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Chicago, IL – July 30, 2025 – Zacks Equity Research shares Vital Farms VITL as the Bull of the Day and Centrus Energy LEU as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Amazon's AMZN, Microsoft MSFT and Oracle ORCL.
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
Vital Farms, a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), is a mission-driven food company known for its commitment to transparency and ethical sourcing. The company specializes in pasture-raised products such as shell eggs, butter, hard-boiled eggs, ghee, and liquid whole eggs, all produced in partnership with a network of family farms.
After a recent pullback, the company is trading down slightly for the year. However, both the technicals and fundamentals look strong. With earnings due up in just over a week, investors should consider the name before they report.
The company distributes its products under the Vital Farms brand and other trade names, reaching customers through retail stores, foodservice channels, and third-party distributors across the United States.
With a focus on ethical food production, Vital Farms has become a leader in the pasture-raised category, appealing to consumers who value animal welfare, environmental stewardship, and high-quality ingredients.
VITL is valued at $1.6 billion and has a Forward PE of 28. The stock has Zacks Style Scores of "C" in Growth and Momentum, but a "D" in Value.
In early May, Vital Farms reported a first-quarter EPS beat of 42%. Earnings came in at $0.37, beating estimates of $0.26, while revenue came in slightly below expectations at $162 million versus $163 million expected.
Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $27.5 million, down from $29.1 million a year ago, with margins narrowing to 16.9% from 19.7%.
The company reaffirmed its full-year 2025 guidance, including adjusted EBITDA of over $100 million, revenue above $740 million, and capital expenditures between $50 million and $60 million.
Despite macroeconomic uncertainty and potential headwinds from global trade tensions, management emphasized continued strong consumer demand and confidence in long-term growth. The company remains on track to reach its $1 billion net revenue goal by 2027, supported by strategic investments in brand-building and supply chain expansion.
Looking at earnings estimates, we see a mixed story, with the short-term moving lower, while long-term is moving higher.
The magnitude is not showing investors much, with the current quarter moving down one penny over the last 90 days, from $0.29 to $0.28. For the current year, estimates have moved from $1.24 to $1.27 over that same time period.
Over the last month, we have seen two firms out with strong comments:
On July 8, Mizuho launched coverage of Vital Farms with an Outperform rating and a $45 price target. The firm highlighted Vital Farms as the leader in U.S. pasture-raised eggs and positioned to benefit from strong structural trends in protein consumption and premiumization.
On July 22, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed its Overweight rating for Vital Farms and raised its price target from $39 to $41. The upgrade reflected confidence in Vital Farms' long-term growth potential in the ethical food market. The analyst cited improving fundamentals and optimism about the company's ability to execute amidst volatility.
These two upgrades are promising ahead of the earnings on 8/7. Investors should also note that industry leader CalMaine Foods (CALM) reported a 12% EPS beat, which helped the stock trade all-time highs.
VITL is down about 7% for the year after falling from summer highs after the CALM quarter helped the stock higher. The stock has dropped over from those recent highs down to the 200-day moving average. This provides a solid entry point for those bullish into the earnings print.
The moving averages are trending sideways, so until that earnings release, the stock is likely stuck. Let's look at those levels:
21-day moving average: $38
50-day MA: $35.50
200-day MA: $35.25
If the stock can break those recent highs, it would break a 61.8% resistance level that would give extension targets at $57.
Vital Farms offers investors a compelling mix of purpose-driven operations, consistent consumer demand, and improving fundamentals. With shares currently hovering near technical support and a key earnings report just around the corner, the setup favors those looking to position ahead of potential upside.
If the company delivers another solid quarter and guidance holds, VITL could break out of its range and push toward new highs, supported by its long-term growth story and commitment to sustainable food production.
Centrus Energy, currently a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), is a U.S.-based provider of nuclear fuel and related services. The company supports the global nuclear power industry by enriching uranium for use in commercial reactors, enabling utilities to produce steady, carbon-free electricity.
The stock has had a monster bull run since April, moving from the $50 level to $250. This was sparked by a strong Q1 earnings report and a federal funding tailwind. However, the company reports earnings next week and investors might want to get cautious ahead of the report.
Centrus Energy operates through two primary segments: Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) and Technical Solutions. The LEU segment provides key components of nuclear fuel, while the Technical Solutions segment supports both government and private sector clients by offering a range of services.
Centrus has a long history tied to the U.S. government's nuclear program and one of its flagship efforts is deploying advanced centrifuge technology to produce High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU), a next-generation fuel required for many advanced nuclear reactors currently in development.
LEU is uniquely positioned as the only U.S.-owned company actively working to domestically produce HALEU at scale, something that has become increasingly important as policymakers seek to reduce reliance on Russian-supplied nuclear fuel.
The stock has run significantly higher over the last three months and now has a market cap of $4B. The stock holds Zacks Style Scores of "A" in Growth, but "F" in Value.
Back in May, the company reported a massive 1010% EPS beat. Revenue rose sharply to $73.1 million from $43.7 million a year ago, marking a 67% year-over-year increase and exceeding expectations of $65.5 million.
The company attributed the strong results to continued operational performance and growing demand for domestic nuclear fuel production, which has become a national priority.
Management emphasized $3.4 billion in federal funding now committed to rebuilding the domestic nuclear fuel cycle, Centrus sees itself as a key player in meeting both energy and national security needs. The company highlighted its reliable enrichment operations and consistent project execution, while noting its $3.8 billion contract backlog through 2040 as a strong foundation for long-term growth.
The quarter started off the bull run, but news out of Washington helped accelerate the stock higher.
In late May, and then again in June, the Trump administration enacted a set of executive actions to reduce foreign dependence on nuclear energy and boost U.S. energy supply in support of AI expansion. Both actions were highly bullish for Centrus Energy.
Centrus saw immediate attention from investors and the stock went from $120 to $210 in May and then $170 to $250 from June into July.
While all the excitement is warranted, investors might want to take some profits ahead of earnings.
Looking at earnings estimates from analysts, numbers are falling for the current quarter. Over the last 90-days, there has been a 16% drop, going from $0.85 to $0.71.
While next quarter and the current year still look good, analysts have also pulled back on next year, with numbers dropping from $3.02 just 90 days ago to $2.81.
LEU has gone parabolic so it's not a good sign to see the fundamental story weakening. The stock recently has hit $250 and dropped about 5%, so investors look like they might be taking profits before that earnings report.
The question is where it might go after the earnings release. The risk is a disappointment on EPS, with the stock testing some moving averages below.
The 21-day MA is $210, but the 50-day is down at $170 and the 200-day MA is way down at $103.
So if we get a setback, the stock could see a big drawdown. Investors should weigh their risk-reward as we move forward.
Despite Centrus Energy's impressive run and strong positioning in a strategically important sector, the recent pullback and declining earnings estimates suggest caution may be warranted.
With the stock having more than quadrupled in just a few months, expectations are high going into the upcoming earnings report, any misstep could trigger a sharp reversal.
Amazon's second-quarter 2025 results, scheduled to be released on July 31, are likely to reflect gains from its strengthening cloud service offerings.
Amazon Web Services ("AWS") remains the crown jewel in Amazon's portfolio, with our model estimate projecting AWS sales of $30.72 billion for second-quarter 2025, indicating robust 16.9% year-over-year growth.
In the first quarter, AWS generated $29.3 billion in revenues with an impressive 17% year-over-year increase, pushing the cloud division to a $117 billion annualized run rate. More significantly, AWS achieved an operating margin of 39.5%, marking the highest profitability level since at least 2014 and underscoring the division's pricing power and operational efficiency.
This performance continues to solidify AWS' position as the market leader, competing effectively against Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and Oracle. Combined, AWS, Azure and Google Cloud achieved a 63% share of total enterprise spending on cloud infrastructure services during the first quarter of 2025, according to new data from IT market research firm Synergy. AWS ranked No. 1 in market share by winning 29% share of the market, followed by Microsoft's 22% and Google's 12%.
Click here to know how Amazon's overall second-quarter performance is likely to have been.
Amazon's AWS division made several strategic announcements during the second quarter that positioned the company to capitalize on surging enterprise AI demand. The launch of Amazon Bedrock AgentCore represented a significant milestone, offering enterprises a comprehensive AI agent deployment platform with industry-leading runtime support of up to eight hours for complex workloads. Early adoption by major customers, including Itaú Unibanco, Box, and Epsilon, suggested strong market reception for these advanced AI capabilities.
The expansion of Amazon's Nova foundation model capabilities added substantial value to the company's AI portfolio. Enhanced customization features through SageMaker AI, including support for continued pre-training and reinforcement learning, strengthened Amazon's competitive position against rivals like Microsoft and Google. The introduction of Amazon Nova Act SDK for web browser automation and Nova Premier for complex coding tasks addressed specific enterprise pain points that traditionally required expensive custom solutions.
Perhaps most notably, Amazon unveiled S3 Vectors in preview, marking the first cloud storage service with native vector support at scale. This innovation promised up to 90% cost reductions compared to conventional vector storage approaches while seamlessly integrating with existing Amazon AI services. Such developments reinforced AWS' reputation for solving complex technical challenges ahead of competitors.
Amazon's substantial investments in AI infrastructure are likely to have continued paying dividends during the second quarter, with the company maintaining its aggressive $24.3 billion quarterly capital expenditure pace. This 74% year-over-year increase reflected management's confidence in sustained AI demand and positioned Amazon to capture market share as enterprises accelerated digital transformation initiatives.
Strategic partnerships announced during the quarter further strengthened Amazon's competitive moat. The company's $5 billion investment in HUMAIN to accelerate AI adoption globally, combined with expanded collaboration with Meta and a $100 million commitment to the AWS Generative AI Innovation Center, demonstrated Amazon's commitment to ecosystem development. These investments typically translate to revenue growth with 12-18 month lag periods, suggesting positive implications for future quarters.
The confluence of strong first-quarter fundamentals, strategic second-quarter product launches, and favorable market dynamics is expected to have created compelling conditions for Amazon's upcoming earnings report. AWS' continued evolution from infrastructure provider to AI platform leader, combined with the company's diversified revenue streams and operational efficiency improvements, have positioned Amazon to deliver results that are likely to exceed conservative guidance while reinforcing its long-term growth trajectory. Amazon carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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