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☆ Wolfe Research downgrades this outperforming A.I. stock, says shares could fall 30% as growth risks loom
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Despite surging nearly 80% this year, Wolfe Research expects slowing growth concerns to weigh on C3.ai in the months ahead. Analyst Joshua Tilton downgraded the popular artificial intelligence stock benefitting from the push toward generative AI , citing risks to long-term growth expectations. Central to Tilton's downgrade is the fear that C3.ai's transition to a consumption model would require "near-perfect execution and rates of adoption" to attain management's 30% revenue growth goal. To hit 20% consensus 2024 revenue growth forecasts, the analyst also estimates that C3.ai would need to grow revenues unrelated to Baker Hughes by 28.3%, representing the largest year-over-year increase on record. Along with the downgrade, Tilton placed a $14 price target on shares and revised the firm's full-year 2024 growth outlook to 11%, below the 20% consensus expectation.

☆ Banks aren't the only ones that hold risky commercial-real-estate debt. Pension funds are about to feel the pain, too.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Al Yoon | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Pension funds, REITs, and insurers hold more than $1.2 trillion in commercial-real-estate debt. CalSTRS, a California pension fund, told the FT it will be writing down its real-estate portfolio. Among them are the large pension funds, REITs, and insurance companies, together accounting for more than $1.2 trillion — or 22% — of the $5.62 trillion in total commercial-real-estate debt outstanding, according to BofA Global Research. Some pension funds were already planning to reduce their exposures to commercial real estate even before the recent bank failures magnified the risks. In September, fund managers at Artemis Real Estate Partners and PGIM Real Estate said at a Bisnow conference that their investors indicated they'd be reducing allocations to real estate, just because the assets had been outperforming others.

☆ Europe is the place to invest so far in 2023. Here's why
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Bob Pisani | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. stocks are off to a good start in 2023, with the S & P 500 up 7%, but Europe is just killing it. All the major European ETFs are up 15%-20% for the year and were at new highs last week. From makeup to sneakers to steel to pharmaceuticals and software to cars for the masses, Europe is outperforming. European stocks this year L'Oreal up 38% Adidas up 33% Thyssenkrup up 32% Bayer up 30% SAP up 29% Stellantis up 25% There's are several other reasons Europe is outperforming. That is historically a very low P/E ratio for Europe, in the 4th percentile (low) relative to the STOXX Europe 600 over the last 15 years.

☆ Chris Sacca's Lowercarbon Capital just invested $20 million in Woodoo, a startup making wooden alternatives to steel, cement, and glass, after seeing this pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Woodoo is a biotech startup creating alternatives to leather, glass, cement, and steel using wood. We got a peek inside the 8-slide pitch deck it used to raise from Chris Sacca's Lowercarbon Capital. Now his company, a biotech converting wood into alternatives for emissions-intensive materials such as concrete and steel, has just secured $31 million. Boitouzet is set on becoming the go-to option for building materials, having already seen traction in the luxury goods market. Woodoo's materials are currently more expensive than conventional but costs will come down when the company reaches scale, Boitouzet said.

☆ Here are the top 10 stock analysts of the past decade, according to TipRanks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Tipranks.Com Staff | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

TipRanks' algorithms calculated the average return and statistical significance of each rating, as well as the analysts' overall success rate. To come up with this list, TipRanks analyzed every stock recommendation made by analysts in the past decade. TipRanks is celebrating a decade of simplifying investment decisions through its data-driven research tools: Here is a list of the 10 best analysts on Wall Street. Bolton's best rating in the past decade has been on ACM Research (NASDAQ:ACMR), a semiconductor equipment manufacturing company. These analysts generated significant returns from their recommendations in the past decade and have notable success rates.

☆ Big Tech earnings are on deck this week. Why that matters
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —With Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta Platforms all slated to report earnings this coming week, investors are turning their attention away from bank earnings to Big Tech. Another major theme for tech earnings is the race toward artificial intelligence. Earnings reports from Meta Platforms (META), Boeing (BA) and ServiceNow (NOW). Earnings reports from Amazon (AMZN), MasterCard (MA), T-Mobile (TMUS), Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) and Capital One (COF). Earnings reports from Exxon Mobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX), Colgate-Palmolive (CL) and New York Community Bancorp (NYCB).

☆ Wells Fargo loves these three regional banks and thinks one will rally 50%
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Jesse Pound | In Jesse-Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The lack of major outflows from many regional banks suggests that there are several stocks in the industry that could be big winners for investors, according to Wells Fargo. They expanded that optimism on Thursday evening by reiterating overweight ratings on Banc of California , East West Bancorp , F.N.B. Banc of California is the name of the three where Wells Fargo is the most bullish. Wells Fargo called Banc of California's deposit mix "impressive" and noted that the firm continued its stock buybacks despite the turmoil for regional banks. is less eye-popping at about 27%, but the bank's cautious approach should be reassuring to investors, Wells Fargo said.

☆ Premarket stocks: Is Big Oil running out of gas?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

New York CNN —Oil and gas stocks have been on a two-year tear, ripping ahead as natural gas prices surged due to supply chain kinks, a strong economy, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. What’s happening: Brutally high oil and gas prices were the talk of the town last year and one of the largest contributing factors to sky-high inflation. That’s bad news for automobile drivers, but ended up being great for the energy industry as oil prices and energy stocks are closely interlinked. Blackstone is feeling the commercial real estate slumpThe ongoing commercial real estate slowdown has a new victim: Blackstone. Profits from the sale of commercial real estate assets fell 54% to $4.4 billion, down from $9.5 billion last year.

☆ Renault revenues rise 30% in the first quarter on higher sales and prices
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

French car maker Renault said on Thursday revenues had grown by 30% in the first quarter thanks to a rebound in sales and higher prices. Revenues came in at 11.5 billion euros ($12.60 billion), compared with an analyst consensus of 11.08 billion euros provided by the company. It said its orderbook in Europe stood at 3.3 months of sales at the end of Q1, and would remain above the target of 2 months through 2023. Overall sales in Europe rose by 27.3% in the first three months of the year, outperforming a 16.2% average increase for the market. Renault ranked as the third EV brand for sales in Europe behind Tesla and Volkswagen last year.

☆ Renault revenues rise 30% in first quarter on higher sales and prices
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies Renault SA FollowVolkswagen AG FollowPARIS, April 20 (Reuters) - French car maker Renault (RENA.PA) said on Thursday revenues had grown by 30% in the first quarter thanks to a rebound in sales and higher prices. Revenues came in at 11.5 billion euros ($12.60 billion), compared with an analyst consensus of 11.08 billion euros provided by the company. It said its orderbook in Europe stood at 3.3 months of sales at the end of Q1, and would remain above the target of 2 months through 2023. Overall sales in Europe rose by 27.3% in the first three months of the year, outperforming a 16.2% average increase for the market. Renault ranked as the third EV brand for sales in Europe behind Tesla and Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) last year.

☆ Luxury stocks are on a tear and now there's an index to follow the 1%
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Bob Pisani | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Luxury stocks are on a tear, and they are pulling away from the other 99% of the world. Birinyi Associates sees an opportunity. LVMH is the largest luxury firm in the world. Rubin and Birinyi have created two new indexes to monitor all this money: the "1% Index" that consists of 16 luxury stocks, and the "99% Index" made up of 18 stocks that is, well, where the rest of us shops. Since the beginning of April, the 99% is making a comeback: The 1% vs. the 99% (since April 1) 1% index: + 3% 99% index: + 12% Source: Birinyi Associates What's happening?

At $517 billion, Tesla's market capitalization ended Thursday below Meta Platforms' (META.O) for the first time since 2021. Tesla's automotive gross margin, excluding regulatory credits and leasing, stood at 18.3%, missing an 'above 20%' target provided in January by Tesla CFO Zachary Kirkhorn. At least 15 analysts cut their Tesla price targets following Tesla's report, pulling the median target of 42 analysts from $210 down to $200, or about 23% above the stock's current level, according to Refinitiv data. Investors dumped automaker shares from Europe to the United States on fears that they too will sacrifice margins to maintain market share. Tesla remains up 32% year to date, far outperforming the S&P 500's (.SPX) 8% rise.

Meta in March became the first Big Tech company to announce a second round of mass layoffs, which it said would take place in three main batches over several months and impact 10,000 employees. Wednesday's cuts, though expected, prompted expressions of frustration from Meta employees. Layoffs were the subject of the most popular questions posted on an internal company forum on Wednesday ahead of an upcoming employee town hall. "You've shattered the morale and confidence in leadership of many high performers who work with intensity. The question references comments Zuckerberg made last year urging employees to work with more "intensity" to meet the Facebook and Instagram parent company's business challenges.

☆ Morning Bid: Crowded bonds unnerved
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

This has some wondering if the recent dash for cash and top-rated bonds has become a bit crowded and how much more tightening central banks have to do. As we move into the weeds of the first-quarter U.S. earnings season, it's been a mixed bag so far. That clearly unnerved UK government bonds - where 10 year yields jumped 10bps - but it also jarred sovereign bonds around the world. Elsewhere, further signs of healing were evident in the global bank funding market. Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (8316.T) sold $1 billion of additional tier-1 debt, the first major global bank to sell the risky securities since similar bonds issued by Credit Suisse were wiped out last month.

☆ Morgan Stanley tops analysts’ expectations on better-than-expected trading results
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Hugh Son | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Morgan Stanley on Wednesday topped estimates for first quarter profit and revenue on better-than-expected trading results. Under CEO James Gorman, Morgan Stanley has become a wealth management giant thanks to a string of acquisitions. The bank gets most of its revenue from wealth and investment management, steadier businesses that help to offset volatile trading and banking results. First-quarter trading revenue dipped from a year ago as Wall Street comes down from a pandemic-era boom, but Morgan Stanley's traders managed to top expectations by roughly $250 million. He added that there was "no doubt" that Morgan Stanley would acquire more companies in wealth management, though nothing was imminent.

United Airlines — The airline lost 0.9% in the premarket after it announced a net loss for the first quarter. The company reported $11.43 billion in revenue, slightly above the $11.42 billion estimated. The company posted earnings per share of $1.35, which fell below the $1.41 consensus estimate from analysts polled by Refinitiv. Ally Financial — The digital financial services company's shares were down 1.3% after its first quarter earnings and revenue missed Wall Street's expectations. The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.23, topping against a consensus estimate of $1.20 per share, according to FactSet.

☆ HSBC says this chip maker's 'incredible AI pricing power' is not fully priced into the stock
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"We believe there's more earnings upside vs market expectations in FY24e and beyond," he said in a note to clients Tuesday. "Nvidia's incredible AI pricing power (is) not fully priced in," Lee said. He said the AI business should be able to more than offset weakening datacenter demand and Wall Street was "too focused" on the later before. But he raised his earnings expectations in the 2024 and 2025 fiscal years. "We acknowledge we underestimated the potential of Nvidia's AI business and speed of ramp-up post Microsoft 's ChatGPT launch," he said.

☆ Housing stocks are surging after data shows new home construction jumped in March
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Carla Mozée | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF climbed Tuesday with shares of the country's largest home builders rising. Home construction fell 0.8% to a 1.42 million annualized rate, with a decline in construction starts of multifamily units. Despite the weakness in housing data, Bespoke outpointed that housing stocks have been rallying, pushing the ITB ETF close to 52-week highs. The ETF and housing starts data have tended to track each other over the past ten years. "They usually say the market looks six months forward, but in the case of housing stocks and housing data, recently it's been more like five," it said.

UBS says Okta 's "compelling mix of growth and improving profitability" is currently underappreciated by investors. The bank initiated coverage on Okta with a buy rating and a price target of $100, which implies 35% upside from Friday's closing price. However, the workforce identity software company's stock has dropped more than 48% over the past 12 months. UBS thinks Okta's margin expansion opportunity is not yet fully appreciated by investors. "Our Buy Rating and constructive view on Okta is predicated on the company's ability to accelerate growth in CY24 while continuing to deliver meaningful margin expansion.

☆ We're downgrading one of our tech stocks and raising the price target on another
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Jeff Marks | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

We're downgrading our rating on one tech stock in the portfolio whose AI initiatives may be lagging its competitors and increasing the price target on another that is gaining market share. Google search has become too ingrained in today's society. Given the mounting uncertainties facing the tech giant, it is only prudent to downgrade our rating to a 2 from a 1. Palo Alto Networks (PANW): Shares of this leader in cybersecurity are brushing up against our initial price target of $200. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

☆ Earnings playbook: Netflix and Goldman Sachs headline a big week of reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Fred Imbert | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

Tuesday Johnson & Johnson is set to report earnings before the open, followed by a call with management at 8:30 a.m. Goldman Sachs is set to report earnings before the open, followed by a call at 9:30 a.m. What history shows: Bespoke data shows Goldman tops earnings expectations 86% of the time. Netflix is set to report earnings after the bell, followed by a call with management at 6 p.m. Friday Procter & Gamble is set to report earnings before the open, with a conference call also slated for 8:30 a.m.

☆ Top chart analyst sees trouble ahead for this retail bellwether beating the market
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Sean Conlon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Trouble may be in store for Walmart — a stock which has been outperforming the major market indexes. Worth sees particular trouble ahead for the stock at $140 level. "The P/E is high-ish, but it's actually not quite as high as it seems because they've been spending, spending, spending," she said. Retail sales recorded a 1% drop in March — a bigger drop than Wall Street was expecting. Walmart shares fell almost 2% last week, but they're up about 5% so far this year.

☆ JPMorgan Chase is set to report first-quarter earnings – here’s what the Street expects
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Hugh Son | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

JPMorgan Chase is scheduled to report first-quarter earnings before the opening bell Friday. Here's what Wall Street expects:Earnings: $3.41 per share, 29.7% higher than a year earlier, according to Refinitiv. For instance, JPMorgan likely benefited from an influx of deposits after Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank experienced fatal bank runs. That's because smaller banks faced pressure last month as customers sought the perceived safety of megabanks including JPMorgan and Bank of America . JPMorgan is expected to post a $2.27 billion provision for credit losses, according to the StreetAccount estimate.

Their stocks average a gain of at least 0.5% on earnings day. The companies have also beaten analysts' expectations at least 75% of the time over five years. Johnson & Johnson has been in the news in recent weeks after settling a lawsuit over claims that the company's baby powder and other talc products caused cancer for $8.9 billion. Historically, the stock has gained 0.78% on earnings day, but what's more impressive is the company's average five-year beat rate of 100%. The bank has beaten analysts' expectations 85% of the time in five years.

☆ This maker of CPAP machines can gain market share as rival deals with a recall, Mizuho says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

An ongoing product recall for one of ResMed's top competitors opens up a big opportunity for the continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) equipment maker, according to Mizuho. Philips Respironics, a rival CPAP hardware maker, is still contending with a 2021 recall of its products, leaving the door open for ResMed to grow its market share, Petrone said. "In aggregate, we see RMD settling at nearly ~60% permanent sleep device share, up from ~50%, as a result of the extended Philips CPAP recall," Petrone wrote on Thursday. Petrone added that ResMed has maintained its market share from a decline in Philips for longer than expected. RMD YTD mountain RMD in 2023 Mizuho pointed toward proprietary survey data that indicated pent-up demand and a rebound in U.S. volume.

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