ConocoPhillips’ Q4 Earnings Likely to Beat Estimates, Output Seen at Top End of Guidance, UBS Says

/ / Energy /

ConocoPhillips (COP) is likely to report Q4 earnings per share above market estimates and output toward the high end of its guidance, UBS said in a note Thursday. The investment bank expects Q4 EPS of $2.12 and total output at 1.89 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, up 5% from the previous quarter. UBS put the EPS market consensus at $2.09. “Growth is primarily driven by the increased Surmont working interest,” UBS analysts Josh Silverstein, Peyton Dorne, and Kevin Liu said in the note sent to MT Newswires on Friday. ConocoPhillips bought the remaining 50% interest in the Surmont oil sands asset and associated midstream commitments from TotalEnergies’ (TTE) Canadian unit for about $2.7 billion, finalizing the transaction in late Q3. UBS also expects the company to achieve its $11 billion capital returns forecast for 2023 and projects $10 billion in shareholder returns for 2024. The bank has a […]

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Walmart Is Reportedly Closing Its Innovation Hub. It’s the Latest in Retailer Cost Cuts.

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

By Bill Peters ‘We’ve graduated capabilities from this operating approach that are now fully embedded in our organization,’ company says in memo, according to the Wall Street Journal Walmart Inc. will shut down Store No. 8, the big-box retailer’s startup incubator and innovation hub, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. It’s the latest move by a retailer to trim expenses and protect profits as shoppers continue to grapple with higher prices. Chief Financial Officer John Rainey told employees in a memo that much of what Store No. 8 did had already been incorporated into the company’s operations as a whole, the Journal said. “We’ve graduated capabilities from this operating approach that are now fully embedded in our organization,” Rainey said in the memo, according to the Journal. “The responsibility to shape the future of retail is now shared by all segments,” he continued. Walmart launched Store No. 8 in

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Verizon Write-Down Reflects Commercial Market’s Dim Prospects

/ / Telecommunications /

Verizon’s $5.8 billion charge is the latest sign of legacy phone companies adapting to how businesses connect — specifically, for less money after vetting more competitors. AT&T’s business wireline unit took a $13.5 billion write-down a year earlier for similar reasons. The lowered expectations reflect a commercial wireline market that’s been shrinking since 2016, MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett says. “The forces at work here are secular, and they are only getting worse,” he says. “It’s doubly challenging for Verizon and AT&T as the two largest players in the market by far.”

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UBS Chair Signals Profitability Could Beat Views After CS Integration

/ / Financials /

UBS’s return on equity–a key profitability metric for banks–could exceed current expectations following the integration of its former competitor Credit Suisse, Chair Colm Kelleher tells Bloomberg TV at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Switzerland’s largest bank in August said it was targeting to end 2026 with a return on equity of around 15%. UBS–which is due to publish a three-year strategic plan in February along with its fourth-quarter results–has started merging teams and downsizing Credit Suisse’s Swiss investment bank, Kelleher says. “The people we have brought in, on the whole it has worked quite well, we have been quite surprised,” he says. “To a large extent a lot of bad actors had gone.”

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Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB) Stock Analyst Ratings

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB) Stock Analyst Ratings Date Upside/Downside Analyst Firm Price Target Change Rating Change Previous / Current Rating 01/17/2024 12.65% Mizuho $130 → $150 Maintains Neutral 01/09/2024 0.64% BMO Capital → $134 Initiates Coverage On → Market Perform 12/12/2023 -24.9% Barclays $135 → $100 Downgrades Equal-Weight → Underweight 12/08/2023 — DBS Bank Downgrades Buy → Hold 11/29/2023 5.14% Jefferies $155 → $140 Downgrades Buy → Hold 11/17/2023 2.14% Evercore ISI Group → $136 Downgrades Outperform → In-Line 11/03/2023 20.17% Susquehanna $165 → $160 Maintains Positive 11/02/2023 -11.38% JP Morgan $130 → $118 Maintains Neutral 11/02/2023 -7.62% Piper Sandler $142 → $123 Maintains Neutral 11/02/2023 -21.14% Morgan Stanley $110 → $105 Maintains Underweight 11/02/2023 1.39% Wedbush $145 → $135 Maintains Neutral 11/02/2023 12.65% Needham $160 → $150 Maintains Buy 10/31/2023 -2.37% Mizuho $150 → $130 Maintains Neutral 10/24/2023 — Seaport Global Initiates Coverage On → Neutral 10/03/2023 — Keybanc Downgrades Overweight

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Netflix Declared Victor in ‘Streaming Wars’

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

Netflix is poised to strengthen its position as the leading streaming service due to changes in the last 18 months that include evolving industry dynamics, talent strikes and an investor focus on profitability. “These changes (e.g., reducing content spend/output, increasing third-party licensing) have been a tacit acknowledgement that not all media companies will be able to achieve Netflix’s global reach and scale in streaming,” BofA Research Analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich says in a note. “It is becoming increasingly clear that Netflix has won the ‘streaming wars.’” Since Netflix can now buy more from outside providers it won’t have to finance as much new production and can instead spend on established content, Reif Ehrlich says. BofA raises its price target to $585 from $525.

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DoorDash (NASDAQ:DASH) Stock Analyst Ratings

/ / Technology /

DoorDash (NASDAQ:DASH) Stock Analyst Ratings Date Upside/Downside Analyst Firm Price Target Change Rating Change Previous / Current Rating 01/17/2024 36.61% Mizuho $120 → $140 Maintains Buy 01/09/2024 17.09% BMO Capital → $120 Initiates Coverage On → Outperform 01/08/2024 26.85% Jefferies $90 → $130 Upgrades Hold → Buy 11/16/2023 21.97% Deutsche Bank → $125 Initiates Coverage On → Buy 11/15/2023 2.46% Needham → $105 Reiterates Buy → Buy 11/03/2023 10.26% JMP Securities $100 → $113 Maintains Market Outperform 11/03/2023 26.85% Truist Securities $125 → $130 Maintains Buy 11/02/2023 -6.32% JP Morgan $95 → $96 Maintains Neutral 11/02/2023 -50.23% Piper Sandler $47 → $51 Maintains Underweight 11/02/2023 -7.3% Barclays $90 → $95 Maintains Equal-Weight 11/02/2023 -10.23% Wedbush $85 → $92 Maintains Neutral 10/24/2023 — Seaport Global Initiates Coverage On → Neutral 09/21/2023 -2.42% JMP Securities → $100 Reiterates Market Outperform → Market Outperform 09/18/2023 2.46% Mizuho $90 → $105 Upgrades Neutral →

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Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER) Stock Analyst Ratings

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER) Stock Analyst Ratings Date Upside/Downside Analyst Firm Price Target Change Rating Change Previous / Current Rating 01/17/2024 22.66% Mizuho $63 → $77 Maintains Buy 01/16/2024 0.36% Needham → $63 Reiterates Buy → Buy 01/12/2024 24.25% Goldman Sachs $59 → $78 Maintains Buy 01/11/2024 24.25% Goldman Sachs $59 → $78 Maintains Buy 01/09/2024 9.92% BMO Capital → $69 Initiates Coverage On → Outperform 12/29/2023 -1.23% Nomura $59 → $62 Downgrades Buy → Neutral 12/19/2023 11.51% Keybanc $61 → $70 Maintains Overweight 12/04/2023 19.47% Oppenheimer $65 → $75 Maintains Outperform 12/01/2023 -1.23% JMP Securities → $62 Reiterates Market Outperform → Market Outperform 11/30/2023 0.36% Needham → $63 Reiterates Buy → Buy 11/30/2023 14.7% Tigress Financial $66 → $72 Maintains Buy 11/13/2023 -1.23% JMP Securities $57 → $62 Maintains Market Outperform 11/08/2023 -1.23% Morgan Stanley $60 → $62 Maintains Overweight 11/08/2023 -1.23% Roth MKM $61 → $62 Maintains Buy

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UPS Faces ‘Continuing Softness’ in Domestic-Package Volumes, UBS Says

/ / Industrials /

UPS (UPS) faced “continuing softness” on domestic-packages volumes Q4, partly countering the company’s expectations for a partial recovery, UBS said Wednesday in a report. UBS cited FedEx (FDX) results in the November quarter and “other mixed indicators regarding transport activity during peak.” UPS’ domestic-package volumes in Q4 probably fell 7% from a year earlier, compared with an 11.5% drop in Q3, and the decline in volume will put pressure on the company’s margin performance, UBS said. UBS lowered the company’s Q4 earnings per share estimate to $2.40 from $2.59 on expectations for single-digit revenue growth and soft volumes. The company is also facing “a significant headwind” from the Teamster contract, UBS said. UBS cut its 2024 EPS estimate to $8.90 from $9.52. UBS raised its price target on the company to $165 from $151, while maintaining the neutral rating. UPS shares fell 1.1% in recent Wednesday trading.

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Amazon.com Working on Paid Version of Alexa

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

Amazon.com (AMZN) is working on a paid version of its Alexa voice assistant, Business Insider reported Wednesday, citing internal documents and people familiar with the matter. This version, tentatively called Alexa Plus, will provide more conversational and personalized artificial intelligence technology, the report said. The company is preparing to introduce a new paid subscription plan in 2024, with the Alexa team working towards a June 30 deadline for the launch of the new version, the report said. Amazon declined Business Insider’s request for comment. Amazon did not immediately reply to MT Newswires’ request for comments.

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Amazon Set for Significant Expansion in Cloud and Retail, Analyst Foresees 2024 Boom

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

Mizuho analyst James Lee noted a meaningful divergence of consumer confidence levels between the U.S. and China Internet sectors in 2024. In the U.S., he expected moderated inflation and a tight labor market to keep consumer spending resilient, benefiting category leaders across segments such as advertising, e-commerce, and gig economy services that are likely to gain share and drive margin expansion. Therefore, Lee recommended investors play offense in the U.S. Internet, choosing companies with upside to estimates plus long-term optionality. His top U.S. pick is Amazon.Com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN). The analyst maintained a Buy rating on Amazon with a price target of $220. Lee expected AWS to accelerate in FY24 and achieve the above consensus forecast as cost optimization begins unwinding and newly migrated data becomes productive. His checks indicate enterprises are planning large-scale data migrations to the cloud due to Gen-AI, and AWS will likely benefit from this supercycle of cloud adoption. Furthermore, Lee looked

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