Robinhood Markets and Starbucks have been highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – January 7, 2026 – Zacks Equity Research shares Robinhood Markets HOOD, as the Bull of the Day and Starbucks SBUX as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on — Microchip Technology MCHP, Micron Technology MU and NVIDIA NVDA.

Here is a synopsis of all three stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Robinhood Markets, through its subsidiaries, provides a platform to trade stocks, options, crypto, futures (including event contracts), invest for retirement, and earn with Robinhood Gold. The stock currently sports the highly-coveted Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), with its EPS outlook remaining rosy.

The stock also resides in the Zacks Financial – Investment Bank industry, which is currently ranked in the top 20% of all Zacks Industries.

HOOD Posts Record-Breaking Results

Robinhood’s latest quarterly results broke records across several key metrics, also crushing our consensus EPS and sales estimates by 19% and 5%, respectively. Sales grew an impressive 100% year-over-year to a record $1.3 billion, whereas adjusted EPS soared 260%.

Notably, net deposits of $20 billion reflected a quarterly record, with 3.9 million Gold subscribers also reflecting an all-time company high. The company now has up to eleven business lines that are each generating $100 million or more in annualized revenues, with average revenue per user (ARPU) also climbing 82% year-over-year throughout the period.

Customers remained highly-active on the platform, with transaction-based revenues up 129% from the year-ago period. Activity was broadly strong, with crypto, options, and equities revenues climbing 300%, 50%, and 86%, respectively.

Bottom Line

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The top 5% of all stocks receive the highly coveted Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). These stocks should outperform the market more than any other rank.

Robinhood Markets would be an excellent stock for investors to consider, as displayed by its Zack Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Bear of the Day:

Starbucks is a roaster and retailer of specialty coffee globally. In addition to its coffee offerings, the company provides a range of complimentary food items and a selection of premium teas and other beverages, sold primarily through its retail stores.

Analysts have taken their earnings expectations lower, landing the stock into an unfavorable Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell). The company is also a part of the Zacks Retail – Restaurant industry, which is currently ranked in the bottom 15% of all Zacks industries.

Let’s take a closer look at how the company currently stacks up.

Time for a Turnaround?

Starbucks posted mixed results relative to our consensus expectations in its latest quarterly release, with adjusted EPS of $0.52 falling short of our consensus estimate by roughly 5.5%. Quarterly sales totaled $9.5 billion, beating our estimate by nearly 3%.

Weakening sales growth has been a major challenge for the company in recent years. The trend was partly evident again in its latest release, with global comparable store sales increasing just 1% year-over-year and its North America and US store locations seeing flat growth.

But while the recently-reported 1% YoY sales growth rate remains unimpressive, it’s a notable improvement relative to recent periods, as shown below. Please note that the chart tracks the YoY % change in sales, not actual sales figures.

As reflected in the chart above, the top line crunch could be nearing its end for SBUX, a key development to keep note of. Continued acceleration in sales would be key to maintaining a sustainable uptrend in the stock, with the margin picture also remaining critical.

The company remains confident in the continued turnaround as well, with CFO Cathy Smith remaining bullish in the recent earnings commentary –

‘Q4 was a milestone quarter in getting ‘Back to Starbucks’, having delivered global comp growth for the first time in seven quarters. We know this continues to be a multi-year turnaround. We remain focused on driving our topline while managing the costs that are within our control to deliver durable, sustainable growth and long-term shareholder value.’

Bottom Line

Analysts' negative earnings estimate revisions, resulting from a growth cooldown, paint a challenging picture for the company’s shares in the near term.

Starbucks is a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), indicating that analysts have taken a bearish stance on the company’s earnings outlook.

For those seeking strong stocks, a great idea would be to focus on stocks carrying a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). These stocks sport a notably stronger earnings outlook and the potential to deliver explosive gains in the near term.

Additional content:

MCHP Raises Net Sales Guidance, Share Rise on Improving Prospects

Microchip Technology announced on Monday that it expects net sales to be about $1.185 billion for the third quarter of fiscal 2026. The expected net sales figure is well above MCHP’s original guidance of $1.109 to $1.149 million range provided on Nov. 6, 2025. The company revised its net sales guidance on Dec. 2, 2025, when it was expected that results would come in at the higher end of its original guidance. MCHP is set to report third-quarter fiscal 2026 results on Feb. 5.

In terms of the bottom line, Microchip didn’t provide any update on Monday. The company revised its non-GAAP earnings guidance upward on Dec. 2 to 40 cents per share, which was in line with the higher end of the previous guidance range of 34-40 cents per share.

The revised net sales guidance reflects a broad-based recovery in most of Microchip’s end markets, driven by improving inventory conditions at distributors as well as direct customers. The company saw strong bookings in December and expects further improvement in the March quarter.

Microchip shares were up more than 9% at the time of writing this article. MCHP shares have surged 27.7% in a year, outperforming the Zacks Computer & Technology sector’s return of 25%.

MCHP’s Earnings Estimate Revision Shows Positive Trend

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter fiscal 2026 net sales is pegged at $1.14 billion, indicating an year-over-year increase of 11.5%. The consensus mark for fiscal third-quarter earnings is pegged at 38 cents per share, unchanged over the past 30 days, indicating year-over-year jump of 90%.

Microchip’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters and missed once, delivering an average surprise of 0.00%.

AI Investment, Restructuring Plan to Boost MCHP’s Prospects

Microchip benefits from growing AI investments. The company’s Gen 4 and Gen 5 data center products are witnessing strong sales growth. Its new products are expected to gain traction with the launch of the industry's first 3-nanometer-based PCIe Gen 6 switch that powers modern AI infrastructure. These switches offer double bandwidth, lower latency, advanced security and high-density AI connectivity for next-generation cloud and data center performance.

The success of the restructuring plan also bodes well for MCHP’s prospects. The company announced the closure of Fab 2 manufacturing operations in May 2025 and began transferring the process technologies from Fab 2 to Fab 4 in Gresham, Oregon and Fab 5 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It has paused capital expenditure plans for Fab 4 and Fab 5. Microchip is also right-sizing Fab 4 and Fab 5 through a layoff that will save $25 million annually.

Microchip Technology Incorporated price-consensus-chart | Microchip Technology Incorporated Quote

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Microchip currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader sector are Micron Technology and NVIDIA, each of which currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Long-term earnings growth rates for Micron Technology, Ciena and NVIDIA are currently pegged at 52.06%, 41.7% and 46.31%, respectively. Shares of Micron Technology, Ciena and NVIDIA have surged 225.3%, 189.8% and 35.7%, respectively, in a year.

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