Chicago, IL – March 11, 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: Klabin KLBAY, Ubiquiti UI and EMCOR Group EME
Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:
What is happening in the Global Week Ahead?
· Fast-moving developments on Ukraine and Europe will no doubt continue to dominate financial markets
· U.S. macro data includes key consumer price inflation numbers, and
· China looks determined to hold its ground as trade tensions ratchet up
(1) U.S. Recession Worry Appears to Be Growing
Global growth concerns have shot back onto the markets' radar as weakening U.S. data and growing trade tensions hurt consumer confidence and business activity.
Even second-tier U.S. data will be closely watched, while the Bank of Canada could cut rates when it meets on Wednesday.
President Trump on Thursday suspended tariffs of 25% imposed just days earlier on most goods from Canada and Mexico, but his fluctuating trade policy continues to fan worries about inflation and growth.
Morgan Stanley estimates U.S. tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada as proposed could shave 0.7-1.1 percentage points off U.S. growth in coming quarters, deliver a 2.2-2.8 percentage point hit to Canadian growth, and push Mexico into recession.
Brent crude has hit its lowest since December 2021, the safe-haven yen is around its strongest in five months, and the Nasdaq is around five-month lows.
(2) On Wednesday at 8:30 am ET, the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) Data Is Out
Wednesday's U.S. consumer price report could fan investor fears about still-warm inflation just as Trump's tariffs on key trading partners could provide a jolt to domestic prices.
· The February consumer price index is expected to have climbed +0.3% on a monthly basis, according to a Reuters poll
· The January CPI jumped +0.5%, the biggest gain since August 2023, as Americans faced higher costs on goods and services
Another hot reading could confound recent bets on more Federal Reserve rate cuts this year.
Traders recently priced as many as three cuts as economic slowdown worries grew.
Investors are also uneasy about trade policy and the inflationary impact of tariffs if they stay in place.
(3) Sea Change in Europe Underway
Vladimir Lenin's saying that there are decades where nothing happens, and weeks where decades happen is resonating with markets.
Speedy developments across Europe reinforce this.
Faced with Russia's war in Ukraine and fears of U.S. isolationism, Germany plans to unleash a defense and infrastructure spending bonanza in one of its biggest political shifts since the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, Europe seeks to borrow up $158 billion, opens new tab to lend to governments for rearmament.
The significance is not lost on markets. The euro and shares are surging; so are German bond yields as investors bet more spending means more borrowing.
Suddenly, the U.S. lead in long-term trend growth is no longer a given.
Investors are re-rating European assets. U.S. shares are falling.
Yes, the road ahead is long and bumpy.
But the feeling of a sea change across Europe is hard to ignore.
(4) Any Progress on the Russia-Ukraine Conflict Would Be Welcome
The state of relations between Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy have whipsawed the country's international bonds — but the impact has been felt beyond its borders, shaping and shaking markets across the region.
Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said he is in talks with Ukraine for a peace agreement framework to end hostilities with Russia, and a meeting is planned in the coming week with the Ukrainians in Saudi Arabia.
It is unclear what a peace deal could mean for Ukraine, but an end to the war is seen as positive for economies in the region.
But Germany's borrowing "bazooka" and the bond selloff are pushing up borrowing costs, raising price pressures for a region that has seen a number of negative inflation surprises.
Poland's central bank will set interest rates on Wednesday, though cuts are only on the horizon for the second half of 2025.
While the White House is reportedly seeking a plan for sanctions relief on Russia and preparing for a Trump-Putin summit, European finance ministers will meet Tuesday to discuss economic impact of Russia's aggression.
(5) Mainland China Prepared to Respond to U.S. Emergency Tariff Action
On Trump's list of tariff targets, China stands out — not least for how well its markets have weathered the tumult.
China's central bank has deftly guided the yuan in a stable range against the dollar; Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is up 21% this year, making it the best performing major global market. And that's without the kind of reprieves that Washington has afforded Ottawa and Mexico City.
In fact, Beijing is girding for even higher levies, kicking off its week-long session of the National People's Congress on Wednesday by promising more stimulus to boost private consumption and tech innovation.
Inflation figures over the weekend and loan data in the coming days offer the latest reading of the consumer pulse.
Meanwhile, Chinese startups continue to draw attention, with the release of fully fledged AI agent Manus, less than two months after DeepSeek stunned the world.
I chose one Brazilian company, and two U.S.-based companies this week.
(1) Klabin: This is a $7.60 a share stock, with a market cap of $23.5B. It is found in the Paper and Related Products industry. I see a Zacks Value score of F, a Zacks Growth score of C, and a Zacks Momentum score of F.
Klabin is the biggest producer, exporter and recycler of paper in Brazil.
It is the market leader in packaging paper and board, corrugated boxes and industrial sacks, it also produces and sells timber in logs.
Today it has 17 industrial plants in Brazil, spread around eight states — and one in Argentina.
It is organized in four business units — Forestry, Paper, Corrugated Packaging and Industrial Sacks.
(2) Ubiquiti: This is a $315 a share stock, with a market cap of $20.1B. It is found in the Paper and Related Products industry. I see a Zacks Value score of F, a Zacks Growth score of A, and a Zacks Momentum score of B.
Headquartered in New York, Ubiquiti Inc., along with its subsidiaries, offers a comprehensive portfolio of networking products and solutions for service providers and enterprises.
Its service-provider product platforms offer carrier-class network infrastructure for fixed wireless broadband, wireless backhaul systems and routing; while enterprise product platforms provide wireless local area network (WLAN) infrastructure, video surveillance products and machine-to-machine communication components.
The company was earlier known as Ubiquiti Networks Inc. and traded under the symbol "UBNT."
Ubiquiti offers high-performance radios, antennas, software, communications protocols and management tools that are designed to deliver carrier and enterprise class wireless broadband access and other services primarily in the unlicensed radio frequency spectrum. The company offers its products and solutions through disruptive price offering. They are also integrated as well as easy to deploy and manage.
Moreover, Ubiquiti follows a scalable community-led approach based on product feedback of customers.
Ubiquiti has two different product categories, namely, Service Provider Technology (13.6% of total revenues in second-quarter fiscal 2025) and Enterprise Technology (86.4%).
· The Service Provider Technology segment includes airMAX, airFiber and EdgeMAX embedded radio and antenna product lines. This segment also includes products like base stations, radios, backhaul equipment and Customer Premise Equipment ("CPE").
· The Enterprise Technology Segment includes UniFi and mFi product lines. This comprises Unifi Access Point ("UAP") products, Unifi Video Products, Unifi Voice over IP ("VOIP") phones and Unifi switches.
(3) EMCOR Group: This is a $374 a share stock, with a market cap of $17.9B. It is found in the Building Products – Heavy Construction industry. I see a Zacks Value score of B, a Zacks Growth score of A, and a Zacks Momentum score of B.
EMCOR Group is one of the leading providers of mechanical and electrical construction, industrial and energy infrastructure, as well as building services for a diverse range of businesses. The company serves commercial, industrial, utility and institutional clients.
The company currently operates under the following reportable segments:
a. United States Electrical Construction and Facilities Services (contributing 23% to total revenues for 2024) – This comprises systems for premises electrical and lighting systems; electrical power transmission and distribution; roadway and transit lighting; fiber optic lines; voice and data communication; as well as low-voltage systems, such as fire alarm, security and process control.
b. United States Mechanical Construction and Facilities Services (44%)– This involves systems for fire protection; heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration and clean-room process ventilation; water and wastewater treatment and central plant heating and cooling; plumbing, process and high-purity pipi ng; millwrighting; steel fabrication, erection and welding; as well as controls and filtration.
c. United States Building Services (21%)– This segment provides various types of support services related to operation and maintenance of clients' facilities in the U.S. These include commercial and government site-based operations and maintenance; military base operations support services; infrastructure and building projects for federal, state and local governmental agencies.
d. United States Industrial Services (9%) – This segment comprises industrial maintenance and services that are needed for refineries and petrochemical plants such as designing, manufacturing, repairing and hydro blast cleaning of shell and tube heat exchangers and related equipment; overhaul and maintenance of critical process units in refineries and petrochemical plants.
e. United Kingdom Building Services (3%)– This segment provides support services related to operation and maintenance of commercial and government client facilities in the U.K.
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