Home Depot Shares’ Upside Potential Seen Limited, RBC Says

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

Home Depot (HD.US) shares offer limited upside potential as investors have already factored in the prospect of lower interest rates and a recovery in the housing market, RBC Capital Markets said in a note. Noting that it will be looking for a “more attractive entry point,” the firm said the company’s current share price embeds comparable sales growth of flat to low single digits for 2024 and low- to- mid-single digits in 2025 against Home Depot’s own 2024 guidance of a 1% decline. RBC is also now estimating a 1% decline in comparable sales, widening from a 0.3% decline previously, but raised its earnings per share estimate to $15.33 from $15.32 to account for an increase in gross margin. RBC Capital maintained its sector perform rating on the stock while raising its price target to $377 from $299.

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Amgen’s Upcoming Catalysts In 2024 Set To Unlock Multi-Billion Dollar Markets, Says Goldman Sachs

/ / Health Care /

Amgen Inc (NASDAQ:AMGN) is expected to unveil updates on various programs this year, targeting significant markets. Despite concerns about the company’s long-term growth amid exclusivity losses, Goldman Sachs notes that Amgen (Buy rating, $350 price target) is seen as well-positioned to capitalize on multi-billion dollar opportunities. The current stock valuation is slightly above the base business, per the discounted cash flow model, and indicates a favorable risk-reward scenario leading up to upcoming catalysts. The upcoming catalysts include obesity, with MariTide Phase 2 data expected in late 2024. Earlier this month, Amgen had the data from animal and early-stage human trials of its experimental obesity drug AMG 133 (maridebart cafraglutide) published in Nature Metabolism. The Journal confirmed the GIPR antagonist and GLP-1R agonist activities in cell-based systems and reported the ability of AMG 133 to reduce body weight and improve metabolic markers in male obese mice and cynomolgus monkeys. The management has

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American Express Seeing an Ease in Small Business Spending

/ / Industrials /

American Express says small businesses are showing signs of moderation as consumer spending remains strong. CFO Christophe Le Caillec says at the UBS Financial Services Forum that tenured small-business customers have been spending less, which is dampening the company’s growth rates. Still, consumers are “doing what they do best, which is to consume,” Le Caillec says. He notes strong demand for new cards from consumers and strong spending growth, with the caveat that American Express’s customers may not be representative of the entire U.S. economy. Shares rise 0.9% to $216.52.

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Target Likely to Report ‘Mid-Single-Digit Comp Decline’ in Q4 Results, Oppenheimer Says

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

Target (TGT) is likely to report a “mid-single-digit comp decline,” in its upcoming Q4 results, Oppenheimer said in a note in a note to clients Monday. However, EPS is now projected above the midpoint of Q4 guidance, the note said. Target is expected to report earnings this week. For 2024, Oppenheimer says management may introduce conservative guidance bracketing its $8.75 EPS estimate. Additionally, there is a possibility that the management might provide updates on “intermediate-term operating margin targets.” “We continue to see a path to a nearly 6% operating margin and $10+ in earnings by FY25,” Oppenheimer said. “Following a more than 40% rally off the October lows, we would be positioned to take advantage of any weakness with a likely conservative guide,” it added. Oppenheimer raised Target’s price target to $170 from $160 while keeping its outperform rating, citing the company as a top pick.

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CFRA Raises Opinion To Buy From Hold On Shares Of Citigroup Inc.

/ / Financials /

CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows: We raise our target by $11 to $65 (consensus $61) on a forward P/E of 10.8x, which is in line with its five-year historic average. Our target would still be a 20% discount to net tangible book value (NTBV) of $81.65, while direct peers trade at par or a premium to NTBV. We see C executing its strategy to streamline the bank and drive growth in areas where it is a market leader. C has a leading franchise in corporate treasury services that is realizing recurring fee revenue and new account growth, global banking for institutions, and personal banking outside the U.S. Management has targets for operating efficiency with $1.5B in restructuring and severance costs in 2023 and another $700M to $1.0B in 2024, which should drive

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Target May Guide Conservatively Following In-Line Fourth-Quarter Earnings, Oppenheimer Says

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

Target (TGT) is on track to report fiscal fourth-quarter earnings largely in line with expectations, while management may guide conservatively next week, Oppenheimer said on Monday. The brokerage raised its price target on the stock to $170 from $160, saying the outperform-rated retail chain continues to be a top pick. “Following a more than 40% rally off the October lows, we would be positioned to take advantage of any weakness with a likely conservative guide,” Oppenheimer analysts including Rupesh Parikh and Erica Eiler wrote. They raised its fourth-quarter earnings per share target to $2.40 — a penny above consensus — from a prior view of $1.90 on a stronger gross margin expansion. Target’s fourth quarter closed at the end of January, with the results due out March 5. Oppenheimer continues to model for a 5% decline in comparable sales, which is worse than the 4.5% drop market view. Grocery stores

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CFRA Keeps Buy Opinion On Shares Of Walmart Inc.

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows: WMT shares began trading at a 3-for-1 split-adjusted price today. Accordingly, we adjust our 12-month target to $65 from $195, 27x our FY 2025 EPS view (adjusted to $2.41 from $7.23; FY 2026 adjusted to $2.60 from $7.79). Many things are working for WMT right now. In-store sales are strong as consumers are shopping for lower-priced groceries more frequently (store remodels are also lifting traffic). WMT is gaining share with upper-income households, which is helping grow its subscription program (Walmart+). Online sales are strong, as global e-commerce sales exceeded $100 billion in FY 2023, up from $82 billion in FY 2022. The growth in online sales is fueling WMT’s higher-margin ad business (global ad sales were $3.4 billion in FY 2023, up from $2.7 billion a year

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ServiceNow to Acquire Atrinet NetACE Network Technology to Accelerate Business Transformation for Telcos

/ / Technology /

ServiceNow to Acquire Atrinet NetACE Network Technology to Accelerate Business Transformation for Telcos Acquisition to enable end-to-end network lifecycle management for telecommunications companies on a single, AI-first platform BARCELONA, Spain–(BUSINESS WIRE)–February 25, 2024– Mobile World Congress — ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW), the leading digital workflow company making the world work better for everyone, today announced it has signed an agreement to acquire NetACE(TM) network management and automation technology from Atrinet to accelerate business transformation for telecommunications companies (telcos). Once re-platformed into the ServiceNow platform, Atrinet’s NetACE technology will enable comprehensive, end-to-end network lifecycle management for telcos on a single, AI-first digital workflow platform. Telcos often lack the tools and technology needed to drive efficiency in managing their network, and frequently rely on manual processes. The addition of Atrinet’s NetACE network discovery and activation capabilities to the Now platform will address these challenges by delivering stronger connectivity for telcos’ workflows and greater

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CFRA Lowers Rating To Hold From Buy On Shares Of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD)

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows: We got this wrong as the transformation of WBD is likely to take longer with progress more visible later this year and into 2025. We are lowering our target by $3 to $11 using a forward TEV/EBITDA of 6.4x, below the direct peer average. We reduce our 2024 LPS estimate to -$0.50 from EPS of $0.10 and start 2025’s EPS at $0.15, forecasting total revenue of $41.6B in 2024 and $42.5B in 2025 compared to $41.2B in 2023. WBD posted a Q4 2023 LPS of -$0.16 and total revenue of $10.3B, both missing consensus estimates. Our EBITDA estimate is $10.5B in 2024 and $10.8B in 2025. Direct to consumer (DTC) reported -$55M adj. EBITDA and +3% revenue growth with 51% higher advertising. DTC net adds were up

CFRA Lowers Rating To Hold From Buy On Shares Of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) Read Post »

Domino’s Pizza’s (NYSE:DPZ) Earnings: A Preview

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

Domino’s Pizza (NYSE:DPZ) is set to give its latest quarterly earnings report on Monday, 2024-02-26. Here’s what investors need to know before the announcement. Analysts estimate that Domino’s Pizza will report an earnings per share (EPS) of $4.37. Domino’s Pizza bulls will hope to hear the company announce they’ve not only beaten that estimate, but also to provide positive guidance, or forecasted growth, for the next quarter.

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CFRA Maintains Buy Recommendation On Shares Of Intuit Inc.

/ / Technology /

CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows: We lift our target price to $715 from $612, on a P/E of 42x our NTM estimate of $17.03, above its three-year average. We raise our FY 24 forecast to $16.43 from $16.32 and up our FY 25 EPS view to $18.86 from $18.66. INTU posted Q2 revenue of $3.39B, in line with consensus, while non-GAAP EPS of $2.63 beat by $0.32. Strength in Small Business and Self-employed (+18.3% Y/Y) was driven by momentum in its Online Ecosystem of products (+21.4% Y/Y), offset slightly by Desktop Ecosystem (+10.1% Y/Y). Quickbooks Desktop Enterprise continues to grow at a strong pace (mid-teens in Q2), but capability enhancements on its online platform over time should encourage more migrations as the company nears the end of its three-year transition plan. Consumer

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Warner Bros Discovery Inc (NASDAQ:WBD) Q4 2023 Earnings Conference

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

The following is a summary of the Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript: Financial Performance: Warner Bros. Discovery reduced its debt by $5.4 billion in the year to stand at 3.9 times levered, continuing its plan to de-lever in 2024. Generated meaningful free cash flow ending the year at $6.2 billion, exceeding its goal, with improved free cash flow for Q1 compared to the previous year. Achieved a 12% year-on-year growth in EBITDA, despite industry-wide challenges. Total combined merger and transformation savings now stand at $4 billion. The D2C segment generated a positive EBITDA of about $100 million, reflecting a $2.2 billion improvement year-over-year. Focused on continued debt repayment, capital efficiency, and driving shareholder value with a long-term gross leverage target of 2.5x to 3x. Business Progress: Warner Bros. Discovery has been focusing on digital and advanced advertising solutions, noting strong international network performance, particularly in

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