Wall Street Analysts Bullish on Nvidia and Apple Amid AI Advancements

Here are Tuesday's biggest analyst calls: Nvidia, Tesla, Meta, Shopify, Broadcom, IBM, Microsoft & more

Here are Tuesday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Morgan Stanley names Taiwan Semiconductor a catalyst driven idea Morgan Stanley said it said shares of the semis company have more room to run. " TSMC is the major supplier of global AI chips, the business outlook for which will be read as having important implications for global AI demand." Wolfe initiates Meta, Amazon and Alphabet as outperform Wolfe initiated Meta, Amazon and Alphabet and said it's bullish on all three stocks. "Overall, we are selectively positive on the sector and we see pockets of opportunity." Jefferies reiterates Microsoft as buy Jefferies said it's bullish heading into Microsoft earnings next week. "We expec t MSFT to execute well in its seasonally strongest Q, and are fans of LT consolidation & AI story." Wells Fargo reiterates Goldman Sachs as overweight Wells raised its price target on Goldman Sachs following earnings to $550 per share from $504. "To us, more important than the slight 2Q24 top and bottom line beat are the expectations of a meaningful improvement in IB activity and the commensurate multiplier effect, esp. given much higher QoQ backlogs and continued client activity." Baird reiterates Tesla as outperform Baird said it's bullish heading into Tesla earnings next week. "We are buyers of the stock ahead of Q2 EPS. We like the setup and think there is a high probability of an EPS beat." Bernstein reiterates Nvidia as outperform Bernstein said the company's data center opportunity is huge. " NVDA (OP, $130): The datacenter opportunity is enormous, and still early, with material upside still possible, in our view." TD Cowen initiates Lamar Advertising as buy TD Cowen said it's bullish on shares of the billboard ad company. " Lamar is the largest US billboard company by a wide margin and well positioned to maintain leading market share as the category continues to grow." Loop downgrades Reddit to hold form buy Loop downgraded the stock mainly on valuation. " RDDT shares are now trading at 10x our 2025 estimated revenue and are approaching our $75 price target. Even assuming likely upside to our 2024 and 2025 estimates, we do not believe the upside reward meaningfully outweighs the downside risk." Goldman Sachs reiterates Amazon as buy Goldman raised its price target on the stock to $250 per share from $225. "While AMZN's shares have outperformed the S & P and Nasdaq over the past 12 months, performance has entirely been driven by higher profit estimates (during a period of outsized positive earnings revisions) as multiple compression was a headwind to equity returns." Piper Sandler downgrades Dollar Tree to neutral from overweight Piper said the company is "uniquely disadvantaged." "We are downgrading DLTR to Neutral and reducing our PT to $112. While DLTR shares have already been under significant pressure YTD at -27% - suggesting a lot of bad news is already priced in - we believe the company is uniquely disadvantaged regardless of the outcome of the Presidential election." Morgan Stanley upgrades Chegg to equal weight from underweight Morgan Stanley said the risk/reward is balanced for the education company. "Upgrading CHGG to Equal-weight - Market Expects Negative Estimate Revisions & Decelerating Negative Growth." Morgan Stanley upgrades Sweetgreen to equal weight from underweight Morgan Stanley said the restaurant chain's stock is starting to become compelling. "Upgrading SG to EW - we think sales/ops/automation can be near/medium term catalysts in contrast to our past concerns; balanced against valuation/TAM debate." Evercore ISI downgrades Yum and Starbucks to in line from outperform Evercore said in its downgrade of Yum and Starbucks that trends are softening. "For both Starbucks and Yum Brands, we are lowering domestic calendar 2H SSS estimates and are increasingly concerned about China consumer and competitive dynamics heading into 2025." Evercore ISI adds a tactical outperform on IBM Evercore said it's bullish heading into earnings next week. "We are adding IBM to our Tactical OP list ahead of their Jun-qtr results announcement on Wednesday July 24 after market close." Bank of America upgrades Shopify to buy from neutral Bank of America said Shopify has turned a corner. "Following years of declining margin, we believe that the company has turned a corner on balanced growth and margin, under new CFO Jeff Hoffmeister." Mizuho upgrades Datadog to outperform from neutral Mizuho said "momentum" is building for the stock. "We believe DDOG appears to be solidifying its position as a clear leader in the observability market with multiple product areas at scale and newer products growing rapidly." Mizuho downgrades Palantir to underperform from neutral Mizuho said the stock's valuation is too "rich." " PLTR has performed generally well in recent quarters. While encouraging, we remain concerned by the lack of visibility into PLTR's business, we note that some of the beats have been lower quality, and we have limited confidence in the co.'s ability to deliver consistently strong results." Jefferies upgrades Epam to buy from hold Jefferies says the software engineering company is "high quality asset." "We upgrade EPAM to Buy from Hold based on demand likely having bottomed, the medium-term opportunity from a recovery in spend, the longterm opportunity from AI, and an attractive valuation for a high-quality asset." Bank of America reiterates Broadcom as buy Bank of America called Broadcom a "high quality growth" company following its stock split. "We highlight AVGO remains one of the best and most consistent generator of cash at 45-50%+ of sales." Oppenheimer reiterates Integer Holdings as outperform Oppenheimer said the medical device company is defensive. "We are initiating coverage of Integer Medical with an Outperform rating and a $135 PT. Evercore ISI reiterates Netflix as outperform Evercore said it's cautious heading into earnings later this week but that it's sticking with its outperform rating. "The bar is high, and while we're long-term NFLX Bulls, we'd be cautious going into this print."

Here are Monday's biggest analyst calls: Nvidia, Apple, Tesla, Microsoft, Amazon, Advanced Micro Devices and more

Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Monday: Morgan Stanley reiterates Netflix as overweight Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Netflix to $780 per share from $700 before it reports results on Thursday. "We expect continued strong results from Netflix heading into 2H24, raise estimates and our PT to $780." Morgan Stanley reiterates Apple as overweight Morgan Stanley raised its price target on the iPhone maker to $273 per share from $216. The bank also said it's a new top pick in place of Dell. "Apple is now our Top Pick." Morgan Stanley downgrades BP to equal weight from overweight Morgan Stanley downgraded the oil major due to "weak earnings." " BP's disappointing trading update follows several quarters of weak earnings, putting 2025 guidance at risk. We lower our rating back to Equal-weight." TD Cowen reiterates Nvidia as buy TD raised its price target on the dominant maker of AI processors to $165 per share from $140. "Overall we see a product roadmap indicating a relentless pace of innovation across all aspects of the AI compute stack and reiterate Nvidia as a Top Pick, PT to $165." TD Cowen reiterates Advanced Micro Devices as buy TD Cowen raised its price target on AMD to $210 per share from $200. "Over the last 9 months, sentiment has moved (up and down) much more than fundamentals at AMD as Datacenter upside was until now masked by downside in other segments." Citi downgrades Electronic Arts to neutral from buy Citi downgraded the video game maker mainly on valuation. "Since fiscal 4Q24 results, EA's shares have risen ~15% on optimism around the upcoming release of College Football." BMO upgrades Teck Resources to outperform from market perform BMO said in its upgrade of the copper and zinc mining company that it sees a cleaner investment story. "Where we see opportunities for surprise are in potential future M & A -- we have seen many Canadian investors speculating on Teck making future acquisitions and some U.S. investors considering Teck as an acquisition candidate." Baird upgrades Carrier to outperform from neutral Baird sees numerous catalysts ahead for the air conditioning company. "We're also upgrading CARR to Outperform, as we see multiple catalysts that could play out over the next 12-18 months (asset sales, buybacks, reaccelerating residential trends) and see scope for longer-term multiple expansion." JPMorgan upgrades Solid Biosciences to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said in its upgrade of Solid Biosciences that the life sciences company has a solid pipeline. "Upgrading to Overweight; Pipeline Progress Should Bridge the Gap on Current Valuation Disconnect." Truist initiates Zeta Global as buy Truist called the marketing tech company is "unique." "We believe Zeta represents a potential disruptive force in the large and growing [marketing technology] space, serving enterprises with a unique combination of data, AI-powered intelligence, marketing cloud and activation capabilities." Baird initiates Rubrik at outperform Baird is bullish on shares of the cybersecurity company. "We're initiating with an Outperform rating and a $42 price target. Rubrik stands out as a top-tier data security vendor, seamlessly integrating backup and security amid surging data and cyber threats." Citi downgrades Bank of New York Mellon to neutral from buy Citi downgraded Bank of New York Mellon following earnings and a record high close, mainly citing valuation. "Mgmt. has made great strides towards their medium term targets, and we see stock as fairly valued at 2.5x [tangible book value] and as a result we are downgrading our rating to Neutral." Loop Capital upgrades Apple to buy from hold Loop says Apple can be a "Gen AI base camp" for the next several years. "We're upgrading to Buy and $300 PT as the work of Loop Capital Supply Chain Analyst John Donovan suggests that AAPL has an opportunity [over] the next few years to solidify itself as consumer's Gen AI 'base camp' of choice, just as it did for social media 15 years ago and digital content consumption 20 years ago." Morgan Stanley upgrades Alcon to equal weight from underweight Morgan Stanley upgraded the eye care company, saying "there can be no doubt that ALC has found other factors that have more than offset the risk[s]." "ALC moving up to Equal-weight as positives offset softer U.S. IOL [intraocular lense] business." Evercore ISI initiates a tactical underperform on Amazon Evercore said it likes the stock but the earnings bar may be too high. "As for our AMZN Tactical Underperform call, here's the nuance. We continue to like AMZN as a long with a $225 PT. But the 28% YTD share price outperformance is raising the bar for Q2 EPS results." Wells Fargo reiterates Tesla as underperform Wells says Tesla fundamentals remain too "weak." "We maintain our UW on TSLA. While the stock rose ~40% (S & P +4%) over the last month, mostly driven by 'razzle-dazzle' headlines as most fundamentals remain weak. We raise our Q2 EPS on deliveries & energy, but lower our FY24E on tariff & pricing." Morgan Stanley reiterates Microsoft as overweight Morgan Stanley said it has "increased clarity" on AI monetization. "Our CIO survey results showcase Microsoft's leading GenAI beneficiary position, but the investor debate on the scale of capex investments versus the magnitude and timing of the GenAI revenue opportunity has risen." Susquehanna downgrades Caesars to negative from neutral Susquehanna says the effect of "underinvestment" is now obvious in Caesars shares. "We have cut our CZR rating to Negative given our opinion it has 'over-yielded' its properties over the past three years, leading to a competitively inferior set of assets in [Las Vegas] (vs. MGM) and regionally (vs. PENN) without any relevant digital prospects to offset." Bank of America reiterates Amazon as buy Bank of America said it's bullish heading into Prime Day on Tuesday for Amazon. "We estimate Prime Day could generate $13bn in [gross merchandise value]." Evercore ISI initiates Datadog at outperform Evercore said it's bullish on the cloud scale applications company. "After treading water for two years, we believe DDOG has matured to a point (and grown into its valuation) so that it can become a more consistent compounder over the next 12-24 months." Citi names KLA Corp. a top pick Citi raised its price target on the semiconductor equipment maker to $980 from $760. "We raise our TP on Buy-rated KLAC to $980 to reflect outsized leading-edge WFE spend exposure, which is expected to grow mid to high teens in 2025, and management's confidence in the 2026 target model." Morgan Stanley downgrades Rocket Lab to equal weight from overweight Morgan Stanley said it sees a "limited catalyst path" for the space company. "We downgrade Rocket Lab (RKLB) to EW from OW and lower our PT to $6 from $8 as we see a more limited catalyst path and grow more cautious re: [Department of Defense] Space spend."

Monday's analyst calls: Apple upgraded on AI push, Nvidia price target increased

(This is CNBC Pro's live coverage of Monday's analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) A bullish call on Apple and more optimism on Nvidia were among the biggest calls hitting Wall Street on Monday. Loop Capital upgraded Apple to buy from hold and TD Cowen increased its price target on Nvidia to $165 per shares. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 6:01 am Loop Capital upgrades Apple, predicts iPhone maker to become AI 'base camp of choice' Apple's forthcoming artificial intelligence suite and ensuing integration into future iPhone's could help the stock surge more than 30%, according to Loop Capital. Analyst John Donovan posits that Apple's current opportunity is "an opportunity the next few years to solidify itself as consumer's Gen AI "base camp" of choice, just as it did for social media 15 years ago (with iPhone) and digital content consumption 20 years ago (with iPod)." Donovan upgraded the iPhone maker to buy from hold on Monday, and increased his price target to $300 per share from $180. Apple closed at $230.54 per share on Friday and has climbed about 20% in 2024. "While we see all things 'Gen AI' related as the key driver, other contributing dynamics include potential for an accentuated refresh cycle from amplified Covid demand and a new 'iPhone platform' in 2025 with the iPhone 17," Donovan said. -- Brian Evans 5:45 a.m. TD Cowen raises Nvidia price target, forecasts 'sustained' Blackwell demand TD Cowen expects demand for Nvidia's artificial intelligence systems Blackwell and Hopper to remain robust and boost its stock price. "One thing remains the same, fundamental strength at NVIDIA," analyst Matthew Ramsay said. "In fact, our checks continue to point to upside in datacenter as demand for Hopper/Blackwell-based AI systems continues to exceed supply." The analyst upped his price target on the AI darling to $165 per share from $140 and reiterated his buy rating. The firm's forecast calls for about 28% upside from Friday's $129.24 close. Nvidia has soared 161% in 2024. "Overall we see a product roadmap indicating a relentless pace of innovation across all aspects of the AI compute stack," the analyst added. Ramsay also called for the company to beat Wall Street's second-quarter estimates on August 15 and for Nvidia to raise its outlook thanks to strong datacenter demand. -- Brian Evans