The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Eloxx Pharmaceuticals, BGC Partners, SharpSpring, Ra Medical Systems and American States Water

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – April 21, 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: Eloxx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ELOX, BGC Partners, Inc. BGCP, SharpSpring, Inc. SHSP, Ra Medical Systems, Inc. RMED and American States Water Co. AWR.

Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:

5 Stocks to Gain the Most When the Economy Reopens

Lockdowns and social distancing norms induced by the novel coronavirus have weighed heavily on the global economy, with stock markets seeing steep declines in the past three months. In the United States, the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite have declined 17.5%, 11% and 4.9% respectively, on a year-to-date basis.

COVID-19 has so far infected nearly 2.4 million worldwide. In the United States, nearly 761,964 have been infected and 35,314 have lost their lives as per the Johns Hopkins University’s latest update. As medical staff, researchers and scientists worldwide are looking for vaccines and drugs to contain the virus, administrators are looking for ways to open up the economy while avoiding further outbreak.

On Apr 16, President Donald Trump unveiled a set of guidelines that will help in Opening Up America Again. The guideline, a three-phased approach, will help people get back to work while continuing to protect citizens’ lives. This instilled hope among investors, helping stocks to soar on Apr 17, with the S&P 500 Index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite closing 2.7%, 3% and 1.4% higher, respectively.

Phased Guidelines to Open Up America

President Trump on Apr 16 unveiled broad guidelines to start relaxing some of the strict social distancing measures that were imposed to contain the coronavirus outbreak. The guidelines trace out measures to be followed in different areas of the country, and allow businesses to reopen and employees to return to work. However, decision to lift restrictions will ultimately be made by state governors.

The three-phased approach is based on criteria that states should satisfy before proceeding to reopen. The criteria are: downward trajectory of influenza-like illnesses (ILI) and COVID-like syndrome cases reported within a 14-day period, downward trajectory of documented cases within a 14-day period and treatment of all patients without crisis care and a robust testing program.

Under phase one of the gating criteria, employees will be allowed to rejoin work but must maintain social distancing from residents especially vulnerable individuals, after returning from work or other such environment. Non-essential traveling and socializing should be avoided. Employers should encourage work-from-home and plan work in phases if possible. Schools and universities should remain closed.

Phase two would include states with no evidence of a rebound, satisfying the gating criteria a second time. Vulnerable individuals should continue isolation and others should maximize physical distance from mass. Work-from-home should be allowed whenever possible and feasible. Schools can reopen, however moderate physical distancing protocols should be followed in large venues.

Phase three would include states with no evidence of a rebound, satisfying the gating criteria a third time. Vulnerable individuals can resume public interactions with physical distancing. However, people should minimize spending time in crowded environments. Employers can resume businesses at full staff capacity. Large venues can operate under limited physical distancing protocols.

5 Stocks to Buy

The guidelines of opening up America again have instilled hope in investors. And, why not? Relaxing the social distancing guidelines would help employees get back to work and help citizens get their jobs back, in turn boosting consumer spending activities. Consumers have been the driving power of the U.S. economy and will continue to do so as the pandemic dissipates.

With positive development in the coronavirus scenario and guidelines to reopen the economy, we have shortlisted five stocks that will earn significant returns once the economy shows an upward trend. These stocks may have seen a steep decline in the past 30 days but have both positive expected earnings growth rate and estimate revisions. What’s more, these stocks flaunt a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Eloxx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that develops novel ribonucleic acid for the treatment of rare and ultra-rare premature stop codon diseases. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current quarter is 12.1% against the Zacks Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry’s projected earnings decline of nearly 100%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s current-year earnings has been revised 28.2% upward over the past 60 days.

BGC Partners, Inc. operates as a brokerage and financial technology company. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current quarter is 5.6% against the Zacks Financial - Investment Bank industry’s projected earnings decline of 20.7%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s current-year earnings has been revised 4.8% upward over the past 60 days.

SharpSpring, Inc. operates as a cloud-based marketing technology company. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current quarter is 26.1% compared with the Zacks Internet - Software industry’s projected earnings growth of 4.4%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s current-year earnings has been revised 3.3% upward over the past 60 days.

Ra Medical Systems, Inc. a commercial-stage medical device company that develops, manufactures and markets excimer lasers for the treatment of vascular and dermatological diseases. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the next quarter is 81.9% compared with the Zacks Medical - Instruments industry’s projected earnings growth of 31.8%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s current-year earnings has been revised 65% upward over the past 60 days.

American States Water Co. provides water and electric services to residential, industrial, and other customers in the United States. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 4.7% against the Zacks Utility - Water Supply industry’s projected earnings decline of 4.1%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s current-year earnings has been revised 3.2% upward over the past 60 days.

Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple-Digit Profit Potential

The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $775 billion by 2024 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. They’re also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases.

Zacks has just released Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance. Our recent biotech recommendations have produced gains of +50%, +83% and +164% in as little as 2 months. The stocks in this report could perform even better.

See these 7 breakthrough stocks now>>

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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/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

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American States Water Company (AWR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
BGC Partners, Inc. (BGCP) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
SharpSpring, Inc. (SHSP) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Senesco Technologies Inc. (ELOX) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Ra Medical Systems, Inc. (RMED) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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