Here are Wednesday’s biggest analyst calls: Apple, Alphabet, Snap, Boeing, First Solar, Reddit, AMD & more

Posted By: EN Todayon: October 30, 2024In: Renewable Energy News

Here are Wednesday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Bank of America reiterates Advanced Micro Devices as buy Bank of America said the stock is best positioned following earnings on Tuesday. “We believe AMD is well-positioned in the most attractive parts of the semi market – computing, AI and embedded.” JPMorgan reiterates First Solar as overweight The firm said the solar company is still best positioned following earnings on Tuesday. “Given the US business is fully contracted through FY26, we continue to believe that FSLR is relatively best positioned amongst our solar coverage in this regard. FSLR remains on Positive Catalyst Watch ahead of the US election on November 5.” Bank of America reiterates Alphabet as buy The firm said the “near-term AI benefits outweigh [the] disruption risk” following earnings on Tuesday. “Another quarter of solid results suggest that company-wide Al benefits are outweighing any disruption headwinds and Alphabet is net Al beneficiary.. We acknowledge potential negative catalysts (Meta AI and ChatGPT product rollouts, DoJ filing), but think Street could be overlooking AI Overview benefits next year.” Wells Fargo reiterates Snap as overweight Wells said the earnings report on Tuesday for Snap was “relatively steady.” “Heading into a volatile and uncertain 4Q w/ market likely to draw conclusions on TikTok’s US fate, Snap reported a relatively steady 3Q performance and 4Q guide. Direct response delivering, need a pickup in North American engagement and brand spend.” Citi reiterates Reddit as buy The firm said product innovation drove robust earnings results following the bell on Tuesday. ” Reddit delivered impressive results in 3Q with revenue coming in 11% above consensus and EBITDA coming in 57% above the high-end of guidance.” Seaport upgrades Alphabet to buy from neutral Seaport upgraded Alphabet following earnings on Tuesday. “Our upgrade is based on: 1) Continued Advertising momentum (12% growth for both Search and YouTube in 3Q) and we expect continued near-term strength driven in part by AI; 2) Accelerating Cloud growth (35% y/y) with cloud strength benefiting from AI adoption.” Morgan Stanley upgrades EDN to overweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley said shares of the Argentinian electric company are compelling. “Attractive entry point ahead of EDN’s tariff review, a key value driver that could drive significant earnings growth & trigger stock re-rating. Upgrading to OW.” Raymond James upgrades Camping World to outperform from market perform The firm said it’s getting bullish on the RV company. “Our Outperform rating on the shares of Camping World reflects our view that the company is extremely well-positioned to deliver healthy sales and adj. EBITDA growth in 2025 without any help from macro or industry factors.” Bank of American upgrades KE Holdings to buy from neutral Bank of America said it sees a “cyclical recovery” for the China real estate company. “We upgrade KE Holdings to Buy from Neutral, because: 1) as the clear market leader in property brokerage in China, it is a key beneficiary of the recent China policy pivot and potential cyclical recovery; 2) we expect it to outgrow the housing market during this recovery and also in the long term..” Bank of America upgrades Incyte to buy from neutral Bank of America upgraded the biotech company following its earnings report. “Incyte Corporation (INCY) is a biotechnology company developing oral and topical treatments for oncology and dermatology indications.” Bernstein downgrades Boeing to market perform from outperform Bernstein said it’s “skeptical” about a Boeing recovery. “We downgrade Boeing to Market-Perform and lower our target to $169. While Boeing should eventually recover to its long-held industry position, we are more skeptical on when it will happen.” Baird upgrades Boot Barn to outperform from neutral Baird said the risk/reward is too compelling to ignore for the shoe company. “We remain confident in BOOT’s ability to deliver attractive relative earnings growth supported by compelling unit expansion opportunity.” UBS downgrades Barrick Gold to neutral from buy UBS said it sees “downside risk” ahead of earnings in November for the gold company. “Although gold price momentum remains positive and we expect further upward revisions to consensus gold prices, we see downside risk to volume & cost assumptions & downgrade to Neutral ahead of 3Q24 results (7th Nov) & Barrick 2024 investor day.” Raymond James downgrades Qorvo to market perform from outperform Raymond James downgraded the wireless radio frequency solutions company following earnings. “We are downgrading QRVO from Outperform to Market Perform post its Sep-24Q results. The company’s Dec-24Q outlook fell well short of our and consensus estimates which the management attributed to 1) unfavorable mix in premium phones, which is impacting the company’s RF content and 2) mix shift away from mid-tier to entry-tier in Android, where the company has limited to no presence.” Barclays downgrades Lear to equal weight from overweight Barclays said the it sees a challenging setup for the automotive seating company. “When we upgraded LEA to OW a year ago our thesis was that LEA’s efforts in vertical integration in Seating would ultimately support earnings growth via share gains and margin expansion. While we believe that LEA still has a leading position in Seating, we believe these efforts are not enough to overcome a difficult macro situation for auto parts suppliers.” Goldman Sachs reiterates Chipotle as buy Goldman said growth remains “resilient” for Chipotle. “Overall, we continue to believe the core components of the bull thesis remain intact for CMG despite the management turnover, with industry outperformance on the top line driven by both traffic and unit growth, while reinvesting in the value proposition that has made the brand a fan favorite.” Morgan Stanley reiterates Walmart as overweight The firm said the big box retailer has a long runway for growth. ” Walmart+ membership near record high as 50%-off Black Friday deal is rolled out. Membership overlap with AMZN Prime is high, and we see a long runway for further growth in multi- membership households.” UBS reiterates Apple as neutral UBS said its survey checks show little appetite for iPhone demand despite the release of Apple Intelligence. “UBS Evidence Lab data that tracks iPhone availability across 30 geographies continues to suggest demand that is somewhat softer relative to last year, with no material uptick in demand in the US despite the launch of Apple Intelligence in US English yesterday.” Bank of America downgrades PDD Holdings to neutral from buy Bank of America said it sees an unattractive risk/reward for China online retailer following earnings. “We still believe that PDD’s domestic market share gain, fast overseas expansion and solid execution thesis are largely intact, and we would turn more positive when there is better clarity on the new US president’s China policies and management’s near term and long term strategic targets.” Raymond James downgrades Crocs to market perform from outperform Raymond James downgraded the shoe company following earnings citing margin pressures. “We downgrade CROX to Market Perform from Outperform after the 3Q beat, which was accompanied by 4Q and 2025 guide downs. Crocs North America softness, HEYDUDE declines, and FY25 margin pressure lessen our confidence in EPS upside potential.” Wedbush downgrades Williams-Sonoma to neutral from outperform The firm downgraded the home goods store due to reduced guidance ahead of earnings in November. “We move to the sidelines on WSM ahead of 3Q24 earnings in mid-November. While WSM seemingly de-risked its outlook when it reduced FY24 guidance in conjunction with 2Q24 results, we now believe that trends have deteriorated in recent months despite easier comparisons.”