Tenet Healthcare and Archrock have been highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 2, 2026 – Zacks Equity Research shares Tenet Healthcare THC as the Bull of the Day and Archrock AROC as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on NextEra Energy NEE, FirstEnergy FE and PPL Corp. PPL.

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

With September historically ranking as the weakest month for U.S. stocks on average and geopolitical tensions surrounding the war in Iran still running high, investors may want to consider more defensive areas of the market such as healthcare.

In that regard, Tenet Healthcare stands out with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and an overall "A" VGM Zacks Style Scores grade for Value, Growth, and Momentum.

Tenet is one of the nation's largest healthcare services companies, operating acute-care and specialty hospitals, outpatient facilities, physician networks, and United Surgical Partners International (USPI), the country's largest ambulatory surgery platform.

Tenet also owns Conifer Health Solutions, which provides revenue-cycle management and value-based care services to hospitals and other healthcare providers.

EPS Revisions Keep Rising After Tenet's Strong Q2 Results

Tenet's bullish outlook gained significant momentum after the company crushed Q2 expectations in July, posting net income of $826 million and adjusted EPS of $6.12 versus the $4.08 Zacks Consensus, representing a massive 50% earnings surprise.

EPS jumped 52% year over year, while Q2 revenue increased nearly 7% to $5.62 billion and comfortably topped estimates of $5.39 billion.

Strong same-facility revenue growth, higher-acuity procedures, and disciplined expense management helped adjusted EBITDA rise 16% to $1.3 billion.

Notably, Tenant has surpassed earnings expectations for a remarkable 26 consecutive quarters and has posted a very impressive average EPS surprise of 22.7% in its last four quarterly reports.

The strong Q2 results led to Tenet lifting its fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS outlook to a range of $20.30-$21.69 (+20% YoY growth) and raising adjusted EBITDA guidance to $4.83-$5.03 billion (+5% growth).

Most encouraging is the response from analysts. Over the last 60 days, the Zacks Consensus for full-year EPS has surged nearly 17%, from $17.61 to $20.60 per share, while the next-year estimate has jumped more than 15%, from $17.63 to $20.30. EPS estimates for Tenet's next two quarters have climbed over 6% and 14%, respectively. 

THC's Attractive Valuation

Despite an improved earnings outlook, THC stock remains reasonably valued at 12.6X forward earnings. That's less than half the 25X forward P/E of the broader Zacks Medical Sector and essentially in line with Tenet's decade-long median of about 12.5X.

That combination is particularly compelling: investors aren't being asked to pay an excessive premium for a company that just delivered a 50% EPS surprise, raised its outlook and is seeing double-digit upward revisions to annual earnings estimates.

THC's Stellar Price Performance

Magnifying THC's compelling growth story and reasonable valuation, shares are up 36% year to date and more than 250% over the last five years, with a staggering decade return of over 1,000% that has far outpaced the medical sector, S&P 500, and even the Nasdaq.

Bottom Line

Tenet Healthcare offers an appealing combination of defensive healthcare exposure, improving operating fundamentals, surging earnings estimates, and a modest valuation. Its expanding ambulatory surgery platform and improving hospital profitability provide additional catalysts.

With THC currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy)along with an "A" VGM Zacks Style Scores grade, Tenet looks like a compelling healthcare stock to consider as investors navigate what could be a more volatile September.

Bear of the Day:

Many energy stocks remain firmly in favor as elevated crude prices provide another catalyst for the sector. WTI crude is hovering near $90 per barrel amid renewed Middle East supply concerns, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) just gained over 8% in August and entered September near record highs.

However, Archrock may be one energy stock investors want to avoid for now. The natural gas compression specialist currently lands a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) following back-to-back earnings disappointments and a sharp deterioration in analysts' EPS expectations.

What Does Archrock Do?

Archrock provides natural gas compression services, primarily through long-term contract operations, along with aftermarket maintenance and parts services. Its compression equipment increases gas pressure so natural gas can move efficiently through gathering, processing, and transportation infrastructure.

Importantly, Archrock isn't an oil producer, meaning higher crude prices don't translate as directly into stronger profits. Instead, its outlook is tied more closely to natural gas infrastructure activity, equipment utilization, pricing, and operating costs.

Back-to-Back Earnings Misses

Archrock's Q2 results in August extended a disappointing earnings trend. Adjusted EPS of $0.38 missed Q2 expectations of $0.46 by 17%, while revenue of $371.24 million fell nearly 5% short of the $390.4 million consensus and declined 3% year over year.

The biggest weakness came from aftermarket services, where revenue plunged to $42 million from $64.8 million a year earlier as parts sales declined and the typical mid-year increase in major maintenance activity failed to materialize.

Archrock subsequently tightened its 2026 adjusted EBITDA outlook to $865-$885 million from $865-$915 million, citing higher make-ready and lubricant costs, softer aftermarket demand and elevated selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) expenses.

Making matters worse, Q2 marked Archrock's second consecutive top-and bottom-line miss. In Q1, adjusted EPS of $0.42 missed estimates of $0.47, while revenue of $373.77 million came in below the $376.69 million consensus.

EPS Estimates Keep Heading Lower

Most concerning for investors is what has happened since the Q2 report. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate for fiscal 2026 has fallen nearly 9% from $1.90 to $1.73, while the FY27 EPS estimate has dropped roughly 7% from $2.29 to $2.14.

The current-quarter EPS estimate has been slashed 10% from $0.50 to $0.45, while the next-quarter consensus has fallen from $0.51 to $0.47. Notably, all four estimates have moved lower again during just the last seven days, signaling that analysts may still be recalibrating expectations following Archrock's Q2 disappointment.

It May Be Time to Take Profits

Although Archrock shares are still up a very respectable 20% year to date, the technical picture is also starting to deteriorate. To that point, AROC has fallen further below both its 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages (SMA) of roughly $34 and $32 a share, respectively.

Bottom Line

Archrock still has attractive long-term exposure to rising natural gas infrastructure demand, and its core contract compression business remains healthy. That said, two straight earnings and revenue misses, reduced guidance and broad-based downward EPS revisions make the near-term risk/reward far less compelling even with AROC shares trading at a reasonable 18X forward P/E multiple.

With plenty of energy stocks benefiting more directly from today's elevated commodity-price environment, Archrock's Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) suggests investors may be better served looking elsewhere in the sector until its earnings outlook stabilizes.

Additional content:

Can AI-Driven Data Center Growth Continue to Strengthen NEE's Backlog?

NextEra Energy's unit Energy Resources is positioned to benefit from accelerating electricity demand from AI-driven data centers. Hyperscalers require large, reliable and rapidly deployable power supplies, creating new opportunities for renewable, storage and firm-generation projects. In first-quarter 2026, hyperscalers accounted for roughly 30% of Energy Resources' 4 gigawatts ("GW") backlog additions, highlighting their growing contribution to project origination.

Momentum remained strong in the second quarter, when Energy Resources added 3.6 GW of renewables and storage projects, lifting its backlog to nearly 35.1 GW. The expanding backlog strengthens visibility into future contracted revenues and earnings while demonstrating the company's ability to convert rising electricity needs into long-duration infrastructure opportunities across multiple technologies.

Data centers provide a particularly attractive long-term channel. Energy Resources is discussing with 30 potential data-center hubs and expects that figure to reach 40 by year-end 2026. Its base case targets 15 GW of new generation serving large loads by 2035, while the upside case exceeds 30 GW, supported by direct hyperscaler, utility, cooperative, municipal and federal partnerships.

Energy Resources aims to add clean generation in the range of 76.6 GW to 107.6 GW in 2026 to 2032 to meet rising demand. NextEra Energy's scale, development expertise and diversified generation portfolio should support sustained long-term growth as AI infrastructure expands. Its ability to combine renewables and battery storage with gas generation and potentially nuclear power provides flexibility to meet around-the-clock demand. Continued backlog conversion should support investment growth and earnings visibility through the next decade across the United States.

Data Center Demand Expands Utility Growth Opportunities

Rising electricity demand from AI-driven data centers is strengthening utilities' long-term growth prospects by accelerating investments in generation, transmission and grid infrastructure. Large-load additions support higher power sales, rate-base expansion and new long-term contracts, while creating opportunities for utilities to deploy renewable, storage, gas and nuclear capacity.

Utilities like FirstEnergy and PPL Corp. are benefiting from rising AI-driven data-center demand, supporting higher electricity load and infrastructure investment. FirstEnergy's $36-billion Energize365 program underpins long-term earnings growth, while PPL's expanding Pennsylvania data-center pipeline could create $10-$12 billion of additional generation opportunities through 2032, strengthening growth prospects.

The Zacks Rundown on NEE

NEE's Earnings Estimates

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NEE's 2026 and 2027 earnings per share indicates a year-over-year increase of 8.09% and 8.71%, respectively.

NextEra Energy's Shares Trading at a Premium

The company is currently valued at a premium compared with its industry on a forward 12-month P/E basis. NextEra Energy is currently trading at 19.4X compared with the industry average of 14.95X.

NEE's Price Performance

NextEra Energy's shares have gained 14.2% in the past year compared with the Zacks Utility - Electric Power industry's rally of 10.6%.

NEE's Zacks Rank

NEE currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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