The Zacks Analyst Blog Tesla, UnitedHealth, Shopify and Waterstone Financial

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 8, 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: Tesla, Inc. TSLA, UnitedHealth Group Inc. UNH, Shopify Inc. SHOP and Waterstone Financial, Inc. WSBF.

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

Top Research Reports for Tesla, UnitedHealth and Spotify

The Zacks Research Daily presents the best research output of our analyst team. Today's Research Daily features new research reports on 16 major stocks, including Tesla, Inc., UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Shopify Inc., as well as a micro-cap stock Waterstone Financial, Inc. The Zacks microcap research is unique as our research content on these small and under-the-radar companies is the only research of its type in the country.

These research reports have been hand-picked from the roughly 70 reports published by our analyst team today.

You can see all of today's research reports here >>>

Ahead of Wall Street

The daily 'Ahead of Wall Street' article is a must-read for all investors who would like to be ready for that day's trading action. The article comes out before the market opens, attempting to make sense of that morning's economic releases and how they will affect that day's market action. You can read this article for free on our home page and can actually sign up there to get an email notification as this article comes out each morning.

You can read today's AWS here >>> Do AI Trees Grow to the Sky?

Today's Featured Research Reports

Tesla's shares have outperformed the Zacks Automotive - Domestic industry over the past year (+85.4% vs. +72.9%). The company's EV sales are feeling the heat from rising global competition. After recording its first-ever annual decline in deliveries in 2024, the slump has continued into 2025, with drops in both the first and second quarters.

Automotive margins are shrinking, and operating expenses are rising. Discouragingly, Musk expects the upcoming quarters to be rough. Still, there are a few bright spots. The Energy Generation & Storage unit remains a core strength, and the Supercharger network continues to expand.

Tesla has also launched its robotaxi service, though early reactions have been mixed. But the company believes that it holds significant cost and scalability advantages. If Tesla can deliver on its promises, this could be a major growth driver. Until then, caution is key.

(You can read the full research report on Tesla here >>>)

Shares of UnitedHealth have underperformed the Zacks Medical - HMOs industry over the past year (-37% vs. -31.3%). The company is facing persistent cost pressures, higher medical utilization, and an elevated debt burden threatening near-term margin stability. The Zacks analyst expects the MCR to increase to 89.4% in 2025. Its trimmed 2025 earnings outlook, coupled with a premium valuation and ongoing regulatory scrutiny, adds to investor caution.

Also, operations of Optum Rx will likely take a hit from the current administration's policies on PBMs. As such, the stock warrants a cautious stance. Nevertheless, UnitedHealth continues to benefit from balanced growth across both its segments, supported by rising healthcare demand and disciplined execution.

Consistent revenue gains, strong commercial enrollment and resilient cash flows highlight its scale advantage and diversified business mix. Optum's expanding technology and value-based care operations further enhance long-term growth visibility.

(You can read the full research report on UnitedHealth here >>>)

Shopify's shares have outperformed the Zacks Internet - Services industry over the past year (+99.2% vs. +51%). The company prospect is benefiting from an expanding merchant base. New merchant-friendly tools like Shop Minis, Shop Cash, and Sign in with Shop along with Shop Pay solutions are helping SHOP win merchants regularly.

Shopify's investment in AI-driven tools, such as Catalog, Universal Cart, and Sidekick, is helping merchants improve customer engagement and streamline operations. Shopify's expanding international footprint with strong growth in Europe is a key catalyst. A rich partner base is helping SHOP expand its merchant base. Strong free cash flow margin reflects solid liquidity.

However, Shopify faces gross margin pressure due to higher hosting costs, the three-month paid trial program, and the expanded PayPal partnership, which carries lower margins. Higher operating expenses are expected to hurt operating profit.

(You can read the full research report on Shopify here >>>)

Shares of Waterstone Financial have outperformed the Zacks Financial - Savings and Loan industry over the past year (+14.9% vs. +10.9%). This microcap company with market capitalization of $285.60 million demonstrates earnings resilience with 35.2% YoY net income growth in Q2 2025, despite mortgage banking headwinds. Improved ROA (1.39%) and ROE (9.04%) highlight enhanced profitability, driven by cost discipline and operational efficiency.

The Community Banking segment delivered robust income growth via reduced compensation and occupancy costs, offsetting margin compression from deposit pricing. A sustained 15 cents dividend underscores capital strength and shareholder focus. Credit quality remains stable, with minimal provisioning needs and improved residential loan performance.

However, mortgage banking remains a drag with declining originations, shrinking margins and weak operating leverage. Persistent unrealized securities losses ($20.5 million) and rising CRE non-accruals introduce valuation and credit risks. Shares trade below peers at 0.83x P/B and 13.39x P/E.

(You can read the full research report on Waterstone Financial here >>>)

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

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