Advanced Energy Industries and Paycom Software have been highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 24, 2025 – Zacks Equity Research shares Advanced Energy Industries AEIS as the Bull of the Day and Paycom Software PAYC as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Rigetti Computing, Inc.'s RGTI, JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM and Alphabet Inc. GOOGL.

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

To say there's a lot of hype around AI is the understatement of the decade. It's been at the headlines of this rally, helping create new fortunes and fuel the next generation of bellwethers. These names have already made some epic runs. If only there was a way to play the surge in a more sustainable way. Maybe...a company that helps to power all these chips and such. Today's Bull of the Day is one of those names.

Enter Advanced Energy Industries, the unsung hero of the silicon supply chain, sitting squarely at the intersection of physics, precision, and profitability. It's not a chipmaker. It's not an equipment behemoth like Applied Materials. AEIS is the one building the finely tuned, high-precision power systems that make every wafer fab hum like a Swiss watch. When it comes to semiconductor manufacturing, AEIS is the quiet voice that says, "You want clean power? You want consistency down to the electron? We got you."

Let's get into why this stock, a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), is one of the most intriguing mid-cap semiconductor plays on the board right now.

The Power Behind the Process

Every chip, whether it's in your iPhone, your Tesla, or your AI data center, starts life in a fabrication plant that's part physics lab, part cleanroom cathedral. These fabs depend on incredibly stable and precise power delivery systems to etch, deposit, and measure at the atomic level.

That's AEIS's playground.

The company designs and manufactures high-performance power conversion, measurement, and control solutions for advanced semiconductor and industrial applications. Think plasma power for etching and deposition, high-voltage power for inspection, and thermal control for all the processes in between. If you've ever wondered how a fab keeps the electricity steady enough to carve a transistor only a few atoms thick, AEIS is the answer.

That's why Applied Materials, Lam Research and Tokyo Electron are among its biggest customers. They build the gear. AEIS gives that gear its pulse.

Tailwinds Stronger Than a Cleanroom Airflow

If you're wondering why AEIS is in such a sweet spot, it's because everything semiconductors touch is expanding.

AI data centers? They need more wafers. EVs? More power electronics. Renewable energy? More advanced inverters and control systems. And the global fab buildout, led by the U.S., South Korea, and Taiwan, is a multi-year infrastructure boom that plays right into AEIS's hands.

Semiconductor capital equipment spending in 2025 is projected to rebound by double digits after a soft 2024, and AEIS's management has already signaled that demand from leading-edge nodes (sub-5 nanometer processes) is beginning to recover. The company's broad exposure means it benefits not only from memory and logic production but also from advanced packaging and inspection. These are areas less cyclical than pure front-end chipmaking.

Earnings Energy

Now, the beauty of AEIS isn't just in the technology, it's in the trajectory.

The company's last few quarters have shown the kind of disciplined execution you love to see in a cyclical sector. Margins are expanding, backlog visibility is improving, and analysts have been steadily revising earnings to the upside.

There is a lot cooking under the hood with this company. Current year Zacks Consensus Estimate calls for $5.68 with is good for 53% growth year-over-year. That's slated to grow another 15% to $6.54 next year.

Onto the revenue side of the equation, current year forecasts call for 16.7% growth to $1.73 billion with next year adding another 6.76% to $1.85 billion.

According to its last earnings report, gross margins are hovering near 38%, with management targeting the low 40s by 2026 through better product mix and cost discipline.

AEIS doesn't chase wild, unprofitable growth. It engineers steady, sustainable profitability.

Bear of the Day:

It's never fun when a market darling falls out of favor, especially one that used to print money faster than the Fed during COVID. But that's exactly what's happening with today's Bear of the Day, Paycom Software. This once high-flying HR tech stock has been grounded by slowing growth, margin pressure, and increased competition in the payroll software space. If this were an episode of Shark Tank, Kevin O'Leary would be telling them to "take it behind the barn and shoot it."

Paycom has long been a favorite among investors who loved its high-margin, recurring-revenue model and sticky customer base. The company provides human capital management (HCM) solutions all in one integrated cloud platform. For years, it rode the SaaS wave higher, turning HR drudgery into a scalable subscription machine.

But lately, that machine's been sputtering. Revenue growth, once clipping along above 25%, has decelerated sharply. Last quarter, Paycom reported just low-teens top-line growth, missing Wall Street's expectations. Analysts have since trimmed their forward estimates and those estimate cuts are precisely what push stocks into Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) territory.

A big part of what makes the Zacks Rank system powerful is that it tracks analyst estimate revisions. Unfortunately, the revisions here are unmistakably bearish. Over the last 60 days, several analysts have slashed their EPS forecasts for both this year and next. The current consensus for fiscal 2025 earnings now sits well below where it was just two months ago.

Margins, once north of 40%, have come under pressure as the company spends heavily to retain clients and fend off growing competition from the likes of Paylocity, ADP, and Workday. Meanwhile, a sluggish hiring environment means fewer paychecks to process, which means fewer dollars flowing through Paycom's system.

Here's the irony: Paycom's biggest threat might be itself. The company rolled out "Betty," its automated payroll platform, designed to revolutionize how HR departments run payroll by eliminating manual input. The problem? Many of Paycom's existing customers are transitioning to Betty, which actually reduces their usage fees. The innovation cannibalized the cash cow.

When your best new product makes your old one obsolete, Wall Street doesn't cheer, it runs for cover. Analysts have been quick to notice that Betty's rollout, while strategically sound for the long term, is crushing near-term growth.

Once upon a time, investors were happy to pay sky-high multiples for hypergrowth names like PAYC. Now, that multiple compression is brutal. The stock's forward P/E has fallen from the 70s down to the low 20s, and that's assuming the estimates stop dropping. If earnings get revised down again, those "cheap" multiples could suddenly look expensive.

Paycom Software is learning the hard way that in a maturing SaaS landscape, growth without leverage doesn't get rewarded anymore. The Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) tells the story clearly. Analysts are moving in the wrong direction, expectations are sliding, and sentiment has soured.

Sure, long-term investors might argue Paycom's sticky customer base and best-in-class tech will eventually stabilize results. Maybe. But for now, with estimate revisions heading south and the stock trading below key support, this looks more like a "sell the bounce" situation than a "buy the dip."

Additional content:

Why Rigetti Stock Is Up 2,800% and What Happens Next

Rigetti Computing, Inc.'s shares have gained more than 2,800% in the past year as investors showed excitement over its quantum breakthroughs. However, Rigetti's weak fundamentals and lofty valuation raised doubts about its future growth trajectory and how investors should position themselves toward the stock. Let's see in detail –

What's Behind Rigetti's Quantum Leap?

Rigetti's shares have soared over the past year as the company secured major contracts and made significant progress in advanced quantum computing technology. Rigetti's 36-qubit quantum system achieved 99.5% accuracy in key operations, marking a breakthrough toward developing a 100+ qubit chiplet-based system by the year's end.

Rigetti signed a $5.8 million deal with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory to further develop quantum networking technology. It also received orders for two 9-qubit Novera quantum computing systems worth nearly $5.7 million, scheduled for delivery next year.

Additionally, capital is pouring into the quantum computing sector, benefiting dedicated companies like Rigetti. JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced plans to invest about $10 billion in various innovative fields, including quantum computing. This has driven the stocks of quantum computing companies, including Rigetti, higher.

Rigetti's Massive Gains — Boom or Bubble?

Ongoing contracts and continuous breakthroughs in quantum computing may give Rigetti's stock the momentum needed to keep climbing. However, quantum computing remains in its early stages, and companies in this field require substantial funding for research and development. Rigetti recently completed a $350 million equity offering, providing the company with enough cash to continue operations and easing concerns about funding stability.

Rigetti's business model also offers a competitive edge over rivals and positions it for growth once quantum technology becomes mainstream. The company has its own quantum processing units (QPUs), programming language and the Quantum Cloud Services (QCS) platform.

Yet, it remains uncertain whether Rigetti can sustain its current explosive growth. The company's fundamentals do not fully support its soaring valuation. Rigetti's operating losses increased 24% year over year to $19.8 million in the second quarter, while revenues fell 42% to $1.8 million, citing investors.rigetti.com.

Furthermore, Rigetti faces stiff competition from larger players like Alphabet Inc., making it a potential takeover target. Additionally, Rigetti's forward price-to-sales (P/S) ratio is an astronomical 1,348.30, compared with the Internet - Software industry's 6.28. This indicates the stock is vulnerable to a broader market correction.

Overall, RGTI stock shows signs of being a bubble that could eventually burst. Risk-averse investors should steer clear of the stock, as it remains a speculative investment. Risk-takers may choose to capitalize on the potential growth opportunities. Currently, Rigetti has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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