Why Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), McDonald’s Corporation (MCD) and VMware, Inc. (VMW) Are 3 of Today’s Best Stocks

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Stocks were mixed Tuesday, but with a gain of 0.14%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit another record high. The S&P 500 lost 0.14% while the Nasdaq Composite declined by 0.38%.

Why Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), McDonald's Corporation (MCD) and VMware, Inc. (VMW) Are 3 of Today's Best StocksA spate of earnings reports helped limit losses for big-name stocks while oil prices finished lower. Gold rose and Treasury yields dropped.

Tuesday was a slow day for many stocks, but Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) and VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW) stood out.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)

Pharmaceuticals giant Johnson & Johnson, a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, rose 1.7% after the New Jersey-based company delivered second-quarter results that beat Wall Street estimates. JNJ also boosted guidance.

JNJ earned $1.43 per share in the second quarter, down from $1.61 per share, a year earlier. The year ago period included a one-time gain from JNJ’s sale of the drug Nucynta. On an adjusted basis, JNJ earned $1.74 per share. Analysts expected earnings of $1.67 a share.

JNJ’s revenue for the quarter was $18.48 billion, ahead of the $17.89 billion analysts expected.

JNJ “raised its full-year earnings forecast to a range of $6.63 to $6.73 per share, up from its April forecast for $6.53 to $6.68 per share. It now expects revenue of $71.5 billion to $72.2 billion, up from $71.2 billion to $71.9 billion,” reports the Associated Press.

Shares of JNJ hit an all-time high today.

McDonald’s Corporation (MCD)

McDonald’s Corporation, the world’s largest fast-food chain, advanced 2.2% on news the company’s Japanese unit is giving away Pokemon figurines with the purchase of Happy Meals. MCD’s Japanese unit, McDonald’s Holdings Co. (Japan), experienced its biggest intraday surge in 15 years during Tuesday’s Asian session, according to Bloomberg.

Nintendo’s Pokemon Go is nothing short of phenomenon, but, as Bloomberg reports, the mobile game is not yet available in Japan. Japan is the birthplace of the Pokemon console games and animated series.

Shares of MCD, also a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, are up 7% year-to-date.

VMware, Inc. (VMW)

Shares of cloud computing firm Vmware, Inc. surged 9.1% on volume that was more than quadruple the daily average after the California-based company reported second-quarter results that beat analysts’ estimates.

VMW said it earned 97 cents a share during the quarter while analysts expected earnings of 95 cents, and posted revenue of $1.69 billion, slightly ahead of the estimate of $1.68 billion.

VMware raised its third-quarter guidance to earnings of $1.10 a share and sales of about $1.76 billion. VMW expects full-year earnings of $4.30 a share on revenue of $7 billion.

As of this writing, Todd Shriber owns shares of JNJ.

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Todd Shriber has been an InvestorPlace contributor since 2014.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2016/07/johnson-johnson-jnj-mcdonalds-corporation-mcd-vmware-inc-vmw-3-todays-best-stocks/.

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