Nvidia's Stock Soars Amid AI Boom and Analyst Optimism

Here are Tuesday's biggest analyst calls: Nvidia, Amazon, AMD, Exxon, Ulta, Eli Lilly, & more

Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Tuesday: Goldman Sachs initiates MediaAlpha as buy Goldman says it's bullish on shares of the ad tech platform company. "We are initiating coverage of MediaAlpha (MAX) with a Buy rating and a $20 12-month PT." Morgan Stanley reiterates Nvidia as overweight Morgan Stanley says it's standing by shares of the stock. "We believe NVIDIA's upcoming earnings will dispel concern and drive share price rebounds for the overall AI supply chain." Goldman Sachs upgrades Santander Chile to neutral from sell Goldman says it's getting more constructive on shares of the LatAm bank. "We upgrade Santander Chile to Neutral, as we see strong earnings momentum at the bank in the medium term, where we expect EPS to grow 24% on average in 2023-2026E and profitability rebounding after decreasing sharply in 2023." Barclays initiates LatAm Airlines as overweight Barclays says it's bullish on shares of the LatAm airlines company. "After a transformational restructuring process, LATAM Airlines is well positioned to profit from a supportive market environment. Its extensive network, lean cost structure, and strong balance sheet should drive sustainable results." UBS reiterates Exxon as buy The firm says it Exxon is a top idea, but that it likes Chevron also. "We reiterate our Buy rating on both XOM and CVX post the 2Q updates. We continue to see both as well positioned for the current cycle with visible Upstream growth outlooks, Downstream capacity additions, balance sheets capable of supporting shareholder returns, and accelerating Low Carbon investments." JPMorgan upgrades Vista to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said the oil and gas company is "highly differentiated" and a top way to play Argentina. "We initiate coverage of Vista Energy with an Overweight rating and a price target of $68." JPMorgan reiterates Burlington as overweight The firm says Burlington is one of the better positioned off-price retailers. "As the #3 off-price retailer, behind TJX and ROST, BURL in our view offers a compelling opportunity to participate in the outperformance of the off-price channel with sales/square foot almost one-third that of peers and a branded cycle still in the early innings." Bank of America reinstates TKO as buy The firm says the sports and media company is "resilient." "Shares of TKO are up ~45% YTD, which represents significant outperformance vs. traditional media companies and the broader market." Bernstein upgrades Biomarin to outperform from market perform Bernstein said in its upgrade of the Biomarin that it's bullish heading into the company's investor day in early September. "We expect mgmt to lay out a credible margin expansion path including further near-term cost-optimization, which should narrow the gap between buyside and sellside op margin expectations." Daiwa downgrades JPMorgan to outperform from buy Daiwa said it sees less upside for the banking giat. "Among individual names, we lower our rating on JPM one notch to 2 (Outperform) as upside appears to have narrowed following the stock's strong performance over the past two years." JPMorgan reiterates Amazon as a best idea JPMorgan says it's sticking with shares of the e-commerce giant. " AMZN remains our Best Idea, and we believe US e-commerce penetration of Adj, [adjusted] Retail Sales could nearly double from ~22% today to 40%+ long term." Evercore ISI upgrades Vornado to outperform from underperform Evercore said in its upgrade of Vornado that there's a slew of positive catalysts ahead for the real estate investment trust company. "While the stock is up 17% YTD and has outpaced the REIT index since the start of the year, most of that outperformance occurred post Q2 results in early August and we believe that there are several additional catalysts over the next 6 to 12 months that could allow the stock to keep outperforming the peers." Wells Fargo names Eli Lilly a top pick Wells says it thinks "manufacturing and [a] wealth of data are going to create a big moat for LLY in longer term." " LLY is our new Top Pick ." Citi opens a positive catalyst watch on Abercrombie & Fitch Citi said it's bullish heading into earnings next week but is sticking with its long-term neutral rating on Abercrombie. "We believe the risk/reward is favorable into 2Q EPS and are opening a 30-day positive catalyst watch." Morgan Stanley reiterates Palo Alto Networks as overweight Morgan Stanley raised its price target on shares of Palo Alto to $390 per share from $360 following earnings. "Looking ahead, multiple product cycles, AI tailwinds and easier comps should drive topline acceleration thru FY25." Edward Jones initiates Advanced Micro Devices as buy Edward Jones says it's bullish on shares of the semis company. "First, growing demand for data-center infrastructure should help drive accelerating sales of AMD's chips, in particular graphics processing units (GPUs) and central processing units." Needham initiates Sonic Automotive as buy Needham says the auto dealer franchise is well positioned. "We initiate SAH with a Buy rating and a $73 price target." JPMorgan names Mastercard a top pick JPMorgan said it has a "better line of sight into revenue and guidance upside for Mastercard." " Mastercard is the #2 global card network behind Visa, with larger relative exposure to faster growing non-US markets and a larger book of value-added services supporting its core card network revenues." Oppenheimer reiterates Ulta as outperform Oppenheimer says shares of Ulta remain attractive following the disclosure of Berkshire's stake in the stock. "We believe the NT setup is now trickier with the Berkshire investment, but for longer-term players, we would continue to take advantage of any dips. We remain attracted to a discounted valuation and await new management efforts to drive growth in FY25 and beyond."

Here are Monday's biggest analyst calls: Nvidia, Apple, Amazon, McDonald's, Walmart, Dell, Sweetgreen & more

Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Monday: Goldman Sachs reiterates Nvidia as buy Goldman says it's bullish on the stock ahead of earnings next week. "From a stock perspective, we believe the set-up for NVDA is constructive with the stock trading at 42x NTM [next twelve months] consensus EPS or a relative premium of only 46% and our updated Bull/Bear framework indicating a favorable risk/reward balance." RBC upgrades Gates to outperform from neutral RBC said in its upgrade of Gates that it sees a slew of catalysts ahead for the power transmission manufacturer. "We are particularly enthused about the multi-year upcycles in personal mobility, China auto aftermarket, expansion in India, and chain-to-belt conversion." Morgan Stanley reiterates Salesforce as overweight Morgan Stanley said it's sticking with its overweight rating heading into Salesforce earnings next week. "Stable partner checks, an unchanged macro & the close of slipped deals likely prove enough against low investor expects and a prudent guide." Morgan Stanley reiterates Amazon and Walmart as overweight Morgan Stanley says Amazon and Walmart are "leading the way" in retail. " Amazon & Walmart command 40 cents of every incremental dollar of retail sales. The big are getting bigger at an accelerating pace and there isn't anything in their way for the time being." KeyBanc reiterates Apple as sector weight Key said it's survey checks show caution ahead of the iPhone 16 launch in September. " AAPL growth expectations looking out to FY25/FY26 have never been higher, while we continue to have concerns that there will not be a large increase in upgrade rates, which we expect will still be down." Bernstein reiterates Tesla as underperform Bernstein says Tesla is a laggard in to the robotaxi space. "While Tesla is clearly focused on launching a robotaxi, Waymo and Cruise are already operating robotaxis in the US today. The available data is clearly imperfect, but as of today Tesla appears to be lagging behind the leaders in the space." Goldman Sachs upgrades Bradesco to buy from neutral Goldman upgraded the Brazilian financial services company following earnings. "We upgrade Bradesco to Buy on the back of better than expected results in 2Q24." Morgan Stanley initiates Lineage as buy Morgan Stanley named the warehouse company a top pick and says it's a "cash compounder." "LINE is the global leader in the temperature-controlled warehouse space with the highest quality assets and a differentiated tech-enabled platform to drive efficiencies & margins." Morgan Stanley downgrades Hewlett Packard to equal weight from overweight Morgan Stanley said in its downgrade of Hewlett Packard that it sees "limited upside to valuation." "Our OW thesis was based on the belief that the market was under-appreciating a return to PC rev growth, stable print margins, and accelerating capital returns." Morgan Stanley reiterates Dell as overweight Morgan Stanley lowered its price target on Dell heading into earnings next week to $142 per share from $155 but says it's sticking with its overweight rating. "A time to ignore the noise and refocus on fundamentals, which we believe continue to point to upside vs. consensus." Piper Sandler downgrades Shake Shack to neutral from overweight Piper says it sees a more balanced risk/reward for Shake Shack shares. "With that said we think the menu pricing component piece of this gets a little harder moving forward, and as analysts tasked with picking stocks, we think the Risk-Reward has become more balanced at current levels, hence the rating change." Piper Sandler downgrades Sweetgreen to neutral from overweight Piper says it sees a more balanced risk/reward for Sweetgreen . "With that said, as analysts tasked with picking stocks, we think the Risk-Reward has become more balanced at current levels, hence the rating change." Piper Sandler downgrades Dutch Bros to neutral from overweight Piper downgraded the coffee chain on valuation. "With that said, we have always viewed BROS as a higher-risk / higher-reward situation given the segment of the industry it participates in, as well as its balance sheet positioning relative to certain Fast Casual unit growth peers." Goldman Sachs initiates Concentra as buy Goldman says it sees "strong execution in a stable market" for the healthcare company. "Concentra is a healthcare services company operating with market leadership in the Workers' Compensation market." Loop upgrades Prog Holdings to buy from neutral Loop says it's getting bullish on shares of the fintech company. "We are upgrading PROG Holdings to a Buy from a Hold rating while raising our price target to $55 from $41, implying 26% upside from current levels." Citi initiates Clearwater Analytics as buy Citi called the stock an "attractive vertical software" play. "We are initiating coverage of Clearwater Analytics (CWAN) with a Buy rating and a $28 target price. Evercore ISI reiterates McDonald's as outperform Evercore raised its price target on the stock to $320 per share from $300. "We are increasingly bullish on McDonald's US business for 2025 with some relative market share trend improvement occurring recently which we believe will continue through 2H24." Piper Sandler initiates Rubrik as overweight Piper says the cloud-based data protection platform is a top idea. "We are initiating coverage of Rubrik with an Overweight rating and $42 PT , marking it as one of our top ideas." JPMorgan initiates OneStream as overweight JPMorgan says the software provider for the office of the CFO is well positioned for share gains. "We are initiating coverage of OneStream with an OW rating and $30 Dec-24 price target." BTIG upgrades Taylor Morrison to buy from neutral BTIG upgraded the homebuilder on valuation. "We are upgrading TMHC to Buy and establish a $78 target price based on 1.5x current book value/share after hosting virtual investor meetings with mgmt last week." Needham upgrades Onto Innovation to buy from neutral Needham says the semis company is undervalued. " ONTO (upgraded to Buy) is a classic example of underperforming in China but outperforming in ex-China. The setup going into next year favors names like ONTO, in our opinion." MoffettNathanson initiates Apple as neutral Moffett says AI is already priced in to Apple . "There are execution risks as well. To be clear, we have every expectation that Apple will execute its strategy very well. But that, too, is what is priced in. We are left only to decide whether the upgrade cycle that Apple Intelligence is crafted to trigger will be larger or smaller than anticipated (and priced in)."

Monday analyst calls: Even more upside ahead for Nvidia, tough outlook for HP

(This is CNBC Pro's live coverage of Monday analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) After a tough run lower in July, Nvidia has rebounded and still has more room to run according to analysts at Goldman Sachs. The firm upgraded the tech giant for its position as a leader in cloud computing. At the same time, Morgan Stanley has taken a dimmer look at HP, seeing limitations ahead for the computing company. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. Goldman remains buy-rated on Nvidia, cites chipmaker's 'robust competitive position in AI' Goldman Sachs remains bullish on Nvidia even as some investors have grown skeptical of the ballooning AI trade, saying the stock has a "compelling risk/reward" profile ahead of earnings. Analyst Toshiya Hari reiterated his buy rating on the chipmaker and kept the stock on his conviction list ahead of Nvidia's quarterly results scheduled for after the bell on Aug. 28. His $135 price target implies 8.4% potential upside for the stock, which has jumped more than 150% this year. NVDA YTD line Nvidia stock performance "Importantly, we believe customer demand across the large Cloud Service Providers and enterprises is strong and Nvidia's robust competitive position in AI/accelerated computing remains intact," Hari said in a Sunday note. Although the analyst noted that the reported delay in Nvidia's next-generation GPU Blackwell shipments could lead to some near-term volatility in its share price fundamentals, he expects the management commentary -- as well as supply-chain data points over the coming weeks -- to boost confidence in Nvidia's 2025 earnings power. -- Pia Singh HP has limited outperformance ahead, Morgan Stanley says Morgan Stanley thinks HP 's growth catalysts are now priced into the stock. Analyst Erik Woodring downgraded the computing company to equal weight from overweight in a Monday note, but kept his price target of $37, which implies about 8.5% potential upside for shares. This year, the stock has added 19.3%, just surpassing the broader market's gains. "We see limited upside to valuation with HPQ trading ~1 standard deviation above its historical average, and limited upside to FY25-26 estimates as the PC market recovery and improving print hardware trajectory are largely priced in," the analyst said. Although he remains a "PC market bull," Woodring expects a slightly weaker second half of the year for the PC market due to slow consumer PC and back-to-school demand and little signs of restocking demand from the PC and semi supply chain, among other factors. A softer second half adds to the risk of HP's personal systems business growing below normal seasonality levels in the following quarter, he said. -- Pia Singh