Zacks was the first investment research company to combine earnings forecasts from Wall Street firms and share the data. 

So, instead of choosing a few firms to follow and basing stock buys on those recommendations, subscribers can access information from every major Wall Street firm to see trends. Zacks has been providing aggregate stock earnings forecasts since the early 1980s.

What is Zacks Investment Research?

Zacks Investment Research, founded by MIT scholar Len Zacks in 1978, provides investment-related content and independent research. The company is best known for supporting professional investors with analysis and financial data so they can make the best possible investment decisions for their clients. The company was built on its ability to produce consensus earnings-per-share (EPS) estimates. Zacks Research also provides research reports, stock prices, recommendations about stocks, and a number of investment tools. 

Are Zack’s Investment Research Stock Picks Any Good? 

Zacks bases their stock ratings and recommendations on whether research analysts are increasing or revising earnings estimates upward. Historically, those stocks outperform the market. Stocks that are downgraded to Sell or Strong sell by analysts tend to underperform.

Zacks Investment Research continues to refine their methods, and have one of the most dependable stock picking services available today. 

Zacks Rank Profit Power

All of the Zacks portfolios are governed by Zacks Rank fundamentals. The mathematical system produces average returns of +25.6% per year. A stunning example on display on the Zacks website shows how the Zacks Rank fundamentals work:

$10,000 in the S&P 500 invested January 1, 1988, rebalanced monthly (not counting fees) = $350,000 + by June 28, 2021.

$10,000 in Zacks Rank system invested January 1, 1988, rebalanced monthly = $20.7 million by June 28, 2021 [source].

Recent short-term trading portfolio examples:

• +334.8% (7.5 months) Anavex – Healthcare Innovators
• +350.8% (3.5 months) SnapOn – Options Trader
• +73.1% (9 weeks) ACM Research, Inc. – Technology Innovators
• +252.0% (19 days) Blackberry Limited – Counterstrike
• +140.5% (6 months) NVIDIA – TAZR

Recent long-term trading portfolio examples:

• +178.6% (2.5 months) Fiverr International Ltd – Home Run Investor
• +251.1% (45 months) Microsoft – Income Investor
• +386.8% (12 months) Sea Limited ADR – Zacks Top 10 Stocks
• +475.8% (6 months) Digital Turbine – Stocks Under $10

Details About Zack’s Investment Research’s Subscription Services

The free tier of Zacks Investment Research’s subscription includes briefings from Zacks’ Profit from the Pros newsletter. You’ll get a daily email with 5 newly Upgraded Zacks’ Strong Buy Stocks, Bull Stock of the Day, and Key Market Developments. New subscribers get instant access to Zacks’ 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days, as well. 

With the free version, you’ll get access to Zacks Portfolio Tracker to help you see crucial metrics on each stock in your portfolio or watch list. You’ll also have access to Zacks Rank and Style Scores. 

Zacks Premium

As a Zacks Premium subscriber, you’ll get access to a number of benefits, including premium resources and tools. 

Here’s what you’ll get with Zacks Premium:

• Daily briefing on portfolio changes and key developments
• Member-only website access with live performance and open positions
• Market insights from Stock Strategists
• Real-time buy and sell signals from private long-term portfolios

Zacks #1 Rank List: Strong Buy stocks have more than doubled the S&P 500. Average gains are +25.6% per year January 1, 1988 through June 28, 2021. 

Industry Rank List: Sorts companies into 250 groups by industry and calculator average Zacks Rank for total stocks in that industry. Stocks in the top half of all ranked industries beat the bottom half by 2-to-1. 

Premium Screener: Zacks created 45 predefined screens to help subscribers choose Zacks Ranked stocks to match value, growth, momentum, on income trading styles. 

Focus List: 50 top long-term stocks chosen by Sheraz Mian, Director of Research. Equity Research Report offers the reasoning behind each pick. Stock Strategist Daniel Laboe shares insights on market activity every Monday. 

Equity Research Reports: Research from Zacks’ analysts with analysis on each company for more than 1,000 stocks, including growth prospects and fundamentals. 

Earnings ESP Filter: Identify stocks with the potential to provide surprising returns with the Earnings Expected Surprise Prediction (ESP) Filter. Based on the Zacks Earnings ESP metric, the filter has predicted earnings with 70% accuracy over a ten-year time period. 

Zacks #5 Rank List: 220 Zacks Rank #5 stocks with a historical performance of more than 3.5x worse than the market since 1988

Style Scores: Individual Style Scores (A, B, C, D, F for value, growth, and momentum) for each stock covered by Zacks make it easy to narrow the #1 rank list to stocks that match your style. Use the VGM (value, growth, momentum) score to identify the best overall scores. 

With Zacks Premium, subscribers get the same $1 trial deal as they would with Zacks Ultimate, including unrestricted access to everything offered to subscribers. The 100% satisfaction guarantee provides a full refund if you aren’t pleased with the service 90 days from the time you accept the full-price subscription. You’ll also get the 100% performance guarantee, which says that if your Zacks Investor Collection subscription doesn’t help you beat the market, you can get a refund provided you meet the performance guarantee criteria. 

If you decide to keep the Zacks Premium subscription past the first month’s trial period, you’ll pay $59 per month. 

Zacks Ultimate

New subscribers get 30-day access to the Zacks Ultimate buys & sells for $1. During this trial, you can see all short-term trading portfolios and long-term investing portfolios. You’ll also get Zacks Premium research and tools as well as the company’s private market insights. 

With Zacks Ultimate, you’ll have real-time access to buys and sells as well as the following market commentary from private services:

Black Box Trader

Stock-picking formulas that use automation to distill 10 weekly high-potential stocks from thousands. 

Blockchain Innovators 

Information to help investors harness the “Internet of Money” without the volatility associated with cryptocurrency investing. 

Commodity Innovators 

Long-term and short-term profits with reduced risk on investments in gold, grains, oil, livestock, currencies, and more. ETFs and stocks only. 

Counterstrike 

The best stocks rebounding from panic sell-offs. 

ETF Investor Blending 

Identifies emerging trends by blending Zacks Industry Rank + 2-to-1 performance advantage + Zacks ETF Rank without the added risk of buying individual stocks. 

Headline Trader

Focusing on companies that show rising earnings estimates and strong fundamentals, you’ll get the jump on the kind of news that causes big stock moves. 

Healthcare Innovators 

Breakthroughs in the healthcare sector; biotechnology, hospitals, pharmaceuticals, devices, and more. 

Home Run Investor 

Identifies little-known companies with a great deal of potential; +50%, +100%, +200%. 

Income Investor 

Provides guidance toward carefully selected high-dividend stocks as well as low-risk assets. 

Insider Trader 

Information about insiders buying their own company’s stock using their own funds combined with Zacks Rank evaluation. 

Large-Cap Trader 

Large-cap stocks with strong potential for growth that offer resistance to volatility. 

Marijuana Innovators 

The cannabis industry is now worth $61 billion – up from $9 billion in 2017. Sweeping legalization makes this an ideal industry for investors, and this newsletter provides much-needed information about which stocks to buy and which to stay away from. 

Options Trader 

Professional options strategies blended with the gain power of the Zacks Rank provides substantial returns with a fraction of the risk. 

Short Sell List 

Computer-driven list of stocks that could soon fall more than average, making them ideal for shorting in bear markets. 

Stocks Under $10 

Low-priced stocks with great earnings outlooks and growth potential. 

Surprise Trader 

Positive earnings surprises predicted with more than 80% accuracy using Zacks’ research breakthrough. 

TAZR 

Technical Analysis + Zacks Rank combines to create a small number of #1 and #2 stocks. 

Technology Innovators 

Tracks breakthroughs and trends in cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things. 

Value Investor 

Tracks undervalued companies using proven criteria with Zacks Rank timing to provide information about when investors should purchase specific stocks. 

Zacks Confidential 

Zacks VP Kevin Matras reveals key trades providing insight into Zacks’ Best of the Best. Released weekly. 

Zacks Premium 

Professional-grade tools for individuals with a daily update of the Zacks Rank, access to Zacks Equity Research, Premium Screens, and Focus List portfolio that includes 50 stocks for the long haul. 

Zacks Top 10 Stocks 

Top 10 stocks to buy and hold complete with in-depth research and quarterly updates. 

Zacks Ultimate subscribers receive a daily summary email to help them distill the most important information from each newsletter. 

Zacks money-back guarantee

If you decide to continue with a subscription to Zacks Ultimate, you can choose to cancel within 90 days after the end of the $1 trial to receive a full refund. 

The Zacks money-back Performance Guarantee states that if Zacks doesn’t help you beat the market, they’ll refund up to one years’ worth of your subscription. 

If you choose to participate in the Zacks Ultimate trail, you’ll receive a notification from Zacks seven days before the end of your trial. You can cancel the service or allow the continuation of Zacks Ultimate for $299 per month. 

How to Beat the Market with a Zacks Investment Research Subscription

The folks behind the newsletters and investment tools at Zacks are ready to refund up to a years’ worth of monthly subscription fees if their recommendations don’t beat the market. Here’s how to maximize your chances of successful investing and ensure a refund if the Zacks recommendations don’t perform as predicted. 

• Top 10 subscribers: Buy and sell all 10 recommendations
• Execute trades within 24 hours of newsletter emails

Is Zack’s Investment Research Worth it For New Investors?

While the Zacks investment team produces a huge volume of information about which stocks may be a good buy, a new investor may find the information overwhelming. The more important metric is whether a new investor has the disposable income to invest in the stock market by choosing individual stocks. 

Even the least expensive Zacks Investment Research subscription is $708 per year. It may be wise to start with the free version of Zacks Investment Research that allows access to a daily newsletter, basic research, a portfolio tracker, email alerts, and Zacks Rank for stocks, mutual funds, and ETFs. If the service provides enough support for you to experience some success investing in stocks, it may be a good idea to upgrade and experience the free one-month trial of Zacks Premium tier of services. 

Zack’s Investment Research Customer Reviews

Before you take the plunge and sign up for a premium tier subscription to Zacks, take a look at what current and past customers have to say about their experience with the company. Fortunately, Zacks is a Chicago-based investment advice firm with a decades-long track record. While some users praise the platform for giving them the information and tools they need to succeed as investors, others are just annoyed that the platform keeps delivering email newsletters, even with the free tier. 

The Zack’s Investment Research on Trustpilot

Zacks Investment Research has just 25 reviews on Trustpilot, with only 11% in the “excellent” or “good” category. Customers who’ve left reviews of Zacks’ subscriptions and services on Trustpilot have a low opinion of the firm due to the volume of daily emails they receive. 

The free tier of Zacks features a number of email newsletters, as outlined in their subscription services summary. 

“I signed up for their one off report – got an email… was not impressed, so decided to unsubscribe. Having unsubscribed to every email I received for a week, I am still getting a torrent of emails.” -O sharabi

One subscriber found the service to be less-than-useful due to their location. 

“I don‘t know what went wrong in the first place but Zacks showed that they do care about their customers. The reason I still did not purchase their Research Wizard is that as a non-US resident, I received too many US small cap stock recommendations that I am not able to trade with my brokers. In addition, many stocks (even mid-cap) from my home country are not covered by Zacks.” -Thomas Malek

This customer enjoys the service but found it to be expensive. 

“I purchased their pricy “Ultimate” lifetime access. Aside from price point, I’ve been pleased with the research available. Following their Home Run and Stocks Under $10 portfolios has helped toward my continued trading success. Not every add plays out but that is just the nature of the beast. I can’t comment on their cheaper offerings but I’ve already paid for my investment 10x over since September 2020 in gains. Also, the sales representative I dealt with was very helpful. The first 90 days I was just paying monthly when I realized they offered a lifetime access package that equated to basically a year of service charges. I contacted them and Rick was kind enough to give me 100% credit of what I’d already paid monthly toward the lifetime purchase.” -Stacey G

The Zack’s Investment Research BBB Rating

Zacks Investment Research was accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) in 2012. They have 43 customer reviews with an average rating of 3.3 stars out of five stars. Five-star reviews (typically written by paid subscribers) note that they’ve made a decent return on their investments by following cues from Zacks. 

Negative reviewers complain that their card was charged after the free trial and that they receive emails from Zacks. 

Positive reviews offer valuable information about what the customer likes most about Zacks Investment Research. 

“I have done really well using Zacks Ultimate. I particularly value the insights and picks from Jeremy Mullin, Kevin Cook, Tracey Ryniec and Brian Bolan. The service is good value for the money.” -Andy U. 

Is Zack’s Investment Research Worth it? 

Over the past 25 years, Zacks Investment Research’s stock picks rated as a #1 Strong Buy beat the market with an average annual return of 25.6%. Their #2 Buy list had a 19.1% return. The S&P 500 had an 11.2% return. Zacks #5 Strong Sell list underperformed the S&P 500 with an average yearly return of 3.2%. Not only do their stock picks land well, but their recommendations about which stocks to sell would have been valuable information for an active investor, as well. 

If you have money to spend on a stock investment research company, Zacks has a history of excellent performance. Their team of analysts is competent, and even though their top-tier subscription service will set you back several thousand dollars each year, an active investor with a healthy portfolio that wants to continue investing may find that Zacks Investment Research has the tools and advice they need to make money in the stock market.