Wells Fargo analyst Ken Gawrelski maintains Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) with a Equal-Weight and raises the price target from $141 to $144.
Wells Fargo analyst Ken Gawrelski maintains Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) with a Equal-Weight Read Post »
Wells Fargo analyst Jeffrey Donnelly maintains Marriott Intl (NASDAQ:MAR) with a Equal-Weight and raises the price target from $234 to $250.
Wedbush’s Dan Ives believes that a potential partnership between Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) Google could be a game-changer for both companies. What Happened: Ives took to X, formerly Twitter, to share his thoughts on the potential partnership between Apple and Google. He described it as a crucial element in Apple’s AI strategy, which could significantly enhance the company’s AI capabilities. “This potential Google strategic partnership is a missing piece in the Apple AI strategy and combines forces with Google for Gemini to power some of the AI features Apple is bringing to market.” “For Apple this will give them the foundation/blueprint to double down on AI features,” Ives added. This potential Google strategic partnership is a missing piece in the Apple AI strategy and combines forces with Google for Gemini to power some of the AI features Apple is bringing to market. For this will give them the foundation/blueprint to double down on AI features
With rate cuts coming, attention will turn to central bank balance sheets, said Morgan Stanley. The bank laid out in a note where the balance sheets are now and where they are going. Market attention on central bank balance sheets will likely increase this year, including the composition of balance sheets and the form of quantitative tightening (QT), stated Morgan Stanley. For example, the United States Federal Reserve, the Euroepan Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of Japan (BoJ) will have very different paths forward. While balance sheets may or may not revert to pre-COVID levels, the bank thought they will certainly not revert to pre-GFC (global financial crisis) norms. Morgan Stanley draws four lessons from the cross-country comparison: — QT isn’t the opposite of quantitive easing (QE). QE took place amid market disruptions and widespread slumps in growth; QT is happening with healed markets, amid growth and inflation. With
Morgan Stanley on The “Great Unwind:” Global Central Bank Balance Sheets Read Post »
Karishma Vanjani Nike will unveil its report card for the most recent quarter this Thursday. There is uncertainty on Wall Street about what it will show. Sam Poser of Williams Trading downgraded the shoe company’s stock to a Sell rating from Hold early Monday, forecasting that the stock will hit $85, which is 15% below its closing price on Friday. “Nike is losing its luster” and management isn’t doing enough to make it shine, he wrote. The quarterly profits are likely to be lower than Wall Street expects, while the company is likely to cut its financial forecasts, Poser said. While the consensus call on Wall Street is that earnings will be 75 cents a share for Nike’s third fiscal quarter, Poser expects 73 cents. Nike didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Nike’s stock has lost more than 8% in value this year and has yet to rebound
Nike’s Earnings Are Coming. Analysts Are Telling Different Stories. — Barrons.com Read Post »
PepsiCo’s (PEP) organic sales growth is expected to bottom in Q1 and “rapidly inflect” in the rest of the year back to above consensus forecasts, as well as relative to peers, Morgan Stanley said Monday in a report. The brokerage upgraded its rating on the beverage and snacks company’s stock to overweight from equal-weight and named it as its top pick, both in beverages and overall. PepsiCo replaced Constellation Brands (STZ) as a top pick in beverages and Colgate-Palmolive (CL) as an overall top pick, Morgan Stanley said. Morgan Stanley said it had downgraded PepsiCo’s stock amid concern its valuation was “priced to perfection and consensus/PEP guidance on [organic sales growth] was clearly too high with an unrealistic volume rebound as pricing dissipated.” “Both of these issues have now played out,” the report said. Morgan Stanley’s price target on PepsiCo is $190. The company’s shares rose 3.9% in recent trading
PepsiCo Organic Sales Growth Likely to Bottom in Q1, Morgan Stanley Says in Upgrade Read Post »
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is in active discussions with Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) for building Google’s Gemini AI engine into the iPhone. If Apple can reach an agreement with Google or OpenAI, it could add incremental hardware features in 2025, according to BofA Securities. The Apple Analyst: Wamsi Mohan maintained a Buy rating and price target of $225 for Apple. The Apple Thesis: Al could drive a “multi-year upgrade cycle” and allow the company to improve gross margins going ahead, Mohan said in the note. Check out other analyst stock ratings. “It remains unclear if Apple will choose to leverage a cloud-based model that could potentially have higher latency vs. on device option,” the analyst wrote. “We view incremental on-device functions especially in 2025,” he added. Given Apple’s installed base of 2.2 billion, a licensing deal based on usage volumes could become a huge cost, while a fixed license for cloud-based usage would not be economically
Citigroup analysts are projecting Brent crude will average $78/bbl in the second quarter and could continue to slide to $55/bbl by late next year. The bank in a Sunday report said it continues to see a “spiky” first quarter for oil prices, thanks to crude supply and refinery disruption risks. The analysts said they expect OPEC+ will keep current production cuts in place through December, but still advised oil producers to hedge 2025 output in advance of what may be a sharp drop in prices. The report predicted Brent will average $78 a barrel in the second quarter before sliding to $74/bbl in the third quarter and $70/bbl in the fourth quarter. Citi’s 2025 oil outlook is surprisingly bearish, with the bank forecasting a Q1 price of $65/bbl, followed by an average of $60/bbl in the second and third quarter. The price will then drop to $55/bbl in Q4, the
Citigroup Projects Brent Crude Prices Could Fall to $55/Bbl by Late 2025 — OPIS Read Post »
Lululemon Athletica (LULU) faces a mixed outlook among investors amid an expected “soft” Q1 US outlook countered by “robust international momentum,” UBS Securities said Monday in a report. “China’s trends looks robust, and soft US checks over the last three to four quarters have not resulted in weak earnings or guidance,” UBS said. “We see a very slightly negative upside/downside skew.” UBS said its data shows China momentum continuing, while industry web traffic indicates a deceleration for Lululemon. “Whatever plays out, we, we sense a large group of investors will be surprised,” UBS said. The investment firm kept its neutral rating on Lululemon and maintained the price target at $525. Results for Q4 and the full year are expected Thursday.
Nvidia’s (NVDA) GTC this week will showcase the next stage of the artificial intelligence revolution with various products, use cases and partnerships, Wedbush Securities said in a note. “We estimate a $1 trillion+ of AI spending will take place over the next decade as the enterprise and consumer use cases proliferate globally in this 4th Industrial Revolution,” analysts led by Daniel Ives wrote. Wedbush believes AI could take up 8% to 10% of information technology budgets in 2024, up from less than 1% in 2023.
Nvidia Conference Touted Bellwether of Next Stage of ‘AI Revolution,’ Wedbush Says Read Post »
By Angela Palumbo PepsiCo stock was rising Monday after a Morgan Stanley analyst upgraded shares of the beverage maker on the belief that it is a solid long-term investment with room for upside from here. Morgan Stanley analyst Dara Mohsenian upgraded shares of PepsiCo to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $190 price target. Mohsenian also named Pepsi as his overall top stock pick. “We would be aggressive buyers here ahead of a powerful inflection in H2 [second half of the year] after PEP bottoms fundamentally in Q1,” Mohsenian wrote in a research note Monday. Shares of PepsiCo were rising 4% to $171.26 on Monday, which would be the stock’s largest percentage increase since Oct. 12, 2022, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The stock has gained 0.9% this year. Shares of competitor Coca-Cola were up 0.6% while Mondelez International rose 1% and Conagra Brands gained 0.4%. The S&P 500
PepsiCo Gets an Upgrade. ‘We Would Be Aggressive Buyers,’ Analyst Says. — Barrons.com Read Post »
Alphabet is one of the most mentioned companies in the U.S. across all news items in the last 12 hours, according to Factiva data. Apple is in talks with Google parent Alphabet over licensing its “Gemini” artificial intelligence training model for use in iPhones. Google stock rose on the news, which follows controversy over its Gemini-powered generative AI chatbot. Apple would use the Gemini generative AI models to power new features coming to iPhone software, according to reports. Dow Jones & Co. owns Factiva.
Alphabet in Talks With Apple on AI for IPhone Read Post »