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☆ Dow drops more than 600 points on inflation and growth concerns, heads for biggest drop of the year: Live updates
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Economists polled by Dow Jones forecast GDP growth would come in at 2.4%. Tech tumbleThe lackluster GDP added further pressure to an already-tense market contending with concerns over a pullback in growth among technology earnings. "This report was the worst of both worlds: economic growth is slowing and inflationary pressures are persisting," wrote Chris Zaccarelli, investment chief at Independent Advisor Alliance. Investors are hoping the PCE report, which is the Fed's preferred measure of inflation, will show an improvement in pricing pressures after the March consumer inflation report came in hotter than expected. — Brian Evans8:58 a.m.: 10-year Treasury yield jumps to highest level since NovemberThe 10-year Treasury yield broke above 4.7% following the GDP report, hitting its highest level since November.

Persons: Johannes Eisele, Dow Jones, Chris Larkin, Morgan Stanley, Meta, Thierry Wizman, UnitedHealth, Alex Harring, Mark Zuckerberg's, Hakyung Kim, Fred Imbert, Chris Zaccarelli, Sarah Min, — Brian Evans, — Jesse Pound Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, AFP, Getty, Dow Jones, Caterpillar, IBM, Nasdaq, Dow, Federal Reserve, Federal, Traders, Meta, Business Machines, FX, Macquarie, Microsoft, Amazon, Merck, York Stock Exchange, Independent, Alliance, Investors, Treasury, Gross

Meanwhile, Canaccord Genuity initiated Coty with a buy rating and a price target that implied more than 30% upside. The firm initiated coverage of the restaurant chain stock with an equal weight rating and a $58 per share price target. The firm upgraded shares of the health technology company to buy from hold in a Sunday note and increased its target price to $178 from $140. The firm downgraded the computer peripherals maker to underweight from equal weight and lowered its price target to $75 per share from $85. The firm initiated coverage of the online forum stock with an equal weight rating and a $45 per share price target.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Canaccord Genuity, Coty, Cava's, Jeffrey A, Bernstein, — Brian Evans, Jensen Huang, Atif Malik, Raimo Lenschow, Brian Evans, Masimo, MASI, Rick Wise, Logitech Morgan Stanley, Morgan Stanley's, Erik Woodring, Reddit, Morgan, Brian Nowak, Nowak, Canaccord, Susan Anderson, Anderson, COTY, Fred Imbert Organizations: CNBC, Barclays, Cava, Citi, Nvidia Citi, Nvidia, NVIDIA, Microsoft, Logitech, Coty, COTY Locations: Friday's, Cava, Taiwan, U.S

A major U.S. bank and a legacy tech name were the focus of some of Tuesday's biggest analyst calls. The firm upgraded the apparel stock to overweight from neutral, and raised its price target to $31 per share from $26. The firm resumed coverage of the legacy tech company with an overweight rating and a $58 per share price target. He reiterated his $64 price target on the stock, implying upside of 10.7%. Additionally, he sees "greater risk to the achievement of our price target as the Fed rate cutting cycle begin."

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Matthew Boss, — Brian Evans, Goldman Sachs, Molson Coors Goldman Sachs, Molson, Molson Coors, Bonnie Herzog, Bud Light, Brian Evans, Goldman, Mark Delaney, Cisco, Morgan Stanley's, David Rochester, Fred Imbert Organizations: CNBC, Cisco Systems, JPMorgan, Eagle Outfitters JPMorgan, American Eagle Outfitters, Eagle Outfitters, Molson Coors, Molson, TAP, Tesla, Cisco, Wells Locations: U.S, Wells, Americas, EVs, Wells Fargo, 2H24, Rochester

Other analysts saw upside for Coinbase and DoorDash along with Meta Platforms, as the social network builds advertising market share. The firm initiated coverage of DoorDash stock with a buy rating and a $165 per share price target. The analyst reiterated his overweight rating on Tesla stock but lowered his price target slightly to $310 per share from $320. The firm reiterated a buy rating on Meta stock and raised its price target to $585 per share from $550 on Thursday. Meta stock has surged more than 43% in 2024.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Pamela Kaufman, Kaufman, — Jesse Pound, Mark Zgutowicz, — Brian Evans, Oliver Wintermantel, Wintermantel, Brian Evans, Morgan Stanley's Adam Jonas, Morgan Stanley's, Adam Jonas, Tesla's, Jonas, Tesla, — Brian Evans TSLA, Oppenheimer, Coinbase, Owen Lau, Jefferies, Brent Thill, outgrow Amazon's, Meta, Thill, Erika Najarian, Najarian, BofA's Organizations: CNBC, Jefferies, Bank of America, UBS, Big Four, Meta, Hershey, ISI, Tesla Network, 2Q, Amazon, UBS downgrades Bank of America Locations: Big Four U.S, Hershey, cryptocurrency, Wednesday's, 2H24

Wells Fargo raised its price target on Bank of America, now calling for more than 15% upside. Evercore ISI hiked its price target on the consumer products company to $150 per share from $133. Power has a $90 price target on the cloud software stock, implying shares can rally 44.5% in the next year. Forbes' $425 price target implies the stock can climb 43.1% from Wednesday's ending price. Analyst Mike Mayo raised his price target for the bank stock by $4 to $44, implying a 16.4% upside over Wednesday's close.

Persons: Wells Fargo, Clark, Javier Escalante, Escalante, KMB, — Jesse Pound, Jefferies, Portillo's, Andy Barish, Barish, — Brian Evans, Jason Gursky, Wednesday's, shakeup, Gursky, Alex Harring, Baird, William Power, — Alex Harring, Steven Forbes, Forbes, RH, BofA, Cintas, Heather Balsky, Balsky, Robinhood, Alex Markgraff, Markgraff, TD Cowen, John Blackledge, Grindr, Blackledge, It's, it's, Estee Lauder, Bryan Spillane, Spillane, Estee, Tom Ford, Joseph Greff, Greff, FanDuel, Vikram Gandhi, Gandhi, Wells, Bank of America Wells, Mike Mayo, Mayo, Goliath Organizations: CNBC, Bank of America, HSBC, Allstate, Kimberly, Staples, ISI, Citi, Boeing, Alaska Airlines, Dow Jones, UC, Guggenheim, RH's, FactSet, Estee Lauder Bank of America, JPMorgan, Allstate Allstate Locations: Portillo's, Five9, Estee, New Jersey, Wednesday's

Bernstein lowered its price target on Tesla, calling for 30% downside. Meanwhile, Mizuho raised its price target on Micron, citing a growing AI opportunity. The firm reiterated a buy rating on the computer storage and memory stock on Monday and raised its price target to $130 per share from $124. — Brian Evans 5:53 a.m.: Bernstein cuts Tesla price target Longtime Tesla bear Toni Sacconaghi lowered his price target on the EV maker to $120 from $150, citing growing demand constraints. TSLA YTD mountain TSLA ytd — Fred Imbert

Persons: Bernstein, Mizuho, Jason Getz, — Brian Evans, Toni Sacconaghi, Tesla, Sacconaghi, Fred Imbert Organizations: CNBC, Micron, Mizuho, Mizuho Securities Locations: China, Europe

However, the company also said it sees single-digit revenue growth for fiscal 2025. UBS reiterated a neutral rating alongside its $310 per share price target on Salesforce, or more than 3% upside ahead. Product revenue growth of 33% year over year in the fourth-quarter was also below Wall Street estimates. Murphy noted there's a disconnect between what Barrick has accomplished in the past five years and its stock price. "We see asset disposals and cost improvements as likely to reverse share price weakness as the market recognizes the strength of the asset portfolio."

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Snowflake, Jefferies, TD Cowen downgrades Macy's TD Cowen, Oliver Chen, Macy's, — Brian Evans, Brad Sills, Brian Evans, AutoNation Morgan Stanley, AutoNation, Morgan Stanley's, Mike Manley, Adam Jonas, Salesforce, Amy Weaver, Goldman Sachs, Kash Rangan, Bank of America's Brad Sills, Morgan Stanley downgrades Snowflake, Snowflake's, Frank Slootman, Keith Weiss, Matthew Murphy, Murphy, Fred Imbert Organizations: CNBC, Barrick, Mining, Bank of America, of America, TAM, Bank of America's, UBS, StreetAccount, Jefferies, Barrick Gold, Newmont, Newcrest Locations: Africa, East

A railroad stock and a fast food giant were in focus Wednesday among early analyst calls. Barclays raised its rating on Norfolk Southern to a buy-equivalent rating, and his new price target calls for about 20% upside. The firm downgraded the retailer to reduce from hold and maintained a $323 per share price target. — Brian Evans 5:44 a.m.: Barclays upgrades Norfolk Southern Norfolk Southern could see a shake-up to its leadership, and Barclays thinks these changes could lead to strong gains for the stock. He also hiked his price price target to $305 from $255.

Persons: SolarEdge's, Morgan Stanley, Andrew Percoco, Goldman Sachs, Brian Lee, SEDG, Vikram Bagri said.Bagri, — Brian Evans, Piper Sandler, Piper Sandler's, Rob D, Owens, Brian Evans, Daniela Bretthauer, John Ivankoe, Brandon Oglenski, Ancora, It's, Alan Shaw, Oglenski, Fred Imbert Organizations: CNBC, Barclays, Norfolk, JPMorgan, Palo Alto Networks, billings, Palo Alto, HSBC downgrades Home, Depot, HSBC, Home Depot, JPMorgan downgrades, Norfolk Southern, NSC Locations: Wendy's, Norfolk Southern Norfolk Southern, Norfolk Southern, Norfolk

The firm downgraded the cosmetics stock to hold from buy but maintained $530 per share price target. The firm maintained a neutral rating alongside a $13 per share price target, implying nearly 10% upside ahead. The firm is standing by an underperform rating on Robinhood stock with a $12 per share price target. HSBC downgraded the software stock to hold but maintained its $22 per share price target. First Solar shares have lagged in 2024, losing 11.6% amid concern that Federal Reserve rate cuts may not arrive until later than anticipated.

Persons: Ulta, Anthony Chukumba, Chukumba, Brian Evans, Christopher Danely, — Brian Evans, Robinhood's, Robinhood, LSEG, JPMorgan's Kenneth Worthington, Goldman Sachs, Will Nance, America's Craig Siegenthaler, Wells, Biogen, Mohit Bansal, Stephen Bersey, Christopher Dendrinos, Dendrinos, Fred Imbert Organizations: CNBC, U.S, Wednesday, RBC, HSBC, Palantir, Citi, Revenue, Bank, America's, Technologies, RBC Capital Markets, Enphase Energy, Shoals Technologies Locations: 2024e, Tuesday's, U.S

Shanker also raised his price target to $80 from $75, suggesting nearly 34% downside from Friday's close. — Spencer Kimball 8:16 a.m.: Loop Capital upgrades Corteva, touts growth acceleration in 2025 Corteva's stronger-than-expected 2024 full-year guidance will jumpstart a period of strong growth, according to Loop Capital. The firm upgraded the agricultural chemicals company to buy from hold and increased its price target to $65 from $57. Analyst Jay Sole upgraded Urban to neutral from sell and upped his 12-month price target by $20 to $41. Kaufman's $183 price target indicates roughly 6.3% downside for shares, which have fallen more than 18% over the past year.

Persons: headwinds, Morgan Stanley downgrades XPO, Morgan Stanley, Ravi, Shanker, — Michelle Fox, Julien Dumoulin, Smith, Duke's, — Spencer Kimball, Chris Kapsch, Kapsch, Brian Evans, Cassie Chan, they'll, Chan, —, Jay Sole, URBN, Sole, Urban's, — Pia Singh, Filippo Falorni, Falorni, Hershey, Stanley, Pamela Kaufman, Kaufman's, Hershey's, Kaufman, Graham Doyle, Doyle, Piper Sandler, David Amsellem, Amsellem, Amsellam, Christopher Horvers, Jan, Horvers, Fred Imbert, Dan Levy, Levy Organizations: CNBC, Barclays, Automotive, JPMorgan, Corp, Bank of America, Bank of America downgrades Duke Energy, Duke Energy, Duke, Wall, America, UBS, Urban Outfitters, Free People, Urban, Citi, PepsiCo, Citi Research, Pepsi, Hershey, GE Healthcare Technologies, UBS GE Healthcare Technologies, Pharmaceutical, Teva Pharmaceutical, Federal, Barclays downgrades Rivian, Rivian Automotive, North American EV Locations: Bank of America downgrades, GEHC, David Amsellem U.S

The firm named the stock a top pick for 2024 and reiterated an overweight rating alongside a $105 per share price target. The firm downgraded the health insurance stock to neutral from buy, and lowered its price target to $370 per share from $530. Sur reiterated an underweight rating on Intel stock alongside a $37 per share price target, or more than 25% downside moving forward. Deutsche Bank's Ross Seymour reiterated a hold rating on the stock as well as a $42 per share price target, implying about 15% downside. Analysts Benjamin Black upgraded the Snapchat parent company to buy from hold and raised his price target to $19 from $10.

Persons: Oppenheimer, Wells, Timur Braziler, — Brian Evans, AJ Rice, Brian Evans, Piper Sandler downgrades, Bancorp Piper Sandler, Piper Sandler's, Scott Siefers, Harlan Sur, Sur, America's Vivek Arya, Arya, Deutsche Bank's Ross Seymour, Seymour, Owen Lau, Lau, Coinbase, Analysts Benjamin Black, Black, Fred Imbert Organizations: CNBC, Deutsche Bank, UBS downgrades Humana, UBS, Humana, Piper Sandler downgrades U.S, Bancorp, U.S . Bancorp, Intel, . Bank, America's, GM, Deutsche, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Analysts Locations: Wells Fargo, Puerto Rican, ., Coinbase, Thursday's, China

Oppenheimer downgraded Home Depot and Lowe's to perform from outperform, cutting its price targets on both names. On a more upbeat note, Goldman Sachs upgraded Brazilian payments stock StoneCo, calling for more gains ahead after a strong 2023. "While lululemon's fundamentals are undoubtedly best-in-class, we do not see the valuation as compelling enough for us to recommend investors buy at current share price levels." Oppenheimer's forecast implies roughly 5% downside moving forward for Home Depot stock and 5% upside for Lowe's. Shares of Home Depot have added 5% so far this year while Lowe's stock has slipped more than 1%.

Persons: Oppenheimer, Lowe's, Goldman Sachs, Hunt, Thomas Wadewitz, Brian Evans, Morgan Stanley, Morgan Stanley's, Lisa De Neve, — Brian Evans, Lululemon, LULU 1Y, Anne, Laure Bismuth, Brian Nagel, Tito Labarta, Labarta, — Fred Imbert Organizations: CNBC, UBS, HSBC downgrades, HSBC, Lowe's, Home Depot Locations: Hunt, J.B, LULU, Brazil

Early analyst calls on Wednesday included a downgrade to a legacy automaker and a rerating for a crypto mining stock that won big last year. "As we have parsed through our numbers, we think the road to recovery will be tougher for SEDG from the perspectives of top line, gross margins, and market share," analyst Christine Cho said. Morgan Stanley stock has slipped nearly 8% this year. The firm downgraded Ford to neutral from buy in a Tuesday note and reiterated a $12 per share price target. Ford shares have struggled this year, losing 6%.

Persons: BTIG, Wall, Joseph Spak, Spak, — Brian Evans, Barclays downgrades SolarEdge, Christine Cho, Cho, SolarEdge, JPMorgan downgrades Morgan Stanley, Morgan Stanley, Ted Pick, Kian Abouhossein, UBS downgrades Ford, Ford, Jim Farley's, Gregory Lewis, Lewis, MARA 1Y, MARA, Fred Imbert Organizations: CNBC, UBS, Ford Motor, Barclays downgrades, Barclays, SolarEdge, Enphase Energy, JPMorgan, Ford, U.S, General Motors, Crypto, Marathon, Marathon Digital, BTC Locations: U.S, Tuesday's

☆ Monday's analyst calls: 30% upside for GM, Carvana upgrade, Anheuser-Busch downgrade
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

So far this morning there is a big auto stock upgrade and a big beverage downgrade, among other calls. Morgan Stanley dimmed its view on Citizens Financial , downgrading the stock to equal weight from overweight but maintained its $31 per share price target, implying roughly 9% upside. The firm made the chipmaker its top large cap pick on Monday, and reiterated an overweight rating alongside a $620 per share price target. The analyst raised his price target from $25 to $40, which represents 14% upside. "We continue to see ABI's broadly EM focused sales exposure as attractive combined with the company's market leading market share positions," analyst Mitch Collett said.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Manan, Brian Evans, Piper Sandler, Piper Sandler's, Harsh Kumar, Kumar, Wells, Ike Boruchow, Boruchow, — Brian Evans, JPMorgan's Rajat Gupta, Carvana, John Melloy, Bud Light, Mitch Collett, Vijay Rakesh, Rakesh Organizations: CNBC, East West Bancorp, Citizens Financial, Citizens, West Bancorp, Nvidia, TAM, Wells, JPMorgan Carvan, JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank downgrades Anheuser, Busch, Deutsche Bank, Anheuser, Busch InBev, Staples, Beverages, Mizuho Securities Mizuho Securities, General, United Auto Workers, GM, Vehicles, UAW Locations: China, Wells, Friday's, North America, N.A

Goldman Sachs raised its price target on General Motors after the stock's best day since early 2021. The bank reiterated a buy rating as well as a top pick label, accompanied by a $300 per share price target. Goldman Sachs also maintained its buy rating and increased its target price to $345 per share from $340. To be sure, it maintained its $16 per share price target, which implies more than 3% downside from Wednesday's $16.52 close. — Brian Evans 5:45 a.m ET: Goldman raises GM price target Goldman Sachs analyst Mark Delaney increased his price target on General Motors to $45 from $42 after a series of bullish moves by the auto giant.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, 31.6x, Eric Heath, Wells, Andrew Nowinski, — Brian Evans, José Neves, Marvin Fong, Brian Evans, Salesforce, Brad Sills, Kash Rangan, Jefferies, Snapchat, Pinterest, James Heaney, Meta Marshall, Mark Delaney, Delaney, Fred Imbert Organizations: CNBC, General Motors, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Wall, Bank of America, SNAP, Goldman, GM Locations: Okta, America

Wednesday's batch of analyst research included bullish calls on a credit card giant and a sports betting name. The firm downgraded the pharmaceutical stock to neutral from overweight and lowered its price target to $55 per share from $68. The bank downgraded the Canadian Solar to underweight from neutral in a Wednesday note and lowered its price target to $22 per share from $32. The analyst noted that the guidance given confirms his bull case for the stock, which consists of a $70 price target. The bank initiated coverage of the credit card giant with an overweight rating and a $184 per share price target — which implies more than 17% upside from Tuesday's close.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Guggenheim, John DiFucci, there's, Brian Evans, Cantor Fitzgerald downgrades, Myers Squibb Cantor Fitzgerald, We've, Olivia Brayer, Myers Squibb, — Brian Evans, Julien Dumoulin, Smith, Wells, Omar Mejias, Mark Strouse, DraftKings, Stephen Grambling, Grambling, Fred Imbert, millennials, Z, Gen, Terry Ma Organizations: CNBC, Barclays, American Express, Guggenheim, FactSet, Myers Squibb, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Warner Music Group, accel, JPMorgan, American Locations: Bristol, Generac, Europe, CSIQ

☆ Monday's analyst calls: PC stock upgrade, Jefferies sees steady growth for consumer giant
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Fred Imbert | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Jefferies initiated Colgate-Palmolive with a buy rating, citing a stabilization in market share loss. The firm initiated coverage of DevOps stock on Monday with a buy rating and a $56 per share price target. "In short, we think GTLB is well positioned to gain share with its platform offering in a rapidly growing ~$40B DevSecOps target market," analyst Gray Powell said. The firm initiated coverage of the consumer giant with a buy rating and a $87 per share price target in a Sunday note. Analyst Kaumil Gajrawala said the company's market share losses from the height of the pandemic have stabilized, allowing Colgate-Palmolive to enter a period of steady growth.

Persons: Jefferies, Edward Jones, Oracle Edward Jones, Oracle's, Logan Purk, Purk, Brian Evans, Gray Powell, — Brian Evans, Bernstein, TripAdvisor, Richard Clarke, Asiya Merchant, Kaumil Gajrawala, Gajrawala Organizations: CNBC, Colgate, Palmolive, Citi, HP Inc, Oracle, Google, Amazon Web Services, Jefferies, ~$

The firm upgraded shares to neutral from sell in a Wednesday note, and slightly increased its target price to $5.50 from $5. The firm upgraded the offshore drilling company to overweight from equal weight in a Thursday note and raised its price target to $106 from $84. The bank reiterated a buy rating on Disney with a $120 per share price target, or about 42% upside from Wednesday's $84.50 close. Bank of America's Jessica Reif Ehrlich also reiterated a buy rating on Disney, albeit with a $110 per share price target, which implies more than 30% upside. The bank initiated coverage of the electric vehicle giant with a reduce rating accompanied by a $146 per share price target.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Ygal Arounian, — Brian Evans, Bud Light, Carlos Laboy, BUD, Brian Evans, EBITDA, Stephanie Yee, Parker, Banks, Parker Hannifin, Nicole DeBlase, Eddie Kim, Brett Feldman, Bank of America's Jessica Reif Ehrlich, Bob Iger's, Michael Montani, Greg Melich, — Fred Imbert, Tesla, Michael Tyndall Organizations: CNBC, Tesla, HSBC, ISI, Analysts, Citi, Anheuser, Busch InBev HSBC, Busch InBev, Middle America, InBev, BUD, JPMorgan, Montrose Environmental, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, Disney, Bank of America's Locations: China, U.S, North America, Montrose, 3Q23, EBITDA, Valaris

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