Wall Street Analysts' Top Picks and Market Outlook for Monday

Here are Monday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Nvidia, U.S. Steel, Microsoft, Costco, Dell, JetBlue, CrowdStrike & more

Here are Monday's biggest calls on Wall Street: JPMorgan reiterates Apple as overweight The firm is standing by its overweight rating on the stock heading into the iPhone event on Monday for Apple. "The 'unknowns' and watchpoints from the upcoming launch event will include pricing and shipping dates, release date of iOS 18 and additionally incremental features and integrations over the ones already highlighted at WWDC to reinforce higher engagement from developers as well as AI partners." Morgan Stanley downgrades Church & Dwight to equal weight from overweight Morgan Stanley said the stock's thesis has already "played out." "We are downgrading CHD to EW, with our prior OW thesis having essentially played out, and relative valuation now fair after a 28% run-up in the stock since the beginning of 2023, 2,400 bps above the median of our coverage group at 4%, and 1,500 bps above large cap staples peers." Deutsche Bank downgrades Colgate-Palmolive to hold from buy Deutsche said the stock's upside is already priced in. "We are today downgrading Colgate-Palmolive (CL) to a Hold rating (from Buy), even as we raise our target price to $109 on a roll-forward in time. In our view, CL continues to execute well, with potential paths to upside on both revenue and gross margin looking ahead into FY25." UBS upgrades Janus Henderson to neutral from sell UBS said management's new vision is going to "bear fruit" for the capital market company. "We are assuming coverage and upgrading JHG from Sell to Neutral, as recent results indicate improving fundamentals and early signs of success under CEO Ali Dibadj's new strategic vision." Jefferies upgrades Exlservice Holdings to buy from hold Jefferies said the analytics and digital solutions company is an AI beneficiary. "We also upgrade EXLS to Buy on industry leading growth and, counter intuitively, it being an AI beneficiary." Citi upgrades MarineMax to buy from neutral Citi said the boat dealer is a "strong play" in a Fed pivot. "We are upgrading shares of MarineMax from Neutral to Buy, while raising our target from $40 to $44. JPMorgan initiates Wave Life Sciences as overweight JPMorgan said the biotech company is well positioned. "We initiate coverage of Wave Life Sciences with an OW rating and Dec-25 PT of $10." JPMorgan reiterates Eli Lilly as overweight The firm said the biopharma company is well positioned for growth and is a best idea. "And while shares trade at a significant premium to peers, we see unprecedented growth for LLY over the next decade led by the company's incretin franchise as supporting the multiple." Morgan Stanley reiterates Microsoft as overweight Morgan Stanley said it's sticking with its overweight rating on the stock. "On August 21, Microsoft shared new disclosures regarding segment changes, metrics changes, and the corresponding re-allocation of an unchanged FQ1 outlook." Morgan Stanley reiterates Nvidia as overweight Morgan Stanley said it's sticking with its overweight rating on the stock. " NVIDIA gross margins are likely to come down slightly, but the concerns are overblown in our view." JPMorgan initiates GE Healthcare as neutral JPMorgan initiated the stock with a neutral and said it's not "fully comfortable with the margin of safety nor have material confidence in the timing of a China rebound and therefore initiate with a Neutral rating." "We are initiating on GE HealthCare with a Neutral rating and December 2025 price target of $90. Morgan Stanley reiterates Costco as overweight Morgan Stanley raised its price target on the stock to $950 per share from $855. "We believe COST's growth drivers are durable, and both historical performance as well as our view of the future of retail point to further upside." Morgan Stanley reiterates CrowdStrike as overweight Morgan Stanley said it's sticking with its overweight rating on the cyber security company. "We're tactically cautious into CRWD's investor day on 9/18." JPMorgan upgrades U.S. Steel & Nucor to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said in its upgrade Nucor that it has "strong product diversification." The firm also upgraded U.S. Steel and said investors should buy the dip. "Hence, we upgrade NUE to OW-rated and STLD to N-rated given strong product diversification. We also upgrad e X to OW-rated after the recent pullback represents an attractive buying opportunity on standalone valuation support." Citi reiterates Dell as buy Citi said it sees multiple positive catalysts ahead after the company's inclusion into the S & P 500. "Dell's shares rallied (+5%) post close on Friday September 6, following the announcement that the company will rejoin the S & P 500 index, beginning September 23." Bank of America upgrades JetBlue to neutral from underperform Bank of America said it sees an "improving backdrop" for the airline. "Air travel demand as measured by TSA throughput has been stable in recent weeks as domestic capacity continues to moderate, coinciding with falling fuel prices. While we view these recent trends as an industry tailwind, we see JBLU's positioning as further supported by ongoing self-help measures as demonstrated by last week's positive investor update." Bank of America upgrades Texas Capital to buy from underperform Bank of America said the bank holding company's shares are compelling. "On Friday, TCBI announced a series of transactions which help to narrow the gap vs. mgmt.'s 2025 financial targets (reiterated). Additional progress is still required but we believe this business update eliminates the bear thesis on the stock."

Jim Cramer's top 10 things to watch in the stock market Monday

My top 10 things to watch Monday, Sept. 9 1. Wall Street is headed for a higher open Monday after a bruising first week of September. Be sure to read my Sunday column for Investing Club subscribers where I give my latest thinking on the "Magnificent Seven" stocks. Also don't forget our September Monthly Meeting kicks off at noon ET Thursday. We'll introduce the newest Club stock Home Depot , which is so right for this market. 2. Apple 's iPhone launch event begins at 1 p.m. ET Monday. Does anyone care about artificial intelligence anymore? Seems fair to ask considering the recent trading in stocks lumped into the AI trade, including key enabler and fellow Club name Nvidia , which is down almost 14% in the past five sessions. 3. Did we just find out why Club holding Disney 's stock has been stuck at $90 a share? The New York Times published a deep dive into the power struggle at Disney that ensued as CEO Bob Iger returned to the top job almost two years ago, replacing his chosen successor Bob Chapek. The details in the story matter as Disney ramps up succession planning for Iger for a second time . 4. Norfolk Southern is investigating CEO Alan Shaw over allegations of an inappropriate workplace relationship, CNBC reported Sunday. The company later confirmed the probe into Shaw, who has been behind the turnaround at the great railroad. It's not clear whether the stock can still be bought here. Shaw has done a very strong job after the toxic train derailment in Ohio. 5. Shares of Dell Technologies and Palantir are getting a lift Monday on news that the companies will be added to the S & P 500 later this month. They're replacing Etsy and American Airlines , respectively. I don't think you need to sell Dell and Palantir into strength here. Citi analysts said Monday they see multiple catalysts ahead for Dell including the PC refresh cycle into next year. 6. JPMorgan upgraded Nucor and U.S. Steel to buy-equivalent ratings, arguing the risk/reward for steel stocks is improving after a period of weakening fundamentals. Analysts like the product diversification of Nucor, while saying that U.S. Steel's steep pullback on uncertainty over its takeover by Japan's Nippon Steel has created an attractive entry point. 7. Wells Fargo upped its price target on KB Home to $80 a share from $70, right around where the stock closed Friday. Analysts maintained their neutral rating on shares, which have climbed 27% so far this year. The summer was an especially strong period for the stock as interest rate cuts, which should spur more activity in the housing sector, moved closer into view. Home Depot and Stanley Black & Decker are two rate-cut plays we own for the Club. 8. Salesforce's $1.9 billion acquisition of data security startup Own does not wow analysts at Citi. While they said the all-cash deal looks responsible given Salesforce's efforts to reduce dilution to existing shareholders, they also suggested it could indicate its data analytics application is still "a work in progress." Citi's neutral view on the deal echoes the market's view on enterprise software overall. Not a much-loved group right now. 9. Morgan Stanley is worried in the short term about CrowdStrike 's stock ahead of the cybersecurity firm's investor day set for Sept. 18. Analysts said Wall Street estimates are still too high, even after CrowdStrike lowered full-year guidance late last month to reflect the impact of the global IT outage in July. Still, the firm maintained its buy-equivalent rating on the stock. 10. Boeing shares rose after the plane maker and a union representing around 33,000 of its workers reached a tentative labor agreement. The deal "seems like a good outcome" to help avoid a costly strike, JPMorgan analysts said. Sign up for my Top 10 Morning Thoughts on the Market email newsletter for free (See here for a full list of the stocks at Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED. 1. Wall Street is headed for a higher open Monday after a bruising first week of September. Be sure to read my Sunday column for Investing Club subscribers where I give my latest thinking on the "Magnificent Seven" stocks. Also don't forget our September Monthly Meeting kicks off at noon ET Thursday. We'll introduce the newest Club stock Home Depot, which is so right for this market. 2. Apple's iPhone launch event begins at 1 p.m. ET Monday. Does anyone care about artificial intelligence anymore? Seems fair to ask considering the recent trading in stocks lumped into the AI trade, including key enabler and fellow Club name Nvidia, which is down almost 14% in the past five sessions. 3. Did we just find out why Club holding Disney's stock has been stuck at $90 a share? The New York Times published a deep dive into the power struggle at Disney that ensued as CEO Bob Iger returned to the top job almost two years ago, replacing his chosen successor Bob Chapek. The details in the story matter as Disney ramps up succession planning for Iger for a second time. 4. Norfolk Southern is investigating CEO Alan Shaw over allegations of an inappropriate workplace relationship, CNBC reported Sunday. The company later confirmed the probe into Shaw, who has been behind the turnaround at the great railroad. It's not clear whether the stock can still be bought here. Shaw has done a very strong job after the toxic train derailment in Ohio. 5. Shares of Dell Technologies and Palantir are getting a lift Monday on news that the companies will be added to the S&P 500 later this month. They're replacing Etsy and American Airlines, respectively. I don't think you need to sell Dell and Palantir into strength here. Citi analysts said Monday they see multiple catalysts ahead for Dell including the PC refresh cycle into next year. 6. JPMorgan upgraded Nucor and U.S. Steel to buy-equivalent ratings, arguing the risk/reward for steel stocks is improving after a period of weakening fundamentals. Analysts like the product diversification of Nucor, while saying that U.S. Steel's steep pullback on uncertainty over its takeover by Japan's Nippon Steel has created an attractive entry point. 7. Wells Fargo upped its price target on KB Home to $80 a share from $70, right around where the stock closed Friday. Analysts maintained their neutral rating on shares, which have climbed 27% so far this year. The summer was an especially strong period for the stock as interest rate cuts, which should spur more activity in the housing sector, moved closer into view. Home Depot and Stanley Black & Decker are two rate-cut plays we own for the Club. 8. Salesforce's $1.9 billion acquisition of data security startup Own does not wow analysts at Citi. While they said the all-cash deal looks responsible given Salesforce's efforts to reduce dilution to existing shareholders, they also suggested it could indicate its data analytics application is still "a work in progress." Citi's neutral view on the deal echoes the market's view on enterprise software overall. Not a much-loved group right now. 9. Morgan Stanley is worried in the short term about CrowdStrike's stock ahead of the cybersecurity firm's investor day set for Sept. 18. Analysts said Wall Street estimates are still too high, even after CrowdStrike lowered full-year guidance late last month to reflect the impact of the global IT outage in July. Still, the firm maintained its buy-equivalent rating on the stock. 10. Boeing shares rose after the plane maker and a union representing around 33,000 of its workers reached a tentative labor agreement. The deal "seems like a good outcome" to help avoid a costly strike, JPMorgan analysts said.