
The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Apple, Netflix and Disney
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – June 27, 2025 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Apple AAPL, Netflix NFLX and Disney DIS.
Here are highlights from Thursday's Analyst Blog:
Apple Continues to Expand Services Business: What's the Path Ahead?
Apple is continuously upgrading features of its Services offerings that revolve around the flagship device, iPhone. The company now has more than 1 billion paid subscribers across its Services portfolio, more than double what it had four years ago. In the fiscal second quarter, Services revenues grew 11.6% year over year to $26.65 billion. Infusion of Apple Intelligence into Services offerings like Apple Wallet and Apple Music is expected to drive top-line growth.
At its latest annual Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple announced expansion to the Services business with AutoMix and Lyrics Translation features in Apple Music. Sing will allow users to transform their iPhones into a handheld microphone for Apple TV, while preferred routes and visited places in Apple Maps make navigation easier for users.
Apple Intelligence is now getting added to Apple Wallet, and users can make purchases with Apple Pay. Powered by Apple Intelligence, Apple Wallet can now automatically identify, summarize and display order tracking details from emails sent from merchants or delivery carriers. Meanwhile, Apple Pay expands the ability to pay with rewards and installments to in-store purchases for added flexibility and choice.
The company also introduced an update to Apple Maps that helps users search and discover top-ranked restaurants, hotels, golf courses and more, with the addition of rankings and insights from expert sources.
Per our model, Apple's Services revenues are expected to see a CAGR of 15.6% between 2024 and 2027.
Apple Faces Stiff Competition
Netflix and Disney are major competitors in the Services space.
Netflix is benefiting from its growing subscriber base, thanks to a robust localized and foreign-language content portfolio and healthy engagement levels with about two hours of viewing per member per day, indicating strong member retention. Netflix has set an ambitious target to double its revenues by 2030, supported by a diversified content strategy, including international programming, live events and gaming initiatives.
Disney, on the other hand, has built up a massive global audience for its ad-supported streaming content. It has an estimated 157 million active users worldwide, 112 million of whom are of Disney's streaming platforms in the United States. Disney is benefiting from strength in Domestic Parks & Experiences revenues driven by growth at domestic parks, Disney Vacation Club and Disney Cruise Line.
AAPL's Share Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
Apple shares have dropped 19.5% year to date (YTD), underperforming the broader Zacks Computer & Technology sector's return of 4.5%.
Apple stock is trading at a premium, with a forward 12-month Price/Sales of 7.25X compared with the industry's 6.75X. AAPL has a Value Score of D.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter fiscal 2025 earnings is pegged at $1.41 per share, unchanged over the past 30 days, indicating 0.71% year-over-year growth.
Apple Inc. price-consensus-chart | Apple Inc. Quote
The consensus mark for fiscal 2025 earnings is pegged at $7.11 per share, unchanged over the past 30 days, suggesting 5.33% year-over-year growth.
Apple currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
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A new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that 11.8 million more Americans would become uninsured by 2034 if the bill became law. It also said the package would increase the deficit by nearly $3.3 trillion over the decade. But other Senate Republicans, along with conservatives in the House, are pushing for steeper cuts, particularly to health care, drawing their own unexpected warning from Trump. 'Don't go too crazy!' the president posted on social media. 'REMEMBER, you still have to get reelected.' All told, the Senate bill includes some $4 trillion in tax cuts, making permanent Trump's 2017 rates, which would expire at the end of the year if Congress fails to act, while adding the new ones he campaigned on, including no taxes on tips. 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2 hours ago
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As such, many smaller waste haulers pay Waste Management to use its landfills. Waste Management also benefits from scale, which allows it to create denser pickup routes and get more out of its operations. As a result, the company sports strong profit margins. With its excess cash, the company has been able to grow through acquisition. The most recent of which is Stericycle, which is now called WM Healthcare Solutions. At its most recent investor day, management predicted $50 million in cross-selling opportunities with Stericycle in addition to its $250 million in cost synergies. Management also sees revenue growth accelerating to about 9% per year with expanding earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) margins through 2027. That will support strong free cash flow growth, which management can use for additional tuck-in acquisitions, its growing dividend, or share repurchases. With an enterprise value of about 15 times the expected EBITDA over the next 12 months, the shares look fairly priced and could be a good opportunity for a dividend growth investor looking for companies with strong free cash flow growth potential. Should you invest $1,000 in Microsoft right now? Before you buy stock in Microsoft, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Microsoft wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $713,547!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $966,931!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is1,062% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to177%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 23, 2025 Adam Levy has positions in Microsoft. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Berkshire Hathaway and Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends Waste Management and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


Globe and Mail
3 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Is It Time to Just Buy Nike Stock as a Turnaround Takes Hold?
It's been frustrating to be a Nike (NYSE: NKE) investor the past few years, but investors cheered after new CEO Elliott Hill indicated that the worst was now behind the company after it reported its fiscal fourth quarter results. Nike shares surged on the results, which topped low expectations, although the stock is still down on the year and more than 20% lower over the past five years. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More » Let's delve into Nike's recent earnings to see why now is a good time to pick up shares in the iconic sneaker and apparel maker. The worst is over Hill, who has been on the job for less than a year, has been working hard to help turn around Nike's business following the missteps of former CEO John Donahoe. Hill's predecessor neglected innovation and pushed the company's classic footwear segment, which consists of brands like Air Jordan and Air Force 1. He also made a big direct-to-consumer push while neglecting important wholesale relationships. Hill has been working to rewind the damage done by Donahoe through his Win Now action plan. The main tenet of his plan is to return Nike to its innovation roots. He has reorganized the business to drive sports-specific innovation across its three main brands: Nike, Jordan, and Converse. The company has seen some early traction with new innovation, with its Vomero 18 running shoe becoming a $100 million-plus franchise with strong sell-through just 90 days after launch. The company is also working to mend its relationship with wholesalers. On this end, it recently announced a new partnership with Amazon, where the e-commerce giant will carry a select assortment of Nike footwear, apparel, and accessories. Nike also hired retail marketing, visual merchandising, and account managers to work with large wholesalers to help with their presentations and create better consumer connections. In addition, the company is looking to implement sharper marketplace segmentation in order to serve its customers at different price points. At the same time, it is looking to position Nike Digital and Nike Direct as premium destinations. This means you might be able to get some lower-priced Nike products at a retailer like Kohl's, while Nike will have its high-end products with the newest technology on its apps and in its stores. While Nike's actual results were still weak, Hill said it's time to turn the page and that he expects Nike's results to improve moving forward. For fiscal Q4, Nike's revenue declined 12% to $11.1 billion, with Nike brand revenue down 11% to $10.8 billion. Nike Direct revenue sank 14% to $4.7 billion, as digital sales collapsed 26%. This is largely due to the company repositioning its digital app as a premier destination. Wholesale revenue, meanwhile, dropped 9% to $6.4 billion. China remained a weak spot, with revenue sinking 21% in the quarter to $1.5 billion. Nike has been heavily discounting in China to reset its inventory. North America revenue dipped 11% to $4.7 billion, with apparel sales down 7% and footwear revenue falling 13%. EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) sales sank 9%, while Asia Pacific and Latin America sales decreased by 8%. Heavy discounting to clear inventory continued to weigh on Nike's gross margins, which fell 440 basis points to 40.3%. Between declining sales and gross margins, its earnings per share (EPS) plunged 86% in the quarter to $0.14. The company said that tariffs would be a significant new cost headwind, representing an estimated $1 billion in gross costs. It said the tariffs would hurt its gross margin by 75 basis points this fiscal year, with the bigger impact in the first half. It is currently working with suppliers and retail partners to mitigate the costs and impact on consumers. Is Nike stock a buy? While Nike's progress has not yet shown up in its results, Hill is helping lay the groundwork for the company to get back on track. He's been leaning into innovation, rebuilding wholesale partnerships, repositioning Nike's app and stores as premium destinations, and working to segment the brand into both premium and core offerings depending on the channel. While the stock trades at a pretty hefty valuation, with a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of around 39 times analysts' 2026 estimates, that's largely because Nike's earnings have been depressed. If Hill can get Nike's EPS back to the $3.73 it was in fiscal year 2024, the stock would trade at under 20 times earnings. Nike still has work to do, but now could be a good opportunity to buy the stock when the company is showing signs of a turnaround and the stock is still down on the year. Should you invest $1,000 in Nike right now? Before you buy stock in Nike, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Nike wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $713,547!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $966,931!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is1,062% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to177%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 23, 2025 John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Geoffrey Seiler has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon and Nike. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.