Chicago, IL – April 14, 2025 – Zacks Equity Research shares GameStop GME, as the Bull of the Day and Golden Entertainment GDEN as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on — ExlService Holdings, Inc. EXLS, Barrett Business Services, Inc. BBSI and Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. BR.
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
GameStop is the world's largest video game retailer. The company offers the best selection of new and pre-owned video gaming consoles, accessories, and video game titles in both physical and digital formats.
GameStop currently sports a bullish Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), with its earnings outlook shifting notably bright over recent months.
Let’s take a closer look at the company.
Most investors are familiar with GameStop thanks to the ‘meme stock’ mania a few years back, with the company reflecting the poster child of the bunch overall. Though shares are down nearly 20% year-to-date, CEO Ryan Cohen recently stepped in and purchased 500k shares at a total transaction value of roughly $10.7 million, perhaps a nice indication of his views on the long-term outlook.
Though sales growth has been sluggish, the company’s margins picture continues to improve nicely over recent periods, as shown below.
It’s worth mentioning that the stock isn’t going to squeeze again like it did a few years ago, with the current short interest percentage well below the extremes we saw. Nonethless, the bullish EPS outlook for the stock paints a positive near-term picture, with its next set of quarterly results expected near the beginning of June.
Investors can implement a stellar strategy to find expected winners by taking advantage of the Zacks Rank – one of the most powerful market tools that provides a massive edge.
The top 5% of all stocks receive the highly coveted Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). These stocks should outperform the market more than any other rank.
Golden Entertainment owns and operates a diversified entertainment platform consisting of a portfolio of gaming and hospitality assets that focus on casino and branded tavern operations.
Specifically, it owns eight casinos and 71 gaming taverns in Nevada, operating over 5,500 slots, nearly 100 table games, and over 6,000 hotel rooms.
Analysts have taken a bearish stance on the company’s earnings outlook, landing it into an unfavorable Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
In addition, the company is in the Zacks Gaming industry, which is currently ranked in the bottom 39% of all Zacks industries.
Let’s take a closer look at the company.
GDEN shares have struggled to find their footing in 2025, down nearly 20% and widely underperforming relative to the S&P 500. Shares took a dive following its recent set of quarterly results, which fell short of both our consensus EPS and sales estimates.
The company’s top line has been notably weak over recent periods, as shown in the chart below. Sales of $164 million throughout its latest period fell 30% year-over-year, following the prior period’s year-over-year sales decline of 37%.
Shares do yield a solid 4% annually, well above that of the S&P 500. But while the yield is enticing, it’s been propped up by poor share performance stemming from weak quarterly results. Investors should wait until positive earnings estimate revisions hit the tape, which would signal a notable change in sentiment overall.
Bottom Line
Negative earnings estimate revisions, resulting from soft quarterly results, paint a challenging picture for the company’s shares in the near term.
Golden Entertainment GDEN is a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), indicating that analysts have taken a bearish stance on the company’s earnings outlook.
For those seeking strong stocks, a great idea would be to focus on stocks carrying a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) – these stocks sport a notably stronger earnings outlook paired with the potential to deliver explosive gains in the near term
The Zacks Outsourcing industry has witnessed significant growth, driven by multiple economic, technological and business factors. Key drivers include reduced costs, the onset of remote work, the rising focus on cybersecurity awareness, and the surge in trends such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML).
Investors can consider ExlService Holdings, Inc.,Barrett Business Services, Inc. and Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. from the Outsourcing market.
Outsourcing involves delegating a company's internal operations to external resources or third-party contractors to enhance operational efficiency. Within the Zacks Outsourcing sector, one can find companies that provide human capital, business management and IT solutions, primarily catering to small and medium-sized enterprises.
These services encompass a broad spectrum, including HR support, payroll management, administration of benefits, retirement planning and insurance services. Certain firms excel in delivering business process services, with a strong focus on transaction processing, analytics and global automation solutions. This outsourcing approach empowers businesses to concentrate on their core competencies while external experts manage these critical functions.
Strong Market Demand: The industry has witnessed significant growth post-pandemic, led by tech advancements and a rise in remote work. Revenues, income and cash flows have risen over these years, aiding many industry players to increase dividends.
Consistent Growth in Business Process & IT Outsourcing: The higher demand for business process outsourcing services is fueled by greater flexibility, lower costs and enhanced service quality. The IT outsourcing market is also in great shape. In the future, outsourced IT services will cover an array of functions, including programming and technical support. Companies can outsource entire IT departments to cut costs and focus on vital tasks. A significant driver of outsourcing trends will be the shortage of in-house engineering talent.
Urgency of Cybersecurity Measures: Increased public awareness and evolving cyber threats, such as ransomware and national-level cyberattacks, have led to a rising demand for robust data encryption and cybersecurity measures. Companies are focusing on employee security awareness training and breach detection systems to tackle these threats. The demand for outsourced cybersecurity services is rising as businesses are turning to it to reduce risks, maintain compliance and support scalability in their operations.
Changing Industry Trends: Trends like the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, AI and ML are gradually reshaping the outsourcing sector. These innovations promote efficiency, build a runway for innovations and provide a competitive edge to companies, changing the outsourcing landscape for businesses to streamline operations.
For instance, IoT data can be collected, processed and analyzed in the cloud, enabling real-time decision-making and predictive maintenance for clients. By integrating AI and ML into customer support outsourcing, companies can provide swifter, effective and consistent customer support while optimizing operational costs.
The Zacks Outsourcing industry, which is housed within the broader Zacks Business Services sector, currently carries a Zacks Industry Rank #217. This rank places it in the bottom 12% of 247 Zacks industries.
The group’s Zacks Industry Rank, which is the average of the Zacks Rank of all the member stocks, indicates continued underperformance in the near term. Our research shows that the top 50% of Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than two to one.
Before we present a few stocks that you may want to consider for your portfolio, let us take a look at the industry’s recent stock market performance and current valuation.
Over the past year, the Zacks Outsourcing industry beat the broader Zacks Business Services sector and the Zacks S&P 500 composite.
The industry has rallied 16% over this period compared with the broader sector's 6.4% growth and the 8.4% rise of the Zacks S&P 500 composite.
On the basis of forward 12-month price-to-earnings (P/E), commonly used for valuing outsourcing stocks, the industry is currently trading at 22.68X compared with the S&P 500’s 19.37X and the sector’s 21.56X.
In the past five years, the industry has traded as high as 24.47X and as low as 11.86X, with the median being 20.55X.
One year, the stock prices of three major outsourcing companies have had an impressive run on the bourse. EXLS, BBSI, and BR gained 46.2%, 32.2% and 16.7%, respectively. Broadridge Financial Solutions currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). The rest of the companies mentioned above carry 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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Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (BR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
GameStop Corp. (GME) : Free Stock Analysis Report
ExlService Holdings, Inc. (EXLS) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Barrett Business Services, Inc. (BBSI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Golden Entertainment, Inc. (GDEN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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