Valero Energy and Coinbase Global have been highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 19, 2026 – Zacks Equity Research shares Valero Energy VLO as the Bull of the Day and Coinbase Global COIN as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Micron Technology MU and NVIDIA Corp. NVDA.

Here is a synopsis of all four stocks.

Bull of the Day:

Few large-cap stocks offer a more direct way to capitalize on today’s powerful transportation-fuel margins than Valero Energy.

With VLO sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), it’s noteworthy that Valero’s Zacks Oil and Gas-Refining and Marketing Industry is currently in the top 10% of over 240 Zacks industries.

In addition to its strong buy rating, VLO also checks an overall “A” VGM Zacks Style Scores grade for the combination of Value, Growth, and Momentum.

This comes as U.S. gasoline prices have climbed back above $4 per gallon. At the same time, refining margins have reached historically elevated levels as tight global product supplies stemming from disruptions in the Middle East have collided with resilient transportation demand.

Bullish Refining Margins

The 3-2-1 crack spread — a widely watched proxy for refinery profitability — recently reached record territory, creating an exceptionally favorable backdrop for efficient U.S. refiners.  

As provided by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group and visualized by TradingView, U.S. refining margins have surged to historic levels, with the closely watched 3-2-1 crack spread approaching $70 per barrel.

This means that the market value of the gasoline and diesel produced from crude oil is running roughly $70 per barrel above the cost of the crude itself—a powerful indicator of the unusually favorable economics facing refiners such as Valero.

In other words, refiners can currently sell the gasoline and diesel produced from a barrel of crude for roughly $70 more than the crude feedstock cost, before accounting for the refinery’s other expenses.

Valero is Translating that Environment Directly into Earnings Growth

Valero's Refining segment generated $4.5 billion of Q2 operating income, up sharply from $1.3 billion a year ago, while throughput averaged roughly 3 million barrels per day.

More importantly, refining margin per barrel surged to $23.62 from $12.35 in the year-ago period. That combination of high utilization and dramatically stronger margins gives Valero tremendous operating leverage when gasoline and diesel markets tighten.

The earnings picture reflects it. Last month, Valero delivered record quarterly adjusted EPS of $12.54, comfortably topping the Q2 consensus estimate of $9.87 by 27% and surging 450% from earnings of $2.28 per share in the prior year quarter.

Plus, Valero has now exceeded earnings expectations for seven consecutive quarters with an impressive average EPS surprise of 26.8% in its last four quarterly reports.

Surging EPS Revisions and a Reasonable Valuation

Just as encouraging is the direction of analyst estimates. Following the Q2 EPS beat, the forward earnings-revision trend has moved decisively higher in the last month, with Valero's fiscal 2026 and FY27 EPS estimates now spiking over 30% in the last 60 days, respectively.

In the last two months, EPS revisions for the current quarter and next quarter have both spiked over 90%, with Valero’s annual adjusted earnings now expected to surge more than 282% to what would be a new record of $40.62 per share.

And despite a more than 100% year-to-date run-up in VLO shares, Valero’s valuation remains very reasonable at 8X forward earnings. 

VLO still trades at a steep discount to the benchmark S&P 500’s 22X forward earnings multiple despite having one of the clearest earnings growth catalysts in the market.

Its valuation is also roughly in line with the broader Oil and Gas-Refining and Marketing industry, which includes notable peers Marathon Petroleum and Phillips 66.

Bottom Line

With gasoline prices above $4 per gallon, refining margins exceptionally strong, throughput near 3 million barrels per day, and earnings estimates moving sharply higher, Valero remains one of the clearest large-cap beneficiaries of the current transportation-fuel environment.

Bear of the Day:

Coinbase Global has spent the past several years establishing itself as one of the dominant gateways to the cryptocurrency economy. The company continues to expand beyond traditional spot crypto trading, with growing businesses in derivatives, stablecoins, payments, prediction markets, and subscription services.

But while the long-term story may remain intriguing, the near-term earnings picture has deteriorated considerably.

Coinbase stock currently lands a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), reflecting a wave of negative earnings estimate revisions following a disappointing second-quarter report.

Q2 Misses the Mark

Coinbase delivered a rough second quarter, reporting a GAAP net loss of $359.5 million.  

The company reported an adjusted loss of $0.39 per share, significantly below the consensus estimate that called for earnings of $0.14 per share and down from EPS of $0.12 in the prior year quarter.

That translated to a negative earnings surprise of 378%. Revenue of $1.22 billion also missed Q2 expectations of $1.29 billion by nearly 6% and declined more than 18% from $1.49 billion in the year-ago period.

The underlying operating metrics provided little comfort.

Monthly Transacting Users fell to 7.6 million from 8.7 million a year earlier and came in below the 8.15 million consensus estimate. Assets on Platform totaled $245.9 billion versus expectations near $295 billion. Meanwhile, transaction revenue declined more than 21% year over year to roughly $599 million.

Consumer transaction revenue was particularly weak, falling approximately 31% YoY.

More concerning is that Coinbase has now missed earnings expectations in three of its last four quarterly reports with a very dismal average EPS surprise of -128.56%. 

Earnings Estimates Head South

The most concerning development for investors has been the dramatic deterioration in earnings expectations.

Immediately following Coinbase's Q2 report in late July, the Zacks Consensus Estimate had called for fiscal 2026 earnings of $1.41 per share. The current consensus has now fallen all the way to a loss of $0.05 per share (F1 below). Notably, current year sales are expected to decline 29% to $5.09 billion.

In fact, when Coinbase was added to the Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) list earlier this month, the consensus estimate for FY26 had fallen more than 81% over the preceding 60 days.

And the revisions have continued to decline since then, as FY26 EPS estimates are now down more than 102% in the last 60 days from projections of $1.74, with FY27 EPS estimates dropping 25% from projections of $4.79 to $3.59. 

The EPS outlook for the current quarter has been slashed by more than 90%.

The current Zacks Consensus Estimate calls for earnings of just $0.04 per share in Q3, while the Most Accurate and recent estimate among Wall Street analysts sits at a loss of $0.33 per share and even further below the underlying consensus (Current Qtr below).

As also pictured below, Wall Street expects Coinbase to widely miss earnings expectations next quarter as well, with the Most Accurate Estimate having Q4 EPS slated at $0.06 compared to the underlying consensus of $0.46.

Bottom Line

Coinbase holds a prominent position in the crypto ecosystem and continues to broaden its platform well beyond its roots as a spot cryptocurrency exchange. Stablecoins, derivatives, payments, and other products could ultimately produce a more diversified business model.

But the Zacks Rank is focused primarily on earnings estimate revisions and their implications for near-term stock performance.

On that front, Coinbase is moving decisively in the wrong direction.

A significant Q2 earnings miss has been followed by aggressive reductions in EPS and revenue expectations, with analysts now forecasting virtually no earnings for 2026.

With estimates continuing to move south and COIN currently carrying a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), investors may want to steer clear of Coinbase stock until the earnings outlook begins to stabilize. 

Additional content:

NVIDIA vs. Micron: Only One AI Stock Is a Clear Buy Right Now

Banking on the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, Micron Technology, led by Sanjay Mehrotra, has significantly outperformed Wall Street darling NVIDIA Corp. this year, gaining 253.9% compared with NVDA’s 20.7%. Let’s examine their recent performances and assess whether Micron offers a more attractive investment case –

The Bullish Case for NVDA Stock

NVIDIA reported revenues of $81.6 billion in the fiscal first quarter of 2027, up 85% year over year and 20% quarter over quarter, according to the company’s press release. The strong performance was driven by incessant demand for NVIDIA’s state-of-the-art AI chips and computing platforms.  

Meanwhile, major cloud providers continued to ramp up investments in NVIDIA’s graphics processing units (GPUs) as they increased spending on AI infrastructure, helping drive robust growth in the company’s data center business segment. Data center revenues hit a record $75.2 billion, representing a 92% year-over-year jump and 21% growth from the prior quarter.

Revenues are expected to reach $91 billion, plus or minus 2%, in the fiscal second quarter of 2027, driven by strong AI demand. Growth is not limited to sales, as the company expects to maintain robust profitability. NVIDIA projects a non-GAAP gross margin of 75%, plus or minus 0.5%, in the fiscal second quarter, in line with the 75% margin reported in the fiscal first quarter. 

The Bullish Case for MU Stock

Micron reported revenues of $41.46 billion in the fiscal third quarter of 2026, well above the $23.86 billion reported in the previous quarter and the $9.3 billion reported a year ago, according to the company’s press release.  

Strong demand for Micron’s advanced high-bandwidth memory (“HBM”) chips fueled the company’s top-line growth. The demand for HBM chips used in AI servers remains strong, as they are efficient at handling complex AI workloads and offer greater power efficiency.??? 

The company further expects revenues to increase to approximately $50 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2026. The company also projects a strong gross margin of around 86% for the fiscal fourth quarter, fueled by strong AI memory demand and favorable pricing. 

Micron Has the Edge Over NVIDIA: Why It’s the Better AI Buy

Strong demand for NVIDIA’s AI GPUs and Micron’s HBM chips is driving revenue growth and profitability for both companies and supports a bullish outlook. However, at current levels, Micron appears more attractively valued than NVIDIA. Per the price/earnings ratio, MU trades at 13.7 forward earnings compared with NVDA’s forward earnings multiple of 24.76.  

NVIDIA’s premium valuation requires sustained strong growth to justify further upside, while Micron may have a greater potential to outperform through steady earnings growth. NVIDIA’s growth story may hit roadblocks if there is a potential slowdown in AI spending, while export curbs on the sale of chips to China could weigh on the company’s margin.  

On the other hand, HBM supply constraints amid strong demand have improved Micron’s revenue visibility and are likely to boost its profit margins. Thus, at present, Micron appears to be the more compelling investment opportunity.??? 

While Micron has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), NVIDIA has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.???

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