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Raymond James Equity Research employs more than 60 research analysts dedicated to providing insights and context that help investors connect the dots in key industries and across national borders, and make informed investment decisions. They cover approximately 1,200 companies in ten highly focused industries – consumer, energy, financial services, healthcare, industrial, mining, real estate, sustainability, technology and communications, and transportation – and collaborate to produce detailed supply chain surveys, reports and industry updates.
Please see below for brief overviews of some of our recent in-depth equity research reports. The full reports are available to clients via their financial advisor, institutional salesperson or other Raymond James representative. Institutional clients can access our equity research by logging in below. If you would like to learn more about becoming a client of Raymond James, please contact us. For all relevant equity research disclosure, visit the Disclosures and Definitions page.
As we have seen in recent years (COVID demand surge), shocks to supply chains can come from anywhere, with the most recent disruption occurring in the Bab-el Mandeb Strait (between the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden) via Houthi rebels attacking merchant vessels. Given the escalation of tensions in the Red Sea, we felt it timely to dig into the potential supply chain impacts for both our transportation coverage, as well as further downstream in our retail coverage.
Russia’s war in Ukraine at the two-year mark: 12 takeaways from the past 12 months
Russia/Ukraine is a unique, game-changing event in the post-Cold War era, given the scale of the armed forces and thus casualties involved; the important (albeit indirect) roles played by other major powers and the read-through for energy and food supply. For our energy-focused readers, we would underscore that no other geopolitical event in the 21st century has had such wide-ranging and long-lasting effects on the global energy sector.
Resuming coverage of oil & gas energy services
Our analysis suggests that the Canadian rig count is at or near the sustainable peak, while the U.S. rig count is at or near the sustainable trough. In aggregate, we expect that risk is skewed to the upside for activity across North America, but generally hold a preference for businesses with more U.S. than Canadian exposure. Drilling activity – the one KPI to rule them all – impacts every business in our coverage universe to varying degrees. That was the case 10 years ago, and remains the case today.
A year-end gift to the EV market: Canada becomes fifth G7 economy with zero-emission mandate
Canada is becoming the fifth G7 economy – and, interestingly, the largest oil-producing country – to phase out sales of new petroleum-fueled vehicles by 2035. The federal mandate, unveiled by Environment and Climate Change Canada, applies to light-duty vehicles: cars and pickup trucks.
2024 annual banking outlook: Something has to give as credit concerns hang over bank stocks
Bank stocks are attractively valued for 2024 if the Fed is able to achieve a soft landing that allows credit to remain relatively benign. That said, the Fed’s track record of a soft landing is mixed, at best, and the absolute level of interest rate increases and a slowdown in real estate transactions, combined with other crosswinds, are reasons for concern.
Good riddance to 2023: Will the macro trump the micro in 2024?
Our report details the year that was, and more importantly, the year that will be in 2024 as it pertains to our non-biotech healthcare coverage universe. We stop short of predicting a detailed rate trajectory, but expect 2024 to see improving sentiment for the risk on segments of healthcare as rates are likely to remain stable, if not decline.
Medical technology in 2024; looking for post-COVID cleanliness
The Covid-induced backdrop has made investing in the med tech sector more challenging and, in our view, exhausted the generalist investor from deeply participating in the group. With the knock-on inflationary effects of COVID waning, we view this as an opportunity to be more constructive on med tech equities. While the near-term revenue growth optics are tougher, and sentiment has improved over the last 60 days, valuation is relatively attractive, business conditions are improving, and we expect (fingers crossed) less drama in 2024.
ESG monthly: 2023 ends with a Santa rally for stocks but coal in the SEC’s stocking again
Our ESG monthlies examine the ESG- and sustainability-related themes of our equity research, including public policy issues, national regulatory frameworks, and all company-specific ESG-related insights. In addition, the reports detail the top ESG stock picks from our analysts and equity strategy team.
In this report, we provide our analysis of the current state of the 2024 election, our outcome predictions, and scenario analysis under the different outcomes for tax/debt issues, the Inflation Reduction Act, healthcare, financials, tech, defense, and the U.S.-China relationship. We see Trump with a slight edge, but Biden can still win. 2024 healthcare policy outlook: A stormy policy ride awaits
In 2022, the healthcare policy focus was on legislative actions. In 2023, regulatory actions had the greatest impact. Presidential election years historically create headwinds for the sector as a whole. As we look ahead to 2024, we anticipate uncertainty around potential election outcomes weighing on investors. Headline risks from congressional hearings will add to that weight, even if legislative outcomes on anything significant are unlikely.
2024 housing outlook
Our annual report details our view of investment opportunities among the homebuilders, multifamily REITs, and single-family rental REITs. We remain positive on homebuilders given strong backlogs, normalizing cycle times, limited re-sale competition, cash-laden balance sheets, and potentially lower mortgage rates. We are less positive on multifamily given our view that a 50-year supply surge is poised to peak. Investors are divided on the outlook for single-family rental REITs, but our take is predictable growth is worth a valuation premium.
2024 REITs outlook: Late rebound in 2023, more outperformance to come in 2024?
We expect adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) to remain resilient as long as the economy does not slip into a meaningful recession. We view the direction of yields as lower over the next two years, which combined with sustained AFFO growth should be a positive backdrop for real estate.
Renewable power primer: Profit from green shoots in green energy
Renewable independent power producers (IPPs) have faced a barrage of challenges including rising rates, project inflation, supply chain issues, grid interconnection delays and funding constraints. While some of these issues may linger into 2024, we believe a moderation in bond rates, stabilized input costs, and a recovering supply chain could support improved sentiment as the year progresses.
A cloud security deep dive: The industry is precipitating, who will reign?
In this report, we provide an introduction to Cloud security (platforms), bottom-up and top-down methods for framing the opportunity, key competitors and outline the opportunity for our “winners circle” concept in which the growth/profitability/reinvestment cycle is repeated to create significant enterprise value over time.
2024 outlook and overview of telecom, cable, data centers, content delivery networks, and contracted services
Our annual report is a broad-based primer for the telecom, cable, data center, and CDN industries, which we believe are increasingly linked as the industries converge and rising data requirements continue to be the largest driver of demand.
Lift off: The Gen AI space race is on for the intelligent OS
We see GenAI developing into an embedded OS that may span nearly every consumer and business platform, providing an intelligent agent (or copilot) to assist with everything from writing a business contract to organizing a trip with friends to providing in-depth accurate insights on a highly nuanced topic, like investing. In our thematic deep dive, we explore the computer science and computational catalysts behind the GenAI revolution with an eye toward understanding the current value chain across three main layers tied to apps, infrastructure, and chips.
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