JPMorgan and Carter's have been highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 6, 2025 – Zacks Equity Research shares JPMorgan JPM as the Bull of the Day and Carter’s Inc. CRI as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on General Motors GM, Ford F and Tesla TSLA.

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks.

Bull of the Day:

Headquartered in New York, NY, Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stock JPMorgan is one of the largest global banks with assets worth ~$5 trillion. With its iconic CEO Jamie Dimon at the helm, JPM has grown into one of the largest financial service firms globally, with operations in more than 60 countries. JPM has four major segments under its umbrella, including:

· Consumer & Community Banking: Includes bank branches, ATMs, mobile, and website.

· Commercial & Investment Bank: Offers market-making, prime brokerage, and wholesale payments services to institutions, governments, and municipal entities.

· Asset & Wealth Management: Offers clients global investment management in equities, fixed income, real estate, hedge funds, private equity, and money market instruments.

· Corporate Segment: Includes corporate staff units and centrally managed expenses.

JPM in the Interest Rate Sweet Spot

Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s monetary policy stance has been a political ‘hot button’ topic. However, JPM is one of the companies benefiting from the current interest rate levels. With rates near multi-year highs, JPM benefits from higher Net Interest Income (NII), which is the spread between what a bank earns on loans and what it pays out in deposits.

While betting markets anticipate that Powell and the Fed will cut interest rates in September, a gradual rate-cutting-cycle should be a net positive for JPM as lower rates can stimulate the market (more M&A & IPOs). In other words, the company will still enjoy fairly robust NII while other sides of the business gain steam.

JPM Delivers Consistent EPS Surprises

JPM CEO Jamie Dimon is the longest-sitting CEO at a major bank (he has been CEO since 2006) – and for good reason. While the macroeconomic environment has been unpredictable and challenging over the past few years, JPM has delivered positive earnings beats versus Zacks Consensus Analyst Estimates in twelve consecutive quarters.

JPM has a Reasonable Valuation

Though JPM shares are near new highs, they are reasonably priced compared to the general market and its peers. JPM has a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.32x, which is significantly lower than the S&P 500’s 24.84x. As tech valuations get more and more stretched, JPM could be a beneficiary of a rotational pullback in high valuation names.

JPM’s Aggressive Growth Strategy

JPMorgan is expanding its global banking footprint aggressively, with plans to open more than 500 new banking branches over the next two years. This move will solidify its position as the most extensive banking network, allowing the company to boost market share and benefit from cross-selling and network effects.

Bottom Line

JPMorgan’s reasonable valuation, its consistent earnings, and its ability to capitalize on favorable interest rate environments set the stock up for continued outperformance.

Bear of the Day:

Headquartered in Atlanta, GA, Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) stock Carter’s Inc. is the largest seller of branded apparel and baby-related products. Notably, the company runs a portfolio of popular brands, including Carter’s, OshKoshB’gosh, Just One You, Child of Mine, Simple Joys, Skip Hop, and Precious Firsts. CRI sells its products through leading department stores, national chains, and specialty retailers, both domestically and internationally. The company sells through retail partners like Amazon, Walmart, Targetand Macy’s.

Declining Birthrate a Long-term Headwind for Carter’s

The US birthrate has been declining consistently for the past seven decades. However, as economic conditions, social, and cultural winds shift, the birthrate in the United States has shrunk even further. Meanwhile, widespread access to contraception has also weighed on the birthrate. Because Carter’s is focused on the baby segment, this is a troubling long-term headwind with no end in sight for CRI investors.

CRI Suffers Amid Weak Consumer Trends, Suspends Guidance

Carter’s, like others in the industry, has been witnessing the impacts of a challenging macroeconomic environment, which is affecting its top-line performance. In addition, the current tariff environment has introduced significant uncertainty, making it difficult to predict the company’s future financial performance. As a result, Carter’s has decided to suspend providing guidance until there is more clarity on the internal operational direction and external market conditions. The company also cited a highly volatile retail landscape, ongoing macroeconomic pressures, and foreign currency headwinds, particularly in its international markets, as added factors contributing to the lack of forward visibility. Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest that EPS growth will continue to plunge into 2026.

Driven by the continuation of these trends, Carter’s first-quarter 2025 sales declined 4.8% from $661.5 million posted in the year-ago period. The decline was due to macroeconomic pressures, including inflation, elevated interest rates, and weakening consumer confidence, which reduced demand across segments. We note that the company’s shares have exhibited relative weakness, losing 49.9% in the past six months compared with the industry’s 43.4% decline.

CRI Faces Tariff Headwinds

Carter’s faces significant tariff pressures, with proposed increases on imports into the U.S. adding to existing duties, which amounted to approximately $110 million in 2024. These rising tariffs, particularly on products manufactured in Asia, are impacting cost structures, especially given that less than 5% of baby apparel is produced in the Western Hemisphere. While the company has actively engaged in lobbying efforts and evaluated nearshoring alternatives in Latin America, high labor costs and limited infrastructure in the region make it challenging to offset the tariff burden effectively.

Bottom Line

A falling birthrate, weak consumer trends, and a negative outlook are all reasons to avoid baby retailer Carter’s.

Additional content:

After a Hot July for GM EV Sales, Is the Stock Still a Buy?

General Motors sold more than 19,000 electric vehicles (EVs) last month, up a whopping 115% year over year. The surge was largely led by strong demand for the Chevrolet Equinox EV model. The US legacy automaker is advancing well in its electrification journey, thanks to its robust portfolio, including 13 models across its Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac brands.

General Motors was the second-largest EV seller in the United States last year, just behind Tesla and managed to keep up the momentum through the first half of 2025. General Motors’ EV sales in the last reported quarter more than doubled. Meanwhile, GM’s closest peer, Ford, witnessed more than a 30% drop in second-quarter EV sales year over year. EV giant Tesla recorded a 13.4% decline in deliveries in the three months ending June.

While General Motors' EV sales have been impressive, it will be interesting to watch if the company can sustain its sales growth amid policy shifts and U.S. President Trump’s unfriendly stance on e-mobility. Let’s take a closer look at the company’s fundamentals to assess if General Motors is worth buying at the moment.

GM Maintains EPS Beat Streak in Q2 Despite Tariffs

General Motors’ second-quarter 2025 earnings beat was its 12^th straight quarterly beat. Strong vehicle demand and stable vehicle pricing led to record first-half 2025 revenues of $91 billion. GMNA (General Motors North America) segment revenues were also a first-half record at roughly $77 billion.

The company was hit with $1.1 billion in net tariffs in the last reported quarter, although EPS of $2.53 exceeded expectations by 6%. However, GM expects net tariff costs in the third quarter to be higher than in the second quarter. It stuck to its guidance of gross tariff impact of $4-$5 billion for the full year but expects to offset roughly 30% of that through strategic initiatives like cost cuts, stable pricing and production adjustments. GM reaffirmed its adjusted EBIT forecast for the full year between $10 billion and $12.5 billion.

General Motors Company price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | General Motors Company Quote

Factors Favoring General Motors

In the first half of the year, GM’s U.S. market share climbed to 17.3%, up 1.2 percentage points from the same period last year — a steady, positive trend. The company continues to expand its U.S. manufacturing footprint and domestic supply chain, while also investing heavily in battery, software, and autonomous vehicle innovation. Internationally, GM is making meaningful progress. In China, it’s working closely with its joint venture partner to improve sales, streamline inventory and boost profitability.

The strong performance of its new energy vehicles is also boosting results. Chevrolet has emerged as the number two EV brand in the United States, thanks to the success of the Blazer EV and Equinox EV. Meanwhile, Cadillac became the fifth-largest EV brand in the last reported quarter. GM is also scaling its hands-free driving system, Super Cruise. The technology is on track to generate over $200 million in revenues in 2025, with expectations to more than double by 2026.

The company’s investor-friendly moves also augur well. It completed a $2 billion accelerated share repurchase program in the second quarter of 2025, retiring 10 million more shares. This brings the total shares bought back under that program to 43 million. Notably, GM resumed open market buybacks in early July.

GM’s Performance & Valuation

Over the past three months, shares of General Motors have risen 16%, outperforming the industry as well as Ford and Tesla, which gained 5% and 12%, respectively.

From a valuation standpoint, General Motors appears relatively undervalued. The stock trades at a forward price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of just 0.29, well below the industry’s 2.64. GM also boasts a Value Score of A. In comparison, Tesla and Ford trade at a P/S ratio of 9.7 and 0.27, respectively.

Why Buying GM Stock Isn’t a Good Idea Now

While GM continues to make strides in EVs and innovation, near-term headwinds are worth noting. Fleet pricing has come under pressure due to rising competition, and this trend is expected to persist in the second half of the year. GM also flagged higher warranty costs, particularly for the L87 powertrain and early EV software issues, which will be a drag in 2025.

Capital spending remains high and can weigh on free cash flow. While the company expects 2025 capex to be in the range of $10–$11 billion, the figure is expected to rise slightly to $10–$12 billion in 2026 and 2027 as GM ramps up production and future model launches.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GM’s 2025 EPS and sales implies a year-over-year decline of 11% and 4.3%, respectively.

Adjusted EBIT for the first half of the year came in at $6.5 billion. Based on full-year guidance, second-half earnings are expected to be about $1.75 billion lower at the midpoint of the outlook. This is essentially due to three reasons. First, tariffs will remain a burden. Second, the company expects lower wholesale volumes in North America. Lastly, increased spending to prepare for the rollout of next-gen full-size trucks and the expansion of U.S. EV capacity will also weigh on the results.

Additionally, EV profitability may take a hit from softening demand because of the phase-out of government incentives like the federal tax credit. Given these headwinds, this isn’t the best time for new investors to jump in.

The stock currently carries 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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