JPM, T, MSFT, PYPL and INTC

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 29, 2020 – 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 JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, AT&T Inc. T, Microsoft Corp. MSFT, PayPal Holdings, Inc. PYPL and Intel Corp. INTC.

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

Bitcoin Crosses $10K, with $15K in Sight: 3 Winners

Bitcoin prices moved north on Jul 27, pushing the digital currency to its highest level in almost a year. The largest and most influential cryptocurrency jumped as much as 15% to $10,944, the highest since last August. In fact, the largest digital token settled at around $10,237, the highest level since Jun 1, based on spot prices.

Thus, all eyes are now on the critical $10,500 mark, a level that it had failed to hold on to in June and February. But experts believe that bitcoin could head to $15,000 next.

Notably, bitcoin last went past $10,000 on Jun 3 and has since seen a persistent decline. But over the past seven days, the digital currency has climbed almost 11%. What’s more, crypto funds too gained as bitcoin broke out from a recent trading range to end at its highest level in two months. The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust climbed more than 10% yesterday, while the Grayscale Ethereum Trust jumped nearly 30%.

So what’s behind bitcoin’s run past the key $10,000 resistance level? The move for the digital currency comes as gold prices scaled northward amid a rush for assets that are considered safe haven and are alternatives to stocks mostly perceived as risky assets. And why so? This is because the coronavirus pandemic has dented profit margins of companies and driven much of the developed world into a deep recession. The virus infected thousands worldwide, disrupted supply chains and restrained movements between countries. 

Some experts believe that growth in the so-called stable bitcoin is also due to intensifying tensions between the United States and China that could easily rattle the equity market, the same reason why gold prices have been recently scaling upward as well.

The U.S. dollar, in the meantime, weakened due to fresh spikes in COVID-19 cases, which again helped both gold and “digital gold” to rise. Lest we forget, crypto fans have often touted bitcoin as “digital gold.” 

Needless to say, when the value of dollar decreases relative to other currencies throughout the globe, the price of gold tends to rise in dollar terms. After all, gold becomes less expensive in other currencies.

To top it, several Wall Street bigwigs are showing keen interest in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. And this bullish approach toward bitcoin is surely driving digital assets. For instance, JPMorgan Chase & Co. has introduced JPM Coin, which will be helpful in handling digital settlements. And how can we forget that telecommunication, media and technology service provider AT&T Inc. has also begun accepting crypto payments via a partnership with BitPay.

3 Stocks to Gain From Bitcoin’s Epic Run

If you are looking to tap the rising bitcoin trend, you may take a look at the following Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) companies that are making use of bitcoin and technologies that support it, including blockchain. You can seethe complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Microsoft Corp., incidentally, is facing stiff competition from Amazon in the cloud computing space. As a result, the tech behemoth has launched a fully-managed blockchain service, integrated with Azure Active Directory.

Microsoft’s fiscal fourth-quarter results benefited from momentum in Azure and impressive Teams user growth led by coronavirus-induced work-from-home wave. Microsoft’s Intelligent Cloud division raked in $13.4-billion sales compared to analysts’ estimate of $13.11 billion. Sales also grew 17% year over year (read more: 4 Cloud Stocks to Win Big on Microsoft’s Stellar Earnings Show).

The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current and next year is 10.4% and 13.1%, respectively. 

PayPal Holdings, Inc, a leader in digital payment processes, sealed a deal with three major bitcoin payment processors, BitPay, GoCoin and Coinbase, to help PayPal merchants accept bitcoin as a mode of payment.

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