The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Staples, Target, Home Depot and Amazon.com

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Dec 23, 2014, 09:30 ET

CHICAGO, Dec. 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include the Staples, Inc. (Nasdaq:SPLS-Free Report), Target Corp. (NYSE:TGT-Free Report), Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD-Free Report) and Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq:AMZN-Free Report).

Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.

Here are highlights from Monday's Analyst Blog:

Staples Reports Data Breach of Over 1 Million Payment Cards

Christmas is right around the corner and America can feel the festivities in the air. But Staples, Inc. (Nasdaq:SPLS-Free Report) might just have dampened the mood a little, as it informed after investigations that nearly 1.16 million customers' payment cards might have been hacked because of the data breach earlier this year. However, the company has taken necessary steps to safeguard customers' interest since detection.

The office supply retailer stated that cyber criminals used malicious software to gain information on the transactions which took place at 115 U.S. retail outlets between July and September. The malware which was deployed aided cyber attackers to get cardholder names, payment card numbers, expiration dates and card verification codes.

Earlier, Target Corp. (NYSE:TGT-Free Report) and The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD-Free Report) also witnessed similar data breach incidents where hackers robbed credit and debit card information.

To counter this threat and provide more security to customers during transactions, retailers are teaming up with banks and card companies by steadfastly adopting microchips into U.S. credit and debit cards.

Staples, in view of its corporate responsibility and to protect customers hit by the recent cybercrimes, is providing free identity protection services. These comprise credit monitoring, identity theft insurance and a free credit report.

Staples, which carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), has also taken up various initiatives to battle weakness in the office supplies industry as well as rising competition, especially from retailers like Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq:AMZN-Free Report). The company's turnaround strategy includes expansion of e-commerce and aggressive store rationalization, apart from initiating a cost-reduction program.

Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.

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