th quarter of 2017. The stock has been on a tear since last year, returning investors a 110% capital appreciation since this time last year. The stock has gone nowhere but up since posting earnings that have exceeded expectations in the past four quarters. PayPal’s market cap is just over $100 billion, making it the largest publicly traded electronic payments company in the world. We look forward to seeing what PayPal has to offer as they continue to lead this growing industry.
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Microsoft (MSFT: $93)
Bull Market Report Target Price: $92
Bull Market Report Sell Price: We would not sell Microsoft
Earnings Date: Wednesday, 5:30 PM ET
Consensus: 2Q18
Revenues: $28 billion
EPS: $0.86
Year Ago Quarter Results
Revenues: $26 billion
EPS: $0.80
Key Things to Watch For in the Quarter
Microsoft is expected to report an 8% increase in revenues and a 7.5% increase in earnings per share for 2Q18. Microsoft’s ability to beat analyst estimates has been reflected in the stock’s 44% increase over the past year. The firm continues to produce high quality hardware and software, and has a very good understanding of their customer base. Microsoft also allocates an incredible amount of capital to research and development, with its most recent announcement being a push into quantum computing, which some say could be similar to the internet revolution in the 1990s.
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Blackstone Group (BX: $36)
Bull Market Report Target Price: $36
Bull Market Report Sell Price: $31
Earnings Date: Thursday, 11:00 AM ET
Consensus: 4Q17
Revenues: $3.3 billion
EPS: $6.43
Year Ago Quarter Results
Revenues: $2.8 billion
EPS: $5.25
Key Things to Watch For in the Quarter
Blackstone is expected to report an 18% increase in revenue along with a 22% increase in its earnings per share for 4Q17. Blackstone has exceeded analyst estimates in three of the past four quarters, and has seen its stock appreciate 17% over the past year. Technically speaking, the stock has underperformed both the market and the sector, and we believe this is a huge mispricing by the market. Blackstone currently trades at a PE of 15 and yields 5%. At these price levels the stock looks like a steal compared to its competitors.
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United Parcel Service (UPS: $129)
Bull Market Report Target Price: $125
Bull Market Report Sell Price: $106
Earnings Date: Thursday, Exact Time not Available
Consensus: 4Q17
Revenues: $18 billion
EPS: $1.66
Year Ago Quarter Results
Revenues: $17 billion
EPS: $1.63
Key Things to Watch For in the Quarter
Analysts expect UPS to report a 6% increase in revenues and a 2% increase in earnings per share for 4Q17. Despite beating estimates in three of the past four quarters, the stock has slightly underperformed the overall market. The stock has appreciated 24% since this time last year, and we expect to see similar returns moving forward as the demand for logistical services increases. Although we remain bullish on the stock, we are keeping a close eye on Amazon as it begins to roll out its own logistics services, posing a potential threat to UPS.
The stock has passed our Target of $125, and we believe the stock will go higher, as long as the market holds here and moves higher in the coming months. We hereby raise our Target to $142 and our Sell Price to $118.
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Alphabet (GOOG: $1,170)
Bull Market Report Target Price: $1,450
Bull Market Report Sell Price: We would not sell Google
Earnings Date: Thursday, 4:30 PM ET
Consensus: 4Q17
Revenues: $32 billion
EPS: $10.00
Year Ago Quarter Results
Revenues: $26 billion
EPS: $9.36
Key Things to Watch For in the Quarter
We are looking for a 31% increase in revenues and a 7% increase in earnings per share for 1Q18. The company has beaten estimates in three of the past four quarters, which has been reflected in the stock’s 45% appreciation since this time last year. The stock currently boasts a market cap of $815 billion, making it one of the largest publicly traded companies in the world. Although Alphabet is best known for its Google Search Engine, the company touches all aspects of technology from cloud computing to its most recent Television Streaming service through YouTube.
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Apple (AAPL: $165)
Bull Market Report Target Price: $194
Bull Market Report Sell Price: We would not sell Apple
Earnings Date: Thursday, 5:00 PM ET
Consensus: 1Q18
Revenues: $87 billion
EPS: $3.81
Year Ago Quarter Results
Revenues: $78 billion
EPS: $3.36
Key Things to Watch For in the Quarter
We expect to see a 13% increase in earnings per share along with an 11% increase in sales for 1Q18, despite less than ideal results with the release of the iPhone X. The stock has beaten estimates in each of the past four quarters, and has appreciated 38% since this time last year. We also saw Warren Buffet add more stock to his portfolio, which should definitely not be overlooked. We expect to see growth in iPhone and iPad sale over the next year, and remain bullish on the stock. The cash repatriation should begin soon and that will produce some changes – in the dividend and in their outlook on buying new technology firms.
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Visa (V: $123)
Bull Market Report Target Price: $123
Bull Market Report Sell Price: We would not sell Visa
Earnings Date: Thursday, 5:30 PM ET
Consensus: 1Q18
Revenues: $4.8 billion
EPS: $0.99
Year Ago Quarter Results
Revenues: $4.4 billion
EPS: $0.86
Key Things to Watch For in the Quarter
Visa is expected to report a 9% increase in revenues and a 15% increase in earnings per share for 1Q18. Visa has beaten estimates in each of the past four quarters, and seen a 50% appreciation in its stock since this time last year. Despite paying a relatively small dividend, the stock still trades at a PE of 44, suggesting it is fairly valued compared to its competitors. We are confident in Visa’s ability to drive earnings growth through the new year. This $280 billion market cap company is a long term hold.
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Amazon (AMZN: $1,420)
Bull Market Report Target Price: $1,500
Bull Market Report Sell Price: $1,225
Earnings Date: Thursday, 5:30 PM ET
Consensus: 4Q17
Revenues: $60 billion
EPS: $1.84
Year Ago Quarter Results
Revenues: $44 billion
EPS: $1.54
Key Things to Watch For in the Quarter
Analysts expect Amazon to report a 36% increase in revenues and a 19% increase in earnings per share for 4Q17. Despite having only beaten estimates in three of the past four quarters, the stock currently trades 70% higher than its levels this time last year. Amazon continues to lead the charge in the online retail space, and we firmly believe in the longevity of the firm. Although the company trades at a very high PE of 350, we believe this is explained by the company’s inherent ability dominate and revolutionize the Retail industry.
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AstraZeneca (AZN: $36)
Bull Market Report Target Price: $42
Bull Market Report Sell Price: $32
Earnings Date: Friday, exact time not available
Consensus: 4Q17
Revenues: $5.4 billion
EPS: $0.45
Year Ago Quarter Results
Revenues: $5.6 billion
EPS: $0.61
Key Things to Watch For in the Quarter
AstraZeneca is expected to report a 4% decrease in revenues and a 26% decrease in earnings per share for 4Q17. Despite the lack of top line growth, the stock has still managed to beat analyst estimates in each of the past four quarters, and has shown 30% year-over-year appreciation as a result. The stock currently trades at a PE of 26, which is relatively cheap compared to other firms in healthcare which average around 40. The stock pays a 4% dividend, and has room to grow in 2018.
We’re not liking this new development with a slowdown in revenues and earnings and are re-evaluating our take on this stock. More to come this weekend. In the meantime, we are moving our Sell Price to $34.