CFRA Keeps Hold Opinion On Shares Of Microchip Technology Incorporated

/ / 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 maintain our 12-month target at $80 based on 18x P/E our CY 25 EPS view of $4.45, below peers to reflect more leveraged balance sheet. We lower our FY 24 (Mar.) EPS to $4.92 from $5.39 and FY 25 to $3.58 from $4.77. We start FY 26 at $4.60. MCHP posts Dec-Q EPS of $1.08 vs. $1.56, beating the $1.04 consensus. Sales fell 22% from Sep-Q (-19% Y/Y) and MCHP guided for additional declines in Mar-Q, as it contends with customers sharply curtailing inventories amid end-demand softness. Although we remain cautious about the trajectory of a recovery, we think MCHP is doing a good job cutting operating expenses (-12% from Sep-Q), planning 2-week shutdowns in both Mar-Q and Jun-Q, while lead times have been reduced to […]

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CFRA Reiterates Buy Opinion On Shares Of Amazon.com, 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: We lift our 12-month target by $18 to $198, calculated using an EV/EBITDA multiple of 16x (was 15x) against our 2024 adj-EBITDA of $137.0B (up from $132.3B) vs. 12x-30x historical range. We lift our 2024 adj-EPS to $6.45 from $6.13 but lower our 2025 adj-EPS to $7.18 from $7.28. Q4 operating income of $13.2B smashed the $10.4B consensus on revenue of $170.0B (+14% Y/Y), $3.7B above consensus. AWS growth reaccelerated to +13% (approaching a $100B annualized run-rate business) vs. +12% in Q3/Q2, a trend that should continue in 2024 due to easier Y/Y comps and new AI opportunities. In retail, lower transportation costs and AMZN’s supply chain regionalization initiative drove strong margins all year. We expect retail margins to continue to expand in 2024, albeit at a

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Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) Stock Analyst Ratings

/ / Technology /

Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) Stock Analyst Ratings Date Upside/Downside Analyst Firm Price Target Change Rating Change Previous / Current Rating 01/31/2024 15.87% Wells Fargo $165 → $190 Maintains Overweight 01/31/2024 18.92% Northland Capital Markets → $195 Upgrades Market Perform → Outperform 01/31/2024 21.97% Wedbush → $200 Reiterates Outperform → Outperform 01/31/2024 9.77% Raymond James $195 → $180 Maintains Outperform 01/31/2024 21.97% Susquehanna $210 → $200 Maintains Positive 01/31/2024 52.46% Rosenblatt $200 → $250 Maintains Buy 01/31/2024 17.09% Citigroup $136 → $192 Maintains Buy 01/31/2024 9.77% JP Morgan $115 → $180 Maintains Neutral 01/31/2024 9.77% Goldman Sachs $157 → $180 Maintains Buy 01/31/2024 64.66% Keybanc $195 → $270 Maintains Overweight 01/30/2024 21.97% Rosenblatt → $200 Reiterates Buy → Buy 01/30/2024 18.92% Raymond James $190 → $195 Downgrades Strong Buy → Outperform 01/29/2024 15.87% Cantor Fitzgerald → $190 Reiterates Overweight → Overweight 01/29/2024 17.7% Morgan Stanley $128 → $193 Maintains Overweight 01/29/2024

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General Motors’s Earnings Show 2024 Is the Year of the Hybrid — Barrons.com

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

General Motors blew past Wall Street’s expectations with its forecast for 2024 earnings, laying out new goals for sales of all-electric vehicles. But the biggest surprise was about plug-in hybrid vehicles. Tuesday, GM reported fourth-quarter operating income of $1.8 billion, close to what Wall Street expected. Guidance for 2024, however, was much better than expected. GM believes it will generate about $13 billion in operating profit. Wall Street was looking for $11 billion. Shares jumped 7.8% Tuesday and gained another 1.7% early Wednesday as Wall Street reacted to the news. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were down about 0.5% and 1.3%, respectively. Management’s financial forecasts were likely responsible for most of the gains, but investors should also have been happy with their guidance about electric vehicles. “We expect our U.S. [EV] portfolio will become variable profit positive in the second half of the year based on our current expectations

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AMD Beats on 4Q Earnings, Sales, But 1Q Guidance Is Below Expectations

/ / Technology /

Advanced Micro Devices is one of the most mentioned companies in the U.S. across all news items in the last 12 hours, according to Factiva data. After trading closed Tuesday, the chipmaker posted a fourth-quarter profit of $667 million, or 41 cents a share, beating analysts’ expectations for per-share earnings of 25 cents. Revenue rose 10% to $6.17 billion, higher than the $6.13 billion that analysts were expecting. However, AMD forecast $5.4 billion, plus or minus $300 million, in revenue in the first-quarter of 2024, below analysts’ expectations of $5.73 billion. Dow Jones & Co. owns Factiva.

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AT&T (NYSE:T) Stock Analyst Ratings

/ / Telecommunications /

AT&T (NYSE:T) Stock Analyst Ratings Date Upside/Downside Analyst Firm Price Target Change Rating Change Previous / Current Rating 01/31/2024 12.71% Barclays $17 → $20 Maintains Equal-Weight 01/25/2024 35.25% Deutsche Bank $23 → $24 Maintains Buy 01/19/2024 18.34% Oppenheimer → $21 Upgrades Perform → Outperform 12/13/2023 12.71% Wells Fargo $17 → $20 Maintains Overweight 10/23/2023 1.44% Citigroup $17 → $18 Maintains Buy 10/23/2023 7.07% Morgan Stanley $20 → $19 Maintains Equal-Weight 10/20/2023 4.25% Scotiabank → $18.5 Upgrades Sector Perform → Sector Outperform 10/12/2023 -4.2% JP Morgan $18 → $17 Maintains Neutral 08/29/2023 -4.2% Citigroup → $17 Upgrades Neutral → Buy 08/10/2023 -21.1% RBC Capital $19 → $14 Maintains Sector Perform 08/03/2023 12.71% Morgan Stanley $20 → $20 Reiterates Equal-Weight → Equal-Weight 07/27/2023 12.71% Goldman Sachs $23 → $20 Maintains Buy 07/25/2023 -4.2% Citigroup $16 → $17 Maintains Neutral 07/20/2023 12.71% Wells Fargo $22 → $20 Maintains Overweight 07/17/2023 -9.83% Citigroup $22

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Alphabet’s Efficiency Workstreams Shining Through, But Focus Is on AI Projects, Morgan Stanley Says

/ / Technology /

Alphabet’s (GOOG, GOOGL) Q4 results late Tuesday showed the company’s efficiency workstreams shining through, even amid higher capital expenditures, but the focus is now on the company’s artificial intelligence projects, Morgan Stanley said in a note to clients on Wednesday. “Capex is heading higher, but we see a leading GenAI pipeline and incremental cloud and subscription rev opportunities [to further support ads],” the investment firm said, adding that Alphabet is “one of the best-positioned consumer-facing GenAI companies.” The company’s AI pipeline targeting consumers and advertisers is “flush” and ready to flow, the note said, as Alphabet is launching “multiple emerging GenAI tools for users and advertisers that we see driving more durable multi-year growth.” Morgan Stanley also noted that the benefits of Alphabet “durably re-engineering its cost base continue to show.” Alphabet’s “number of efficiency workstreams/projects continues to grow as product/process prioritization, simplified org structures/removing layers, slower headcount growth, infrastructure

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Starbucks Wants Occasional U.S. Customers To Join Loyalty Program

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

Starbucks wants to make occasional customers into regulars. It saw unexpected headwinds in 1Q, with one factor being occasional U.S. customers who tend to visit stores in the afternoon came in less frequently. Starbucks implemented targeted offers aimed at bringing those customers into its loyalty program, which it says has been shown to create a long-term relationship that increases both ticket and transactions. CEO Laxman Narasimhan says the initiatives have led to more occasional customers beginning to rebound in December. “We feel good about the trajectory over the course of the quarter, but it will take time for our plans to be fully realized,” Narasimhan says.

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Mastercard Expects Robust Consumer Spending to Run Through 2024 After Fourth-Quarter Beat

/ / Industrials /

Mastercard (MA) is casting an eye toward further strength in consumer spending in 2024 after robust activity aided the payments processor in outstripping expectations for its fourth-quarter financial results. “We remain fairly positive about the growth outlook. Consumer spending continues to be supported by a strong labor market and wage growth,” Chief Financial Officer Sachin Mehra said on the company’s conference call Wednesday, according to a transcript from Capital IQ. “Our base case scenario for 2024 reflects healthy consumer spending and recent spending dynamics.” The upbeat remarks about a critical factor for growth came after the company said “healthy consumer spending” was a driver for “strong” earnings and revenue growth last year. It also presented fourth-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue above the Street’s consensus estimates. For 2024, the company forecast net revenue percentage growth at the high end of low double digits. Revenue rose 13% in 2023. Shares of Mastercard

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Boeing CEO Defends 737 Quality Improvements Progress

/ / Industrials /

Boeing CEO David Calhoun says that Alaska Air door-plug blowout doesn’t negate quality improvements the company has made on its 737 MAX jets since a pair of fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019. “Wasn’t the 737 line the most scrutinized product line in the word?” Bank of America analyst Ron Epstein asked Calhoun on a call to review Boeing’s financial results. “What happened to get to where we’ve gotten today?” Calhoun said quality on the 737 line has steadily progressed since the crashes and quality numbers have improved. “I think I understand your underlying context for the question but I take exception to the premise.”

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Microsoft Set for ‘Healthy Expansion’ in 2024 Operating Margins After Fiscal Q2 Beat, Morgan Stanley Says

/ / Technology /

Microsoft (MSFT) is poised for a “healthy expansion” in fiscal 2024 operating margins after Q2 results topped forecasts with a boost from artificial intelligence, strong execution, and cost discipline, Morgan Stanley said Wednesday in a report. “Q2 results well illustrated Microsoft’s leading position in GenAI and unique ability to monetize this technology,” the investment firm said. On Tuesday, Microsoft reported Q2 earnings of $2.93 a share on revenue of $62.02 billion. Analysts polled by Capital IQ expected EPS of $2.77 on revenue of $61.13 billion. Morgan Stanley said Microsoft Azure posted a 28% growth in constant currency in Q2 with AI contributing “a remarkable” 6%. The EPS beat occurred amid hurdles related to accounting and AI investments, and mergers and acquisitions. The company’s Q3 gross and operating margin guidance stood “significantly ahead of expectations,” and Morgan Stanley said Microsoft’s solid execution, expense optimization and position in the GenAI innovation cycle

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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 announced a 3:1 stock split (effective February 26). While stock splits are purely cosmetic (i.e., no impact to fundamentals), they are perceived as a shareholder-friendly move and a sign of confidence. In separate news releases, WMT announced increases to store manager pay (from $117K/year to $128K/year, with bonuses up to 200% of base salary) and plans to build or convert more than 150 stores over the next five years. WMT will continue to remodel stores (650 store remodels planned over the next year) to its Store of the Future concept (i.e., improved layouts, expanded product selection, and innovative technology). We visited a few remodeled stores and were particularly grabbed by the new displays and features, wider aisles, and brighter lighting. Store remodels should help drive traffic/volume

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