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☆ Top Wall Street analysts like these stocks for the long haul
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Tipranks.Com Staff | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Here are five stocks picked by Wall Street's top analysts, according to TipRanks, a service that ranks analysts based on their past performance. Costco recently reported better-than-anticipated net sales growth of 6.9% and comparable sales growth of 5.6% for the four weeks ended Jan. 29. Benedict's convictions can be trusted, given his 55th position out of more than 8,300 analysts in the TipRanks database. Amazon's first-quarter sales growth outlook of 4% to 8% reflects further deceleration compared with the 9% growth in the fourth quarter. Rakesh sees a "modest downside" to Wall Street's consensus expectation for the 2023 revenue growth for Amazon's retail business.

☆ Analysts bail on Lyft after latest earnings, say Uber is cementing its place as leader
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Lyft shares fell more than 30% during Friday premarket trading as traders weighed a weaker-than-expected forecast from the ridesharing company in its most recent earnings report. LYFT 1D mountain Lyft shares tumble For market observers on Wall Street, that was hardly a good enough explanation. As of Thursday's close, Lyft shares jumped more than 47%, following a 74% drop in 2022. While the analyst did not have a price target available, his previous target in January was $24 for the stock. Lastly, Loop Capital's Rob Sanderson downgraded Lyft to hold from buy, and dropped the price target to $10 from $17.

☆ Lyft stock is getting punished, down more than 30% after weak guidance
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The Lyft logo is shown on the screen at the Nasdaq offices in Times Square on March 29, 2019 in New York. Shares of Lyft are set to drop 30% Friday, a day after the company reported guidance for its first quarter of 2023 that fell short of analyst expectations. Lyft posted a revenue beat of $1.18 billion for the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to the $1.16 billion analysts were expecting, according to Refinitiv. "Our positive thesis on Lyft had been based on post-pandemic recovery combined with an accelerated shift to profit through cost rationalization. However, rideshare is now approaching full recovery in the US, but Lyft is not," JPMorgan's Doug Anmuth said.

☆ Heavyweight tech battle: How Microsoft and Alphabet stack up against each other in the A.I. war
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

"It's a new day in search," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said Tuesday during an AI event held at the company's headquarters, saying that the "race starts today." So far, Microsoft is making significant headway within AI and rising in popularity in the tech world. Alphabet, he added, "got beaten to market by Microsoft" despite its investments in the space. Alphabet Microsoft may be taking the lead on AI in the near term, but investors shouldn't sleep on Alphabet just yet. "We believe GOOGL has the AI tech and scale to maintain/grow its leading user base," said Morgan Stanley's Brian Nowak in a Thursday note.

☆ Goldman Sachs likes Pinterest even after Q4 revenue miss, says long-term catalysts still in place
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Hakyung Kim | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The company's long-term revenue outlook is also promising for investors, according to the analyst. The analyst also noted that management's "focus on reprioritizing investments" could help Pinterest grow margins and long-term profitability. Sheridan maintained his price target of $30 per share on Pinterest, implying a 9.2% upside from the stock's closing price of $27.48 as of Monday. He reiterated his neutral rating on Pinterest shares and issued a price target of $26 per share, implying downside of 5.4%. JPMorgan lowered its price target to $27 from $28 and maintained its neutral rating for the stock.

☆ Analysts overlook Alphabet's disappointing quarter, cite confidence in AI push as ChatGPT threat grows
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Analysts are willing to overlook Alphabet' s disappointing quarter in lieu of its artificial intelligence push and focus on costs. Shares of the search giant fell more than 4% after the company missed Wall Street's expectations for the fourth quarter. But, analysts lauded the company's focus on artificial intelligence as it faces mounting pressures from popularized Microsoft-backed chatbot ChatGPT . Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said the company plans to release its LaMDA language model with search components "very soon." GOOGL 1D mountain GOOGL falls after earnings Analysts also cited some confidence in the company's push to reengineer its cost structure and reduce inefficiencies.

☆ Analysts say buy Amazon for the long term, despite recession concerns and slowing AWS growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

But even with these near-term headwinds, analysts remain confident in the long-term thesis for the e-commerce giant and its growth trajectory. The results from Amazon come on the heels of a difficult 2022 that saw the e-commerce bellwether shed roughly half its value and post its slowest year of growth . At the same time, revenue for its Amazon Web Services division fell short of Wall Street's estimates and showed slowing sales growth as business spending dwindles. Moderating growth within the company's cloud unit marked one of the biggest concerns for analysts, but nowhere near a shock. Revenue growth came in at 20% for the quarter, and below the already slow 27.5% growth rate the company experienced in third quarter.

☆ Meta's short video Reels may finally be ready to challenge TikTok, analysts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Improving Reels engagement is boosting analysts' confidence in the short-form video platform's ability to compete with TikTok. META 1D mountain Meta Platforms shares surged more than 28% Thursday, on pace for their best day since 2013. Looking ahead, some analysts believe that Reels plays a dominant role in improving Facebook's efficiency. Easing TikTok tensions As for TikTok, some analysts say Reels is in position to overtake the short-form video leader that finds itself under increasing pressure as calls for a nationwide bans grow. JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth views improving Reels engagement trends and artificial intelligence investments as a way to temper threats from TikTok.

☆ Analysts laud Meta Platforms' focus on efficiency, say the stock is transitioning from 'doghouse to pedestal'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Meta Platforms is turning its focus toward efficiency, and analysts seem to like the narrative shift from the battered technology giant. "Our management theme for 2023 is the 'Year of Efficiency' and we're focused on becoming a stronger and more nimble organization." META YTD mountain Meta Platforms shares have already surged 27% this year Analysts also seemed to praise the company's move to lower its outlook for capital expenditures and operating expenses. The word "efficiency" came up over 25 times on the company's earnings call, according to Morgan Stanley's Brian Nowak. The analyst has an outperform rating on Meta and hiked his price target to $275, which implies upside of nearly 80%.

☆ UBS downgrades Snap after earnings, says rising competition will keep pressure on stock
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Hakyung Kim | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Snap may have trouble keeping up with ever-rising competition going forward, according to UBS. He also reiterated a price target of $10, which implies downside of 13.5% from Tuesday's close, and trimmed his 2023 revenue outlook on Snap. "We see increasing competition everywhere," analyst Lloyd Walmsley wrote in a client note on Wednesday. Given the magnitude of competition and Snap's relatively subscale nature, we see risk to revenue acceleration. Other analysts also grew more cautious on the stock after Snap's latest quarterly report.

☆ Here's what analysts think about Netflix's CEO change
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Reed Hastings' departure as co-CEO does little to change how analysts view Netflix , or the company's ability to accomplish its long-term strategies, analysts say. The streaming giant announced Thursday that founder Reed Hastings would give up his role after more than two decades and serve as executive chairman. The move came along with quarterly results that fell short of earnings estimates but showed subscriber numbers that far surpassed expectations . "The company's focus, in our view, has always been an underappreciated differentiator and we expect that focus to remain under new leadership." Despite the title change and a step back from day-to-day operations, analysts anticipate that Hastings will continue to be involved in longer-term decision-making.

☆ Netflix's subscriber growth signals better times ahead, but some analysts say it's still too early to buy
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Netflix 's strong fourth-quarter subscriber growth and solid content slate may signal the start of better times for the streaming stock, but it may be too early to buy up shares, according to some Wall Street analysts. Netflix reported 7.66 million adds, compared to 4.57 million subscribers expected by StreetAccount estimates. Analysts view the company's new advertising tier and its content slate as key to Netflix's financial performance in the months ahead. Since reporting second-quarter earnings results, Netflix shares have risen more than 46%. On the leadership front, Supino and analysts view the CEO transition as a positive for the company.

☆ Internet analysts are focusing on one big stock as their favorite 2023 comeback story
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

And Facebook parent Meta Platforms could be the next battered stock to make a recovery, according to analysts on Wall Street. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite tumbled a whopping 33% , with big names like Tesla , Meta and semiconductor stocks among the worst performers. META 1Y mountain Meta Platforms shares tumbled more than 64% in 2022 But tech stocks aren't out of the woods just yet. Wolfe Research also views Meta Platforms as a stock to buy, especially heading into fourth-quarter earnings. Any information or commentary that rationalizes that investment case could push the stock up, according to Wells Fargo analyst Brian Fitzgerald.

Once high-flying mega-cap technology stocks tumbled in 2022, but some investors are willing to bet on Amazon and Alphabet in 2023, a new Delivering Alpha investor survey suggests. Betting on energy Energy stocks rallied in 2022 as the world grappled with supply constraints fueled by the conflict in Ukraine, but some investors aren't giving up on it just yet. When asked which areas they plan to focus on at the beginning of 2023, 41% of respondents highlighted energy stocks. Fundstrat's Tom Lee told CNBC last month that energy stocks can more than double next year even if the market stays flat . As uncertainty lingers, survey respondents also said they plan to look beyond the U.S. in 2023 toward opportunities in emerging markets.

☆ JPMorgan upgrades Meta to buy, saying top and bottom-line pressures will ease in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Carmen Reinicke | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"Heading into 2023, Meta should be comping peak TikTok impact early in the year, and we believe overall Meta engagement remains solid, with time spent per user stabilizing," said Anmuth. Reels, Meta's TikTok competitor, should be revenue neutral next year, according to JPMorgan. Of course, JPMorgan still sees major losses ahead for Meta's reality labs division. "Reality Labs losses increasingly weigh on Meta's GAAP earnings & we project RL losses doubling from $6.6B in 2020 to $13.7B in 2022," Anmuth wrote. JPMorgan projects reality labs losses reaching $17 billion in 2023 and $19 billion in 2024.

☆ JPMorgan trims its price target for Amazon heading into a challenging economic environment in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Carmen Reinicke | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

JPMorgan is still bullish on shares of Amazon but sees it rising less than previously expected in 2023. The firm slashed its 12-month price target to $130 from $145 in a Dec. 16 note. The new price target implies more than 46% upside to where shares currently trade. Lower estimates JPMorgan now sees fourth quarter net sales of $143.4 billion and operating income of $2.0 billion, a 1.4% margin. The firm's total 2023 revenue estimate is down about 2% to $563 billion, including 17% AWS revenue growth on the year.

☆ JPMorgan likes these internet stocks heading into 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Carmen Reinicke | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

It's been a rough year for internet stocks as they've been pulled down by the technology rout. JPMorgan in particular sees five stocks as working well in the last few weeks of 2022 and heading into 2023. "Secular shift, favorable comps and increasing discipline position Amazon well into 2023," analyst Doug Anmuth wrote in a note earlier this week. The firm sees a shift towards eCommerce and cloud computing growth as positive for Amazon, supporting the company's future revenue growth. Booking Holdings , the online travel company, is also on Anmuth's list.

☆ Wall Street analysts are worried about Meta as it plans to spend even more money on the metaverse
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Meta 's third-quarter results have Wall Street analysts split on the struggling tech stock. Morgan Stanley's Brian Nowak downgraded shares of Meta to equal weight from overweight after the results , and slashed its price target to $105 from $205. Cowen's John Blackledge downgraded Meta to market perform from outperform, and lowered his price target to $135 from $205 prior, citing the higher opex and capex trajectory. JPMorgan's Doug Anmuth slashed his Meta price target to $115 per share from $180, noting that it's unclear when the Facebook parent will see a return on its big metaverse and AI investments. Meanwhile, AllianceBernstein's Mark Shmulik, who maintained an outperform rating while lowering the price target to $135 from $195, said the "shocking cost guidance overshadows reasonable core."

☆ JPMorgan still sees Amazon as best investing idea ahead of third quarter earnings
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Carmen Reinicke | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Even amid worry that the U.S. is facing n a recession that will hit retailers, Amazon remains JPMorgan's best idea ahead of its third quarter earnings results, due Thursday. Still, the firm is bullish on Amazon — it has an overweight rating and a $175 price target on the company. The company should also benefit from lower freight and fuel costs relative to the first half of the year, as well as further rationalization of heavy pandemic spending. The company has a goal of returning retail margin levels to what they saw before the coronavirus pandemic. Elsewhere, Anmuth is encouraged by the cloud service AWS's $100 billion backlog and sees solid growth for the sector going forward.

☆ Wall Street analysts see short-term pressure for Alphabet following earnings miss
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Carmen Reinicke | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Revenue also came in short at $69.09 billion where Wall Street analysts anticipated $70.58 billion. Those weaker-than-expected results were driven by a slowdown in ad spending and a slip in revenue at YouTube, areas where analysts expected growth. Citi analyst Ronald Josey cut his price target on the company to $120 from $140 to reflect slower revenue growth and margin pressures. A leaner Alphabet Alphabet announced that it would slow hiring in the coming quarter in a move to increase efficiency. "We believe advertising, content and product sales are converging, and GOOGL appears to be ahead of this trend, which is promising."

☆ Analysts love these stocks set to report earnings in the week ahead
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Fred Imbert | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

One approach that could help is by looking at the names most beloved by analysts heading into earnings. The e-commerce giant is slated to report earnings Thursday. Alphabet, which is set to report earnings Tuesday, has struggled in 2022, losing 30% in that time. The company is slated to report earnings Thursday. ServiceNow and Alexandria Real Estate have the most buy rating from analysts covering them at 83.5% each.

☆ Earnings playbook: How to trade the busiest week of the season thus far, including Apple and Amazon
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Fred Imbert | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +17 min

It's the busiest week of the earnings season thus far, with nearly 150 S & P 500 components set to report. What history shows: Coca-Cola has outperformed analyst earnings expectations in the last 11 quarters, FactSet data shows. Alphabet is set to report earnings after the close, with management expected to hold a conference call at 5 p.m. What history shows: FactSet data shows Microsoft's earnings per share have come in above expectations in 24 of the last 25 quarters. What history shows: McDonald's earnings per share have outperformed expectations in six of the last 10 quarters, FactSet data shows.

☆ JPMorgan upgrades Netflix, says shares can rally nearly 40% as streamer focuses on ad tier
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Netflix 's third-quarter results and upcoming initiatives signal that the streaming giant's revenue troubles are largely behind it, JPMorgan said. The move into advertising also puts Netflix in "more direct competition" with traditional television, Anmuth said. Anmuth upped the bank's price target on the stock to $330 a share, suggesting a potential 37% rally for shares in the near term. Netflix also got an upgrade from Deutsche Bank to a buy rating with a $350 price target. Netflix shares soared about 14% in premarket trading Wednesday.

☆ Why analysts say Netflix's third-quarter results signal the start of a 'narrative defining period'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Netflix 's subscriber turnaround in the third quarter signaled to many that the streaming giant's troubles are behind it. But some analysts warn the company isn't out of the woods just yet and the stock is entering a defining period. The streaming giant on Tuesday reported subscriber growth of roughly 2.4 million, topping expectations set by analysts, after back-to-back quarters of subscriber losses. That said, Morgan Stanley's Benjamin Swinburne wrote in a note to clients that the stock is overstating Netflix's outlook ahead. But without a boost in the pace of streaming growth, he sees difficulty for Netflix to surpass 10% growth in the foreseeable future.

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