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https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/05/stocks-making-biggest-midday-moves-palo-alto-3m-target-and-more.html

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Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Palo Alto Networks, 3M, Amedisys, Target and more

A view of the exterior of the new Dutch head office of international technology company 3M in Delft, Netherlands, November 5, 2014. Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. Palo Alto Networks — The cybersecurity stock jumped more than 4% after S&P Dow Jones Indices announced Friday postmarket it will replace Dish Network in the S&P 500, effective June 20. Dish Network dipped about 1%. 3M — The industrial manufacturer's shares slid 3% after the judge in the company's multidistrict litigation over so-called forever chemicals agreed to delay the first trial three weeks so parties can finalize a settlement of claims with municipal water providers, Bloomberg reported Monday. Coinbase — Shares of the crypto exchange and services company tumbled 10% after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued crypto exchange Binance on Monday, alleging Binance and its co-founder Changpeng Zhao commingled billions of dollars of investor funds with their own and violated securities laws. EPAM Systems — Shares of the software engineering firm tumbled 18% after it cut guidance amid further deterioration in near-term demand. Q2 earnings per share guidance of between $2.33 and $2.40 was slightly below the FactSet estimate of $2.43. It also lowered full-year earnings estimates and revenue estimates for both the second quarter and full year to below analysts' estimates. Amedisys — The health care company's shares rallied 14% after it received an unsolicited buyout offer from Optum, a unit of UnitedHealth , to acquire Amedisys for $100 a share in cash. Shares in Option Care Health , which has a competing agreed upon offer to buy Amedisys, surged 7%. ImmunoGen — The biotechnology company's shares gained 5% after it announced results from ovarian cancer treatment Elahere showing a roughly 35% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death compared to chemotherapy. C.H. Robinson Worldwide — The transport company lost about 5% following a report from trade publication FreightWaves that it has selected Ford's David Bozeman as its next CEO. Bozeman is currently vice president of the customer services division and enthusiast brands at Ford. Equitrans Midstream Corporation — The natural gas provider added 4.5% in midday trading following a double upgrade from Morgan Stanley to overweight earlier in the day. The bank cited potential growth for the stock on the heels of language included in the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which is the debt ceiling bill, that would allow for the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Ford Motor Co. — Shares of the automaker rose nearly 2% after Citi upgraded Ford to buy from neutral. Rising demand for cars in the U.S. broadly is one reason for optimism about Ford, according to Citi. Spotify — Spotify added 3% after the music streaming company said it's laying off 200 employees, mainly within its podcast division, or about 2% of its in-person workforce. Target — The big-box retailer's stock fell more than 2% after KeyBanc downgraded the retailer to sector weight from overweight, warning the resumption of student loan repayments could squeeze Target's margins. Dollar General — Shares fell 2.7% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the discount retailer's stock to equal weight from overweight Sunday. The firm said Dollar General was not showing as much resiliency as expected. Last week, Dollar General reported a miss on quarterly earnings and cut its guidance, citing a "challenging" economic environment. Apple — Shares of the iPhone maker rose more than 1% to hit an all-time high as it kicked off its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in Cupertino, California. Apple is widely expected to reveal its long-awaited virtual and augmented reality headset, "Reality Pro." — CNBC's Yun Li, Alex Harring, Jesse Pound, Samantha Subin and Brian Evans contributed reporting.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/26/3m-will-spin-off-its-health-care-business-into-a-new-public-company.html

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3M

3M will spin off its health-care business into a new public company

3M announced Tuesday it will spin off its health-care business into a separate publicly traded company. The new business will focus on wound and oral care, health-care IT and biopharma filtration, the material science company said in a release. That includes products like its bandages, skin adhesives, oral aligners, air purifiers and optical lenses. The company's health-care products also include the Bair Hugger surgical warming system, which is currently the subject of nearly 6,000 lawsuits. 3M maintains that the product has no relation to surgical-site infections. 3M health-care products recorded more than $8 billion in sales in 2021. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of next year, and 3M will maintain a 19.9% stake in the new company. The announcement comes as 3M said its second-quarter revenue fell nearly 3% to $8.7 billion. Net income dropped to $78 million from $1.5 billion a year earlier, including a $1.2 billion pretax charge tied to resolving litigation related to Combat Arms Earplugs. The company said Aearo Technologies, its subsidiary that produces Combat Arms Earplugs, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings to establish a trust to resolve all legal claims related to the product. 3M said it believe the earplugs were safe and effective when used properly, but that they nevertheless face increasing litigation. After excluding that one-time charge, 3M earned $2.48 per share. The performance topped expectations. According to Refinitv, analysts expected 3M to earn $2.42 per share on revenue of $8.58 billion. Shares of the company closed up 5% at $140.82. 3M is also simultaneously spinning off its food safety business. That branch will merge with Neogen and is expected to be divested by September. — Reuters contributed to this report.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/24/stocks-making-the-biggest-moves-midday-lyft-3m-lululemon-and-more.html

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3M

Stocks making the biggest moves midday: 3M, Paccar, Bed Bath & Beyond, AMD and more

A woman walks near a Bed Bath & Beyond branch on January 11, 2023 in New York City. Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading Tuesday. Lyft — The ride-sharing app's stock lost 0.7% following an upgrade to overweight from sector weight by KeyBanc. The firm said cost-saving strategies such as layoffs and stabilizing demand could help the stock. Bed Bath & Beyond — The retail stock gained 15.3% as traders continued to pile into the heavily shorted name. Bed Bath & Beyond has warned of a potential bankruptcy and recently beefed up its legal team ahead of a possible filing. Shares of the meme-stock favorite are up 32% year to date. Paccar — Shares of Paccar rose 8.6% after the truck manufacturer reported fourth-quarter results, posting a profit of $2.64 per share and $8.13 billion in revenue. An increasing number of e-commerce deliveries have boosted demand for trucks. The company beat analysts' expectations for per-share earnings, according to StreetAccount. Advanced Micro Devices — Shares slid 2.4% after Bernstein downgraded the semiconductor maker to market perform from outperform. The firm said the personal computer market and new parts markets were growing increasingly unfavorable for the company. 3M — Shares of the industrial conglomerate lost 6.2% to hit a new 52-week low after the company said it would cut 2,500 manufacturing jobs amid a demand slowdown. 3M also reported lower earnings excluding items with a profit of $2.28 per share compared to $2.45 per share a year earlier. Synchrony Financial — Shares of the financial company rose 2.3% on Tuesday, erasing a post-earnings drop for the stock in the previous trading session. An analyst at JMP reiterated a market outperform rating for Synchrony on Tuesday, saying in a note that the company appears more resilient than its peers in the consumer lending space. Union Pacific — Shares of the railroad stock ticked 3.3% lower after posting fourth-quarter earnings that fell short of analysts' expectations on both the top and bottom lines, according to StreetAccount. Union Pacific reported earnings of $2.67 a share on $6.18 billion in revenue. Lululemon — Shares of Lululemon slid 1.5% after Bernstein downgraded the apparel company to underperform from market-perform and slashed its price target to $290, a $50 cut. The firm cited slowing earnings growth as demand cools and consumers become more cautious. Raytheon Technologies – Shares of the aerospace company added 3.4% after Raytheon posted its fourth quarter. Raytheon posted adjusted earnings per share of $1.27, compared with analysts' estimates of $1.24 per share, according to Refinitiv. The company posted $18.09 billion in revenue, falling short of the Street's expectations of $18.15 billion. Zions Bancorp — The bank's shares slumped 1.7% even after Zions posted fourth-quarter earnings per share that beat analysts' expectations. The company posted per-share earnings of $1.84, compared to the $1.64 anticipated by analysts polled by Refinitiv. In a statement, Harris Simmons, CEO of Zions, noted that the company has "continued to build our loss reserves due to both continued loan growth and the prospect of a slowing or recessionary economic environment in coming months." — CNBC's Alex Harring, Jesse Pound, Yun Li, Carmen Reinicke, Michelle Fox Theobald, Samantha Subin and Darla Mercado contributed reporting.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/24/3m-to-cut-2500-jobs-as-demand-weakens-profit-drops.html

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3M

3M to cut 2,500 jobs as demand weakens, profit drops

An employee unboxes N95 masks as part of a government strategy to distribute them to reduce the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at Meijer in Southfield, Michigan, U.S., January 25, 2022. 3M said on Tuesday it would cut 2,500 manufacturing jobs after reporting a lower profit, as the U.S. industrial conglomerate faces a demand slowdown in its unit that sells products including notebooks, air purifiers and respirators. The move comes as corporate America has seen a string of layoffs with companies trying to rein in costs amid fears of a potential economic downturn. The diversified manufacturer said demand for its consumer-facing unit fell faster in December as weaker customer spending spilled into the holiday season, sending its shares down 4.7% to $116.79 in premarket trading. 3M expects adjusted sales growth to drop 6% to 2% this year due to declining disposable respirator sales and its exit from Russia. "We expect macroeconomic challenges to persist in 2023," Chief Executive Mike Roman said. A softer-than-expected consumer spending and a cut back from U.S. retailers amid inflationary pressures has eaten into the sales of 3M's consumer unit which generated about $5.30 billion in revenue in 2022. "As demand weakened, we adjusted manufacturing output and controlled costs, which enabled us to improve inventory levels," Roman added. The company was able to offset higher raw material and logistics costs by raising prices which helped it beat profit in the previous quarter. Sales in the quarter fell 6% to $8.1 billion. Excluding items, the company reported a profit of $2.28 per share compared to $2.45 per share a year earlier.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/26/3m-combat-earplug-lawsuits-to-proceed-judge-rules-despite-bankruptcy-case-.html

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3M

3M combat earplug lawsuits to proceed, judge rules, despite bankruptcy case

3M must face more than 230,000 lawsuits accusing it of selling defective earplugs to the U.S. military, after a U.S. judge on Friday ruled that the bankruptcy of a subsidiary did not stop lawsuits against the non-bankrupt parent company. Companies that file for bankruptcy typically receive an immediate reprieve from lawsuits, and 3M subsidiary Aearo Technologies LLC argued that extending those protections to 3M would buy Aearo time to address its debts and restructuring goals. Aearo and 3M had argued that bankruptcy offered a faster and fairer way to compensate veterans who say that earplugs made by Aearo caused hearing loss. But bankruptcy Judge Jeffrey J. Graham in Indianapolis said that Aearo's bankruptcy restructuring could proceed in parallel with the lawsuits. While the "sheer size" of the consolidated litigation may have spurred 3M and Aearo to seek "additional leverage" through the bankruptcy proceedings, that did not create a legal need to protect 3M, Graham ruled. Attorneys representing the veterans with hearing loss said they looked forward to continuing their lawsuits against 3M in other courts. "Judge Graham's decision is a complete rejection of 3M's attempt to evade accountability and hide in bankruptcy after multiple juries found it liable for knowingly causing hearing damage to those who served our nation," plaintiff attorneys Bryan Aylstock and Christopher Seeger said in a statement. A spokesman for 3M said it intended to appeal. 3M has set aside $1 billion to settle the earplug litigation. "Continuing to litigate these cases one-by-one over the coming years will not provide certainty or fairness for any party," 3M spokesman Sean Lynch said. 3M subsidiary Aearo Technologies LLC filed for bankruptcy protection in Indiana on July 26, seeking to resolve lawsuits alleging that 3M's Combat Arms Earplugs Version 2 (CAEv2) caused hearing loss. The lawsuits have been consolidated in federal court in Florida and have grown into the largest mass tort litigation in U.S. history. Aearo placed $1 billion in a trust to settle them and agreed to indemnify 3M for all liability related to CAEv2. 3M has denied liability, saying its earplugs offered protection to soldiers while allowing them to hear on the battlefield.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/15/neogen-ceo-3m-food-safety-unit-deal-improves-blockchain-innovation.html

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3M

Neogen CEO touts deal with 3M's food-safety unit, says it improves blockchain innovation

Neogen CEO John Adent on Wednesday touted the company's deal to merge with 3M 's food-safety unit, telling CNBC's Jim Cramer it improves revenue growth opportunities and fuels innovation on emerging technologies such as the blockchain. Neogen — which makes animal health-care products and food safety tests, including those that can be used to detect pathogens and allergens — announced merger plans Tuesday. The news sent the Michigan-based company's stock higher by 8.2% Tuesday, although it gave back some of those gains Wednesday when it lost 1.34%. Combining with 3M's food-safety unit "doubles the size of our business," Adent said in an interview on "Mad Money." "It really allows us to reach more customers more often with an unparalleled product offering. ... It's going to help us drive this industry forward through our data analytics platform and our blockchain solution that really increases the efficiency, traceability and enhance the food-safety protocols for customers." Blockchains are decentralized digital ledgers that are most commonly associated with cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ether. However, that's not its only use case. Neogen partnered with Ripe Technology nearly two years ago to start adapting the blockchain into its work on food safety diagnostics and animal genomics. The blockchain is helpful to Neogen because it "permanently connects a tremendous amount of potentially critical data," Adent said in a release at the time. On Wednesday, he further elaborated on how Neogen uses blockchain technology for food safety. "When you go to the store and buy one of our customers' steaks and you take it home, if you send me a sample, I'm going to be able to tell you where that animal lived, what that animal ate, all the inputs into that animal, every single stop along the way until it got to your dinner plate," Adent told Cramer.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/01/stocks-moving-big-midday-low-mmm-fhn-nio.html

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3M

Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Lowe's, 3M, First Horizon, Nio and more

The Lowe's logo is displayed on the front of the store near Bloomsburg. Check out the companies making the biggest moves midday: Lowe's — Shares fell 5.56% after the home improvement retailer's fiscal fourth-quarter sales fell short of Wall Street's expectations, with revenue coming in at $22.45 billion versus the $22.69 billion estimate from Refinitiv. While it topped EPS estimates, Lowe's gave sales guidance for 2023 that missed expectations. 3M — The stock gained 2.29% following 3M's announcement that Department of Defense records show the vast majority of the claimants in the Combat Arms earplug litigation against the company have no hearing impairment. First Horizon — Shares sank 10.62% after its acquisition by Toronto-Dominion Bank was delayed. TD informed First Horizon that it doesn't expect the necessary regulatory approvals to be received in time to complete the merger by May 27, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. TD said it could not provide a new projected closing at this time, but said in an email to Bloomberg that it was committed to the transaction. Sarepta Therapeutics — The biotech stock surged 19.24% after Morgan Stanley upgraded it to overweight from equal weight. The Wall Street firm said Sarepta Therapeutics' path for its investigational gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), SRP-9001, now appears "de-risked." Rivian Automotive — Rivian's stock plummeted 18.34% after the car manufacturer posted mixed fourth-quarter results. Rivian also shared an electric vehicle production outlook that fell short of analysts' expectations. Nio — Shares of the Chinese electric vehicle company dropped 5.96% after the firm reported a widening net loss in the fourth quarter. The stock has fallen more than 8% year to date, following a nearly 70% loss in 2022. Monster Beverage — The beverage producer dropped 2.53% after missing expectations of analysts polled by FactSet for fourth-quarter earnings. Monster posted 57 cents in per-share earnings, which is 6 cents below the consensus estimate. Quarterly revenue came in at $1.51 billion, below the $1.6 billion expected. Additionally, the company announced a two-to-one stock split. Marqeta — Shares sank 22.41% after being downgraded by JPMorgan to neutral from overweight. The firm cited uncertainty over the company's growth for its move to the sidelines. Novavax — The vaccine developer's stock price dropped 25.92% after it said on Tuesday that "substantial doubt exists regarding our ability to operate as a going concern" through the next year. First Solar — Shares of First Solar gained 15.69% after the solar company issued full-year guidance on Tuesday that came out ahead of expectations on per-share earnings and revenue. First Solar reported a fourth-quarter loss of 7 cents per share compared with a 17 cent per-share loss expected by analysts surveyed by FactSet. The company's revenue was in line with analysts' expectations of $1 billion. AMC Entertainment — Shares of the movie-theater chain dropped 7.98% a day after AMC reported a wider-than-expected loss for the fourth quarter. AMC lost 26 cents per share, compared with the 21 cents expected by analysts according to Refinitiv, even though revenue came in ahead of estimates. Warby Parker — The stock lost 5.76% after being downgraded to neutral from buy by Citi, who said the eyeglass company's growth outlook was "too blurry." Red Robin Gourmet Burgers — The restaurant chain's stock soared 27.14%. Benchmark upgraded Red Robin to buy from hold, saying a turnaround story is underway. The company posted its latest quarterly results after the bell Tuesday, with an adjusted fourth-quarter loss of $1.35 per share compared to analysts' estimate of a per-share loss of 62 cents, according to FactSet. Ambarella —The semiconductor stock shed 11.49% after being downgraded to neutral from buy by Roth MKM. The Wall Street firm cited "inventory digestion" for the call. Ambarella gave first-quarter guidance that missed analysts' expectations on Tuesday, according to FactSet. — CNBC's Alex Harring, Jesse Pound, Sam Subin, Pia Singh and Yun Li contributed reporting.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/17/morgan-stanley-downgrades-3m-to-underweight-sees-legal-issues-and-weak-growth-holding-stock-back.html

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3M

Morgan Stanley downgrades 3M to underweight, sees legal issues and weak growth holding stock back

The market appears to be underestimating the hit 3M is going to take from ongoing lawsuits, creating downside risk for investors, according to Morgan Stanley. Analyst Joshua Pokrzywinski downgraded the stock to underweight from equal weight, saying in a note to clients that the company's fundamentals would struggle to overcome the hit from lawsuits over an ear protection product and the use of chemicals known as PFAS. "Our analysis of Combat Arms implies that the market's estimate of PFAS has declined (despite negative news flow) or that valuation of the core business is too high," Pokrzywinski said. "While we see the fundamental picture improving through price/cost, overall organic growth remains cloudy as priority platforms are muted by a large, stable portfolio that struggles to outgrow IP given its sheer size and global ubiquity." Morgan Stanley cut its price target for 3M to $150 per share from $185. The stock closed at $154.14 on Wednesday. Shares were off 1.9% in premarket trading Thursday. 3M has been named in thousands of lawsuits over its Combat Arms earplug product, which it discontinued in 2015, according to 3M. For the perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, lawsuits, 3M has already logged hundreds of millions of dollars in pretax charges and could have to take more hits in the future. At the same time, 3M has seen its sales and earnings grow at a slower rate than its peers in recent years, Morgan Stanley said. "In other words, after taking into account weaker fundamental performance we think the market appears to be understating the combined liabilities from Combat Arms and PFAS by ~$15B," the analyst said. — CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report. Traders work under monitors displaying 3M Co. signage on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York. Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/25/jim-cramers-top-8-things-wednesday-microsoft-3m-boeing-earnings.html

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3M

Jim Cramer's top 8 things to watch in the market Wednesday: Microsoft, 3M, Boeing earnings

My top 8 things to watch Wednesday, Jan. 25 1. Microsoft (MSFT) shares sink nearly 3% early Wednesday, pressuring the broader market after the Dow Jones Industrial Average , the S & P 500 and the Nasdaq . Microsoft's fiscal second-quarter earnings beat estimates. Revenue missed. Guidance short. CEO Satya Nadella excited about OpenAI's ChatGPT. But CFO Amy Hood plays grim reaper halfway through the call. Maturing tech. MUST WAIT UNTIL AMY. Only thing that matters. Azure cloud sales up 38% year over year in constant currency. Lots of price target cuts by Wall Street analysts, but they largely keep their buy ratings. The Club has MSFT at our 2 rating , meaning we'd like to see more pullback before considering buying more. 2. 3M (MMM) was bad. I mean terrible on every line item for the quarter. Full-year sales decline of 2% to 6%, worse than estimates at the midpoint. You have to wonder what the heck management is going to do besides come up with a new kind of scotch tape. Multiple PT cuts on the Street. The industrial giant announces 2,500 manufacturing job cuts . 3. Boeing (BA) reports big fourth-quarter loss. Supply chain snarls outweigh surging travel demand as the world learns to live with Covid. Aircraft manufacturing suffered during the height of the pandemic. Revenue of $19.98 billion fell short of estimates. Reaffirms guidance on Max and Dreamliner. Positive annual free cash flow. 4. AT & T (T) fourth-quarter earnings beat but revenue misses. Not great but better than Verizon (VZ). Full-year guidance free cash flow of $16 billion or better versus $16.2 billion expected. FCF in 2022 was $14.1 billion. Increase in subscribers but annual profit outlook below expectations. 5. JPMorgan cuts Ford (F) price target to $15 per share from $16 and General Motors (GM) PT to $57 from $59; keeps overweight (buy) ratings on both. Analysts at JPMorgan also cut Tesla (TSLA) price target to $120 from $125; keep underweight (sell) rating. Tesla shares bounce 16% year to date but still down over 53% over the past 12 months. Elon Musk's electric vehicle maker is set to report quarterly results after the closing bell Wednesday. 6. Baird keeps Danaher (DHR) at an overweight (buy) rating but cuts price target to $309 per share from $321. Analysts say the life sciences and medical diagnostics company now derisked from Covid. We saw Tuesday's DHR stock drop after largely solid quarterly results was a buying opportunity. 7. Barclays raises price target on SLB (SLB) to $74 per share from $62. Already in the stock? That's the question with all oil and gas companies. I say no. We had the nation's strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) being emptied, and there's no shortage of places that are being drilled. Instead of SLB, we own oilfield services giant Halliburton (HAL), which reported a strong quarter Tuesday. 8. Bank of America (BAC) gives employees who make up to $500,000 a year restricted stock. In a memo to staff, CEO Brian Moynihan said the bank is investing its people "at a time of change in the global economy." (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long MSFT, F, DHR, HAL. See here for a full list of the stocks.) 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. My top 8 things to watch Wednesday, Jan. 25 1. Microsoft (MSFT) shares sink nearly 3% early Wednesday, pressuring the broader market after the Dow Jones Industrial Average , the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq . Microsoft's fiscal second-quarter earnings beat estimates. Revenue missed. Guidance short. CEO Satya Nadella excited about OpenAI's ChatGPT. But CFO Amy Hood plays grim reaper halfway through the call. Maturing tech. MUST WAIT UNTIL AMY. Only thing that matters. Azure cloud sales up 38% year over year in constant currency. Lots of price target cuts by Wall Street analysts, but they largely keep their buy ratings. The Club has MSFT at our 2 rating, meaning we'd like to see more pullback before considering buying more. 2. 3M (MMM) was bad. I mean terrible on every line item for the quarter. Full-year sales decline of 2% to 6%, worse than estimates at the midpoint. You have to wonder what the heck management is going to do besides come up with a new kind of scotch tape. Multiple PT cuts on the Street. The industrial giant announces 2,500 manufacturing job cuts. 3. Boeing (BA) reports big fourth-quarter loss. Supply chain snarls outweigh surging travel demand as the world learns to live with Covid. Aircraft manufacturing suffered during the height of the pandemic. Revenue of $19.98 billion fell short of estimates. Reaffirms guidance on Max and Dreamliner. Positive annual free cash flow. 4. AT&T (T) fourth-quarter earnings beat but revenue misses. Not great but better than Verizon (VZ). Full-year guidance free cash flow of $16 billion or better versus $16.2 billion expected. FCF in 2022 was $14.1 billion. Increase in subscribers but annual profit outlook below expectations. 5. JPMorgan cuts Ford (F) price target to $15 per share from $16 and General Motors (GM) PT to $57 from $59; keeps overweight (buy) ratings on both. Analysts at JPMorgan also cut Tesla (TSLA) price target to $120 from $125; keep underweight (sell) rating. Tesla shares bounce 16% year to date but still down over 53% over the past 12 months. Elon Musk's electric vehicle maker is set to report quarterly results after the closing bell Wednesday. 6. Baird keeps Danaher (DHR) at an overweight (buy) rating but cuts price target to $309 per share from $321. Analysts say the life sciences and medical diagnostics company now derisked from Covid. We saw Tuesday's DHR stock drop after largely solid quarterly results was a buying opportunity. 7. Barclays raises price target on SLB (SLB) to $74 per share from $62. Already in the stock? That's the question with all oil and gas companies. I say no. We had the nation's strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) being emptied, and there's no shortage of places that are being drilled. Instead of SLB, we own oilfield services giant Halliburton (HAL), which reported a strong quarter Tuesday. 8. Bank of America (BAC) gives employees who make up to $500,000 a year restricted stock. In a memo to staff, CEO Brian Moynihan said the bank is investing its people "at a time of change in the global economy." (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long MSFT, F, DHR, HAL. See here for a full list of the stocks.)

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/05/rbc-downgrades-3m-to-underperform-says-inflation-and-legal-issues-will-hold-stock-back.html

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3M

RBC downgrades 3M to underperform, says inflation and legal issues will hamper stock

It will be a tough road for 3M before its stock can catch up to the broader market, according to RBC Capital Markets. Analyst Deane Dray downgraded 3M to underperform from sector perform, saying in a note to clients Tuesday night that the company had little upside for the foreseeable future. "We are downgrading MMM from Sector Perform to Underperform as the company faces mounting operating and legal challenges in 2022. Ongoing inflation/supply chain pressures have exposed fundamental weaknesses in 3M's price/cost actions that are unlikely to be remedied soon," Dray wrote. Shares of the industrial company underperformed the broader market in 2021 and are still trading near pre-pandemic levels, compared to a roughly 40% gain for the S & P 500. RBC slashed its price target to $166 per share from $199. The new target is nearly 8% below where the stock closed on Tuesday. Shares fell 1% in premarket trading Wednesday. On the legal front, 3M is facing challenges in multiple areas related to its use of a class of chemical substances known as PFAS. The company's "litigation outlook will get much worse before it gets better," according to RBC. "Along with headline risk, we believe 3M will likely have to take more legal reserves to address its mounting PFAS and military hearing-loss litigation," the note said. -CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report. Traders work under monitors displaying 3M Co. signage on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York. Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images

https://www.cnbc.com/id/100956179

AOS

A. O. Smith

With I.P.O.’s on the rise, analysts get new scrutiny

Read more from The New York Times: BlackBerry to explore its strategic alternatives, including a sale Campbell Soup to sell some European operations Dole's chief to buy out company for $13.50 a share Interviewing analysts as part of the process of going public has become more prevalent, several analysts said, with the proliferation of so-called I.P.O. advisers, firms that advise companies in the early stages of an offering. These firms are paid to help companies and, often, their private equity owners screen banks vying to take companies public. Among other things, they arrange for meetings between companies and the Wall Street analysts and bankers. "If you are going to see the people who are screening the underwriters you are there for one purpose, to win banking business," said another Wall Street analyst, who also requested anonymity because his company prohibits employees from speaking to the media without prior approval. This analyst said he knew of the practice but had not taken part in any meetings. Participants say company meetings with the analysts and bankers are held separately, but can happen within hours of each other, and banks rarely send compliance officers to monitor the discussions. Analysts say that when private equity executives are involved, the sessions can turn especially uncomfortable, veering into questions about a company's valuation. Solebury Capital, Rothschild and Lazard are among the leading firms in this area. Solebury has recently guided a number of companies through the I.P.O. process, including the discount retailer Five Below; Bloomin' Brands, which owns Outback Steakhouse and Bonefish Grill; and HD Supply Holdings, according to regulatory filings. In an interview, Solebury's co-chief executives, Alan Sheriff and Ted Hatfield, said that their corporate clients meet with analysts as well as bankers as they work through the offering process, but that the meetings with analysts are "informational," regarding general market trends. "Pitching investment banking in analyst meetings is strictly off limits," Mr. Sheriff said. (Read more: Hot IPO Cvent praises JOBS Act, talks disruption) A senior research executive at one major Wall Street firm says he thinks it is acceptable for an analyst to have a broad chat with a company looking to go public, and the analyst can benefit from that meeting by learning more about the industry. But he expressed concern about meetings with companies in the process of choosing banks to underwrite their I.P.O.'s. "I am not O.K. with a third party organizing a beauty contest with the express purpose of winning banking business," said the executive, whose firm has a policy against speaking to the media. "The problem is, the analyst going to the meeting knows the purpose and couldn't help but feel pressured. You are selling your bank." Investors both large and small often rely on the recommendations of analysts, who issue buy and sell recommendations on stocks. Questions about the legitimacy of Wall Street research came into focus during the height of the Internet and telecommunications bubble. During that heady time, analysts worked closely with banking colleagues to secure profitable I.P.O. assignments from fast-growing tech companies. Mr. Spitzer, as attorney general, spearheaded an investigation that helped solidify his reputation at the time as the "sheriff of Wall Street." He released incriminating e-mails that showed analysts privately disparaged the very companies they were publicly telling investors to buy. They also showed how influential investment bankers were in securing positive research reports for companies that were either clients of a firm or prospective customers. In one e-mail, an investor asked Henry Blodget, then a Merrill Lynch analyst, what was so interesting about GoTo.com, an Internet company he was recommending, except for the banking fees that it generated. (Read more: Seeking capital, some companies turn to 'do-it-yourself I.P.O.'s') "Nothing," Mr. Blodget replied. In another e-mail message, Mr. Blodget called InfoSpace, an Internet company that he favored publicly, "a piece of junk." Federal regulators barred Mr. Blodget, who now runs Business Insider, a business news Web site, and Jack B. Grubman, another prominent analyst who worked at Salomon Smith Barney, from the securities industry. In 2003, 10 Wall Street banks agreed to pay a collective $1.4 billion to resolve the government's accusations. As part of the settlement, the firms agreed to separate their banking and research departments, a move that regulators said would ensure that analysts operated more autonomously. Analysts were also expressly "prohibited from participating in efforts to solicit investment banking business," including pitches and road shows. Over the years, that language has been incorporated into rules policed by Finra, the regulator.

https://www.cnbc.com/id/100679205

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A. O. Smith

Manti Te'o Misses Out on Millions at NFL Draft

A Wild Night of Surprises at the NFL Draft 9:10 AM ET Fri, 26 April 2013 All of those forces resulted in the once-unthinkable on Thursday night: He was not even chosen in the first round. That's right—32 teams had the chance to select him, and 32 teams said "no thank you." And he lost millions of dollars. (Read More: New Facebook Tool, Te'o Scandal Fan Flames of Privacy Debate) Look at it this way: If an NFL team picked Te'o at No. 5, he would have received a contract in the vicinity of four years and $20 million, with roughly half of that guaranteed. The millions from a rookie contract likely would have been matched by off-field endorsements. None of that has materialized, and now he's looking at a contract that will pay him about half a million with, perhaps, $2 million guaranteed. That's a net loss of at least $8 million. "Even if he plays 10 years in the league, this is millions over the first four years that he never gets back," said sports economist Patrick Rishe. "His endorsement value took an even bigger hit." "Here's a guy who was a hot commodity during his senior year at Notre Dame," he said. "If he performs well in the national championship game, if there isn't a story about the hoax girlfriend, and he had performed well at the combines, not only is he going to be picked in the top 10 and earn more money, but he's going to be more likely to get the endorsement deals." (Read More: Get a Fake Facebook Girlfriend for $20) Te'o must have known there was a possibility that he would not be picked because he did not attend the Radio City festivities at all Thursday night, avoiding the awkward possibility of multiple camera shots of him waiting in the green room as team after team passed him by. That's what happened to West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith, and he was so upset that he declined all interviews afterward. Smith was projected as the top quarterback in the draft, but there was only one QB picked in the first round. His name was EJ Manuel and not Geno Smith. As for Te'o, he assuredly will get drafted at some point. The rest is up to him. "If he plays and performs well, if he's a marketable player, if he's great in the community, all of those (other) things get washed away," Rishe said. But as you just saw, that is a lot of "ifs."

https://www.cnbc.com/id/21491393

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A. O. Smith

Replacing O'Neal: Who Waits in The Wings?

If Merrill Lynch Chief Executive Stan O'Neal is forced out, there's little doubt who the firm's army of more than 16,000 brokers would like to see replace him: their own boss. Robert McCann, president of Merrill Lynch's global private client business, has emerged as a potential candidate to replace the embattled O'Neal. Other candidates include BlackRock Chief Executive Larry Fink and NYSE Euronext CEO John Thain as possible replacements. O'Neal's grip on Merrill has weakened after the company posted its biggest quarterly loss in its history. O'Neal admitted this week he and his team misjudged the company's exposure to subprime mortgages, triggering an $8.4 billion write-down in the third quarter. McCann looked to have been sidelined just a few months ago after his direct reporting line to O'Neal was severed. But now he's making a comeback. "If naming your CEO was a popularity contest, Stan would be out and McCann would be in. But we know it doesn't work that way," said a Merrill Lynch executive, who declined to be named. It's unclear if McCann has enough recognition among Merrill Board members, a group put together during O'Neal's tenure. But Tom Sowanick, chief investment officer of Clearbrook Financial in Princeton, N.J., said McCann has the experience and leadership skills to run Merrill. Sowanick, a former Merrill Lynch wealth management strategist, worked for McCann before leaving the company. "Bob is a very demanding yet capable leader. He will be able to shepherd Merrill Lynch out of this storm," Sowanick said. Fink's candidacy has gathered steam because he is considered one of the top U.S. bond managers. He also is seen as someone who can remedy Merrill Lynch's fixed-income problems. Thain has a blue-chip Wall Street resume, with credentials sharpened by running NYSE and his time as a former co-president at Goldman Sachs. A spokeswoman for BlackRock, an asset manager in which Merrill holds a large stake, declined to comment, saying the company does not comment on market speculation and rumors. NYSE spokesmen were not immediately available to comment. Merrill's retail brokers have already lost confidence in O'Neal, thanks to the massive writedowns that happened on his watch. And some brokers are nervous that Merrill could be an attractive takeover target for a foreign bank. The company's depressed stock price and nearly $2 trillion in client assets might spur action from bidders. Deutsche Bank analyst Mike Mayo said Merrill could fetch $100 to $120 a share in a takeover. That's a 90 percent premium over the company's current trading price. A report in the New York Times Friday said O'Neal directed investment bank head Greg Fleming to approach Wachovia about a merger. Dick Bove, an analyst at Punk Ziegel & Co., said the overture "may indicate some panic on Mr. O'Neal's part." Many investors share the brokers' feelings about O'Neal, who the Times said has also angered the board by authorizing the Wachovia talks without consulting with it. Merrill Lynch declined comment for this story. "We're clearly disappointed in Stan O'Neal..." one of Merrill's largest investors said on condition of anonymity. CNBC learned on Friday that O'Neal had conceded to friends he could be out of a job by the end of the weekend.

https://www.cnbc.com/id/21233232

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A. O. Smith

Travel Business Helps WH Smith Profit

British bookseller and stationer WH Smith reported full-year profits ahead of market forecasts on Thursday and said it expected the key Christmas trading season t o be very competitive. Pretax profit before exceptional items was 61 million pounds ($124.6 million) for the year to Aug. 31, up 29% from last year's 51 million, on revenue down 3% at 1.299 billion. According to Reuters Estimates, the group had been expected by analysts to report profit of around 62.6 million pounds, within a range of 59.0 million to 64.2 million, with revenue seen about 1.28 billion. "We have delivered another year of strong profit performance ... Our Travel business grew strongly, and our High Street business made further progress in line with its plan," Chief Executive Kate Swann said in the results statement. "In an uncertain consumer environment, we expect the key Christmas season to be very competitive, however we have planned accordingly," she added. The company did not give an update on current trading, saying an interim management statement on Nov. 15 will cover the period from Sept. 1 to Nov. 10. In August, the retailer said it expected its annual results to be towards the top end of analysts' forecasts, helped by a good performance from its shops at train stations and airports. WH Smith had also said in August its high street shops would deliver a solid performance, underpinned by tight cost controls. The retailer proposed a final dividend of 8.1 pence, making a total payout of 11.8%, up 27% on last year. WH Smith shares, which have outperformed the UK retail sector by more than 22% so far this year, closed at 420 pence on Wednesday, valuing the company at around 768.4 million pounds.

https://www.cnbc.com/id/29164195

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A. O. Smith

Game Of G-E-I-C-O Will Be All-Star Weekend Highlight

When the NBA needed something to spice up its All-Star Saturday night — as the Slam Dunk Contest (since 1984) and the three-point contest (since 1986) got stale — they unveiled the Skills Challenge in 2003. What they should have done was unveiled the game of H-O-R-S-E. The league will realize this when the game is played by Kevin Durant, Joe Johnson and O.J. Mayo on TNT's lead-up to Saturday night's festivities. The idea was dreamed up by the network to create some action around "Inside the NBA," which will be set up outside US Airways Arena and will broadcast live with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Chris Webber from 5 to 7 p.m. ET on Saturday night. It's easy to see why this is going to be popular. As someone who has seen pros play a game of horse, or something close to it, it's really exciting. They'll play on a 45-by-50 foot court, where something called the NBA All-Star Block Party is being held. They'll wear microphones so you can hear them call every shot and there is, of course, no dunking allowed. "Everyone played H-O-R-S-E as a kid," said Jon Diament, executive vice president of ad sales and marketing for Turner. "Who has played slam dunk?" Except, and you might have heard this, the guys aren't playing H-O-R-S-E. They are actually playing G-E-I-C-O, thanks to the insurance company paying a premium for the name change. They'll also get scoreboard signage and on-air graphics and probably get an incredible bang for the buck. The only thing we can think of that we thought Geico should have done was to pay a former NBA player to wear a caveman outfit and try to beat the current guys. Not only would you get people to laugh while working in one of your brand mascots, but if the caveman actually won it would generate actual news stories. The last time that was done successfully was when Nokia had a dressed up rabbit win a road race it sponsored. Diament said there will be no geckos or cavemen on the court this time around. The competition is set to start at 6 p.m. ET and we figure there's enough of a pad so that if it gets ridiculous, they'll be done by the time they have to be off the air by 7 p.m. But to us, this is the most exciting part of the weekend, including the game. It's why we're saying it here right now that next year's Saturday night ticket will get you a seat into the arena to see H-O-R-S-E, or G-E-I-C-O, or whatever it's called then. Questions? Comments? SportsBiz@cnbc.com

https://www.cnbc.com/id/16146460

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A. O. Smith

Smith & Nephew to Launch $11 Billion Bid for Biomet

Europe's biggest medical device maker, Smith & Nephew, is close to bidding about $11 billion for its U.S. rival Biomet, sources familiar with the situation said Sunday (Play-By-Play: Conditions Right For More Merger Mania). One of the sources told Reuters bids were due by Tuesday and other companies were also likely to submit offers for Biomet. S&N, which would not comment, said on Nov. 2 it had held "very preliminary talks" over a tie-up with Biomet. Combining S&N and Biomet would help the two companies close the gap on the market leaders for joint implants -- U.S. groups Johnson & Johnson, Stryker and Zimmer. Analysts have said a tie-up would probably take the form of an offer by S&N for Biomet pitched at between $10.5 billion and $12 billion, although a deal between the two is not certain since the U.S. company is likely to attract interest from rivals. S&N has long been tipped as a bidder for Biomet, which hired investment bank Morgan Stanley in April to consider its strategic options after long-time Chief Executive Dane Miller resigned. A source close to the matter told Reuters earlier in the year that the two companies held talks this summer, but no offer was made at the time. Higher Margins S&N Chief Executive Chris O'Donnell has said in the past he saw disadvantages to S&N being smaller than its major U.S. rivals and economies of scale could help improve margins. But he has also cautioned that achieving cost savings in sales forces would not be easy, given the specialist nature of the products being sold. The move on Biomet marks S&N's second recent attempt to grow via large-scale acquisition. It bid for Switzerland's Centerpulse in 2003, only to be beaten out by Zimmer. It may face stiff competition this time round, too. The Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported that S&N could face rival trade buyers such as Johnson & Johnson, Stryker and Zimmer, while the Sunday Times newspaper said a private equity bidder may prove the main opposition for S&N. S&N itself is regularly rumored as a takeover target for larger U.S. peers and industry analysts believe an unsuccessful attempt to acquire Biomet could leave it vulnerable. Makers of joint implants have enjoyed strong sales growth in the past few years, driven by technological innovation, an aging population and increased demand for elective surgery among the "baby boomers." But more recently investors have become concerned about pressure on prices charged for devices.

https://www.cnbc.com/2013/09/28/house-gop-to-plan-next-step-as-budget-clock-runs-down.html

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A. O. Smith

House G.O.P. to Plan Next Step as Budget Clock Runs Down

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. Getty Images WASHINGTON — House Republicans will meet in a rare Saturday session as they plan their next move to keep the government open past midnight on Monday while extracting major concessions on President Obama's health care law. The Senate turned up the pressure on the House on Friday, passing a stopgap spending bill that would keep the government financed through Nov. 15 while leaving the health care law intact. Now, House Republicans must decide whether to accept the measure, attach minor changes to the health care law that could win Democratic support, or confront the Senate anew by again tying further government financing to a gutting of the law. Any move short of passing the Senate bill is likely to shut down the government, at least briefly, unless it is accompanied by a measure that would finance the government for at least a few days. That would allow the Republican to keep their struggle alive. (Read more: Why markets should pray for a US government shutdown) watch now In his Saturday radio and Internet address, the president will accuse Republicans in the House of being "more concerned with appeasing an extreme faction of their party than working to pass a budget that creates new jobs or strengthens the middle class," according to a transcript released in advance. "And in the next couple days, these Republicans will have to decide whether to join the Senate and keep the government open, or create a crisis that will hurt people for the sole purpose of advancing their ideological agenda," he adds. "The American people have worked too hard to recover from crisis to see extremists in their Congress cause another one." Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, the chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, will use the Republican radio address on Saturday to shift the debate to another important deadline, Oct. 17, when Congress must raise the government's statutory borrowing limit or risk a potentially catastrophic default on the national debt. More from The New York Times: U.S. and Iran Agree to Speed Talks Over Nuclear Dispute Race to the End for 'Breaking Bad' Binge-Viewers InKenya Attack, Narrow Escapes and Questions "The president is now demanding that we increase the debt limit without engaging in any kind of bipartisan discussions about addressing our spending problem," Ms. Rodgers said. "He wants to take the easy way out — exactly the kind of foolishness that got us here in the first place." Congressional Republicans are waging a two-front political war: one with Mr. Obama and the Democrats, the other within their own ranks. The House Republicans' meeting, which is to begin at noon, is intended to produce spending legislation that is coupled with Republican health care demands, and the measure would face a vote on Sunday. That would leave the Senate just one day to deal with the House legislation before much of the government closes down for lack of funds. Without unanimous support in the Senate, the rules of the chamber would never let any such measure pass that quickly. watch now

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/20/the-best-jobs-for-introverts-according-to-new-researchsome-pay-over-100k.html

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A. O. Smith

The best jobs for introverts, according to new research—some pay over $100,000

If you're introverted, you might not want a job that requires constant meetings or working in large groups of people. While some jobs might be more tailored to extroverts, dozens of high-paying roles allow introverts to leverage their natural tendencies and unique strengths. Resume Genius recently curated a list of 15 high-paying jobs with strong job growth projections that are well-suited for introverts. To compile the list, researchers looked at recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and O*NET Online and identified roles that are compatible with common introverted traits and preferences including creative thinking, deep engagement, autonomy and meaningful interactions. Then, Resume Genius picked out jobs that paid a minimum annual salary of $56,240 and had strong 10-year outlooks, according to BLS data. Whether you're someone who prefers to work in quiet environments or simply want the flexibility to work independently, consider pursuing one of these careers: 1. Database architect Median annual salary: $134,870 2. Software developer Median annual salary: $127,260 3. Actuary Median annual salary: $113,990 4. Information security analyst Median annual salary: $112,000 5. Data scientist Median annual salary: $103,500 6. Computer systems analyst Median annual salary: $102,240 7. Mechanical engineer Median annual salary: $96,310 8. Digital (UX) designer Median annual salary: $83,240 9. Technical writer Median annual salary: $79,960 10. Occupational health and safety specialist Median annual salary: $78,570 11. Accountant and auditor Median annual salary: $78,000 12. Market research analyst Median annual salary: $68,230 13. Film and video editor Median annual salary: $63,520 14. Millwright Median annual salary: $59,470 15. Graphic designer Median annual salary: $57,990 While jobs in tech or finance are big draws for introverts, as these industries are conducive to introverted tendencies such as independent work and creative problem-solving, other non-tech roles are equally suitable for this personality type, Eva Chan, a career expert at Resume Genius, tells CNBC Make It. That includes millwrights, who install, maintain and repair construction machinery, as well as occupational health and safety specialists, who conduct assessments and analyze data related to workplace safety. "Introverts have a unique professional strength: when they need to learn something new, they're often happy to dive in and require little supervision or external help," Chan says. "This capacity to self-start and carry out independent research not only distinguishes introverts from other personality types but also makes them highly valuable in any job that emphasizes autonomy and initiative." To land one of these roles, Chan recommends using "introvert-friendly" job search methods like networking online in forums or groups on LinkedIn and Slack that align with your interests and career aspirations. When it comes to networking, introverts don't have to stretch too far outside of their comfort zone, Chan adds. Instead, you should focus on "quality over quantity" by looking for smaller, more intimate networking opportunities (like a one-on-one informational interview) with colleagues and industry peers, which can make it easier to forge genuine relationships. You can also use your resume or cover letter to highlight specific instances where your independent actions at work led to tangible outcomes, such as solving a complex problem, innovating a process or contributing to a project's overall success. Want to land your dream job in 2024? Take CNBC's new online course How to Ace Your Job Interview to learn what hiring managers are really looking for, body language techniques, what to say and not to say, and the best way to talk about pay. CNBC Make It readers can save 25% with discount code 25OFF. Check out: 4 side hustles for introverts: Some can bring in tens of thousands of dollars

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/20/analyst-calls-all-the-market-moving-wall-street-chatter-from-wednesday.html

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A. O. Smith

Wednesday's analyst calls: Nvidia price target increases and an alternative trade for the '2nd wave of AI'

(This is CNBC Pro's live coverage of Wednesday's analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) Analyst chatter on Wednesday featured Nvidia and another possible way to capitalize on the artificial intelligence craze. Several analysts raised their price targets on Nvidia after the company's GTC Conference, in which the chipmaker unveiled a new graphics processing unit. Elsewhere, Barclays reinstated coverage of Broadcom, noting the stock could be an alternative AI play. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 8:23 a.m.: Citi upgrades International Paper after new CEO named A new CEO could bring improvements to International Paper , according to Citi. The bank upgraded the packaging and paper products company on Tuesday to buy from neutral and raised its price target to $46 from $36, suggesting nearly 19% upside from Tuesday's close. International Paper on Tuesday named Andy Silvernail its new CEO, effective May 1. The stock popped 11% on the news.The company has been long burdened with an overly complex portfolio and has chronically underperformed, Citi analyst Anthony Pettinari said in a note to clients. "While outgoing CEO Mark Sutton made major strides in simplifying IP's portfolio (White Paper spin, China/India/Russia exit, asset sales), we view the job as partly done. Mr. Silvernail is an outsider and a potential change agent," he wrote. Pettinari believes priorities include divesting underperforming assets and fixing its box business. He also expects Silvernail to address the performance gap with competitor Packaging Corp of America. — Michelle Fox 8:08 a.m.: Telsey Advisory Group upgrades Best Buy, sees more than 20% upside ahead Telsey Advisory Group upgraded Best Buy to outperform from market perform on Wednesday, a day after meeting with the retailer's management, including CEO Corrie Barry. The firm also hiked its price target to $95 per share from $85, suggesting nearly 23% upside from Tuesday's close. "Our meetings with Best Buy increased our confidence in the business showing signs of stabilization and improvement after nine consecutive quarters of negative comps, as the replacement cycle kicks in," analyst Joseph Feldman wrote in a note to clients. In fact, Best Buy is already seeing positive comparables in select categories like laptops, he said. Product innovation is also on the rise, which should help attract consumers and fuel growth, he added. In addition, the company is being cautious on capital spending, he said. Shares of Best Buy added more than 2% in premarket trading. — Michelle Fox 7:57 a.m.: Citi upgrades Tencent Music to buy after fourth-quarter report Tencent Music Entertainment may have found a path to steady growth and a higher stock price, according to Citi Analyst. Alicia Yap upgraded the Chinese entertainment stock to buy from neutral after Tencent released its fourth-quarter results. Tencent's total revenue for the fourth quarter was down year over year, but its subscription business grew. "We believe TME's steady/resilient subscription music business with expanding capabilities of music value chain and ramp-up of long-form audio and diversified use case scenarios across multi-channels/devices would support sustained growth outlook," Yap said in a note to clients. Those subscriptions are expected to continue to be the key driver for the business moving forward. "For 2024, management is confident that the online music business will maintain solid growth with subscription services serving as a primary driving force while continuing to explore new opportunities in advertising and artist merchandise to grow the business," the note said. Citi hiked its price target on Tencent Music to $13 per share from $9. The stock closed at $11.04 per share on Tuesday. — Jesse Pound 7:43 a.m.: Mizuho names Chevron a top pick, highlights delayed acquisition of Hess as catalyst A delayed acquisition has opened up a good entry point for shares of Chevron , according to Mizuho. The bank maintained its buy rating on the multinational energy giant and called Chevron a top pick. Analyst Nitin Kumar also raised his price target to $200 from $195, implying a 28% increase from the stock's Tuesday closing price. Chevron stock has added 5% so far this year. Kumar noted that the stock began the year outperforming its peers due to strong fourth-quarter earnings, until the company filed its proposed acquisition of Hess. "Since then the stock has underperformed peers by ~6% as investors are concerned whether the deal will be completed since XOM and its partners are moving to," he wrote. Kumar's base case assumption still shows the deal going through, just with a Sep 30 close date versus June 30. Additionally, the analyst expects total production for Chevron to grow at a compound annual growth rate of between 10% to 11%, assuming that the Hess acquisition closes at the end of the third quarter. He also sees the company's current net asset value as looking attractive. "Although the HES acquisition is ~7% accretive to NAV in our opinion, we still see value in standalone CVX especially given the recent underperformance compared to peers," Kumar wrote. — Lisa Kailai Han 7:38 a.m.: Needham upgrades Carmax to buy Carmax could soon be the upswing once again as the used car market begins to look more like it did before the Covid pandemic, according to Needham. Analyst Chris Pierce upgraded the stock to buy from hold, saying in a note to clients that the used car market could be on the road to recovery after a rocky few years. "We see potential for a multi-year recovery, with interest rate relief and rising used vehicle supply pushing down [average selling prices] and monthly payments. We are confident in our above-consensus FY25 and FY26 retail unit estimates, which assume KMX's share gains resume and its omni-channel investments pay off as units grow," the note said. And even with concerns about the U.S. consumer weakening, the Carmax loan book appears to be in good shape, Pierce said. "KMX's December loan default commentary was a positive surprise, with higher value loans on higher ASP vehicles seeing elevated early defaults, but subsequently reverting toward expectations as the loans season," the note said. Needham set a price target of $99 per share for Carmax, which is about 22% above where the stock closed Tuesday. — Jesse Pound 7:34 a.m.: Chipotle shares can continue rising amid strong growth, Deutsche Bank says Deutsche Bank sees more room to run for Chipotle shares as the fast-casual Mexican chain continues growing. Analyst Lauren Silberman raised her price target by $200 to $3,300 per share, which now implies an upside of 18% over Tuesday's close. Silberman also reiterated her buy rating. In a note titled "Guac Costs Extra and So Does Growth," Silberman said she has high conviction in the near-term and long-term growth outlooks for the stock. The analyst said a premium multiple is deserved, given that there's few high-quality U.S. companies with clean balance sheets, strong fundamentals and the potential to see upside to performance metrics. "CMG has been among the best-performing restaurant stocks and we expect fundamental strength to continue to drive outperformance," she wrote to clients. Silberman also praised Chipotle for its visibility into the path to 30% on margins. Its "best-in-class" unit economics offer another quality to like, she said. On Tuesday, Chipotle said its board approved a 50-to-1 stock split . The change is expected to go into effect in June if approved by shareholders earlier that month. Shares of Chipotle rose more than 6% in Wednesday premarket trading. The stock has climbed more than 22% this year. CMG YTD mountain CMG year to date — Alex Harring 7:31 a.m.: Spotify shares could still gain nearly 25%, according to Bank of America Bank of America is increasingly confident in Spotify's long-term potential. The firm maintained its buy rating on the streaming company and also raised its price target by $50 to $315, which suggests shares could climb 24.6%. The stock has already jumped more than 35% this year. "The company is now at an inflection point which is driving share price performance over the last ~18 months and we are confident in the sustainability of this momentum driven by: 1) subscriber growth, 2) monetization opportunities (e.g. price increases), 3) scaling of advertising driven in large part by podcasting, 4) continued operating leverage," analyst Jessica Ehrlich wrote in a Wednesday note, adding that first-quarter earnings should come out at least in line with guidance. Spotify is on track to see positive gross margins, operating income and free cash flow, according to Ehrlich. The company's free cash flow trajectory and strong balance sheet pave the way for it to initiate a share repurchase program, which could boost shares higher in the second half of this year, the analyst added. — Pia Singh 6:48 a.m.: JPMorgan upgrades bitcoin mining firm Riot Platforms, forecasts more than 35% upside Investors should look to bitcoin mining company Riot Platforms after the recent increase in bitcoin prices, according to JPMorgan. Although shares on Tuesday declined to their lowest level, $11.09, since the Securities and Exchange Commission's bitcoin ETF approval, analyst Reginald Smith remains optimistic and upgraded the stock to overweight from neutral. His $15 price target assumes a $60,000 bitcoin price and suggests 35.2% potential upside for the stock. Smith cited the Riot's decline as a result of the stagnant hashrate growth, equity dilution and broader industry profit taking. "We like Riot's unique combination of industry-leading power contracts, scale and liquidity (Riot last reported ~$600M in cash and $470M worth of bitcoin), and think shares offer the best relative upside among the three largest and most liquid U.S.-listed mining stocks," Smith wrote in a Wednesday note. Riot shares are down more than 28% year to date. RIOT YTD mountain RIOT in 2024 — Pia Singh 6:23 a.m.: Citi downgrades Wells Fargo Citi downgraded Wells Fargo to neutral from buy, saying the bank's valuation has already priced in the potential for earnings per share revisions. Analyst Keith Horowitz raised his target price by $6 to $63, however, which implies the stock could gain 10.5% from Tuesday's close. Shares are up 15.8% year to date. "We continue to see tailwinds from fixed asset repricing, growth across fee categories and improved efficiency, but our estimates are not too far above the Street. With WFC trading at a premium relative to peers on our implied cost of equity metric, we believe the risk/reward is fairly balanced," analyst Horowitz wrote in a Tuesday note, saying Wells Fargo has been one of his top picks among the G-SIBs, or global systemically important banks. — Pia Singh 6:03 a.m.: Netflix shares should 'trade at a premium,' according to KeyBanc KeyBanc Capital Markets thinks Netflix can grow consistently going forward. Analyst Justin Patterson maintained his overweight rating and upped his price target by $125 to $705, suggesting shares of the streaming giant could gain 13.6% over the next year. He also increased his earnings per share estimates for this year and 2024. "We continue to see signs that: 1) Netflix's content quality is improving; and 2) in our view, this creates a clear catalyst path as engagement should drive a monetization ramp (both in price increases and ad revenue)," Patterson wrote in a Tuesday, anticipating Netflix to have a more balanced growth between subscribers and monetization over the medium term. "Given more recurring revenue, an emerging ad revenue stream, and consistent 20%+ EPS growth, we believe NFLX should trade at a premium to peers." Netflix shares are up 27.5% so far this year. — Pia Singh 5:55 a.m.: Analysts think Nvidia is still a buy after GTC conference Several analysts remain bullish on Nvidia after the darling chipmaker's artificial intelligence GTC conference this week, during which CEO Jensen Huang gave a two-hour keynote speech about Nvidia's growing lineup of software and hardware products. Here's what some of them had to say: Oppenheimer analyst Rick Schafer raised his price target on the stock to $1,100, implying upside of 23%. "Nvidia has transformed from a graphics company to a premier leading AI computing platform company. GPUs were initially used for graphics in video games and film. Given its parallel processing capabilities and thousands of computing cores, GPU are now optimized for deep learning AI algorithms in datacenters." Piper Sandler hiked its price target to $1,050 from $850, noting: "We view the new architecture as an expansion of the already dominant market positioning of NVDA's hardware offering. We maintain that NVDA is the leading company in offering the full hardware and software stack to address the decade long transition to accelerated computing and generative AI." The new price target implies upside of 17.5%. Bank of America reiterated its buy rating and $1,100 price target, naming Nvidia a "top compute pick" following the conference. Blackwell's pricing should allow Nvidia to sustain mid-70% gross margins, and adoption of the new chips could be among the fastest in company history given its affordability across various customer bases, analyst Vivek Arya said. Nvidia shares closed at $893.98 on Tuesday. The stock — which is up 80.5% for the year — traded 0.2% lower in premarket trading. — Pia Singh 5:55 a.m.: Broadcom a strong play for '2nd wave of AI', Barclays says Looking for another way to capitalize on the artificial intelligence craze? Barclays thinks investors should look no further than Broadcom . The bank reinstated coverage of the semiconductor stock at an overweight rating. Its price target of $1,405 implies upside of nearly 14%. "The company joins our preferred names this year as another way to play the 2nd Wave of AI via a best-in-class data center silicon portfolio," analyst Tom O'Malley wrote. "In the near term, AI is all that matters and the custom silicon/switching businesses are driving a significant portion of near-term growth (we forecast a mid/high-20% range next year and for it to accelerate longer term)." "Outside of AI, the company is seeing many of the same cyclical downturns as Semi peers but a growing software business helps boost profitability and [free cash flow] generation," he said. Broadcom shares are up 10% year to date, lagging Nvidia — which has soared 80%. That said, Broadcom is outperforming the S & P 500's 8.6% gain. AVGO YTD mountain AVGO year to date — Fred Imbert

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/06/northern-ireland-united-ireland-in-focus-with-sinn-feins-michelle-oneill.html

AOS

A. O. Smith

The prospect of a united Ireland emerges as a republican leader takes office in Belfast

BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - FEBRUARY 3: First Minister Michelle O'Neill speaks during proceedings of the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont on February 3, 2024 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. LONDON — A referendum on Irish reunification could be in the cards within a decade, according to Northern Ireland's first-ever nationalist first minister, who took office at the weekend. Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill was appointed as first minister on Saturday, the first Irish nationalist to hold the office since Northern Ireland was founded as a Protestant-majority state in 1921. The Democratic Unionist Party's Emma Little-Pengelly was appointed deputy first minister. It came after the Northern Ireland Assembly, the country's devolved parliament, reconvened for the first time in two years on Saturday after the U.K. loyalist DUP reached a deal with the British government to end a boycott over post-Brexit trade arrangements. The island to the west of England is divided in two; Northern Ireland is part of the U.K., whereas its neighbor, the Republic of Ireland, is an independent nation and a member of the European Union. Until now, Northern Ireland's first minister has always come from a British unionist party, but Sinn Fein, which advocates for Northern Ireland to rejoin the Republic, won the most seats in the assembly for the first time in 2022. The DUP, Northern Ireland's largest British unionist party, boycotted the assembly in February 2022 in protest over post-Brexit trade rules and refused to return for two years, leaving the country of 1.9 million people without a functioning administration. The deal that secured its return includes a contribution of more than £3 billion ($3.8 billion) from the British government for Northern Ireland's public services. The power-sharing rules of the assembly, enshrined in the Good Friday Agreement — a landmark 1998 peace deal that brought an end to three decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland — mean that the executive, which runs the country, must include both unionist and nationalist representatives.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/11/judge-rules-texas-gov-greg-abbotts-ban-on-school-mask-mandates-violates-federal-law.html

ABT

Abbott

Judge rules Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's ban on school mask mandates violates federal law

Children participate in an activity in class at the Xavier Academy on August 23, 2021 in Houston, Texas. In-person classroom sessions are resuming and schools around Houston are requiring mask mandates, keeping in accordance with CDC guidelines. A federal judge in Texas ruled Wednesday that Gov. Greg Abbott's executive order banning mask mandates in schools violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, setting the stage for school districts in the state to decide whether they want to impose mask rules. U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel wrote in a 29-page ruling that the ADA, a federal law enacted in 1990, supersedes Abbott's July order banning facial coverings in schools. "The spread of COVID-19 poses an even greater risk for children with special health needs. Children with certain underlying conditions who contract COVID-19 are more likely to experience severe acute biological effects and to require admission to a hospital and the hospital's intensive-care unit," Yeakel said. "This includes children with conditions including, Down syndrome, organ transplants, lung conditions, heart conditions, and weakened immune systems." Yeakel added, "The evidence presented by Plaintiffs establishes that Plaintiffs are being denied the benefits of in-person learning on an equal basis as their peers without disabilities." The ruling also prohibits Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from enforcing the governor's order, which imposes a fine of up to $1,000 for any entity that issues a mask mandate. Paxton's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The lawsuit was filed in August by families of students with disabilities and an advocacy group called Disability Rights Texas. The suit argued that Abbott's ban denies children with pre-existing conditions equal access to a safe education. "Governor Abbott's executive order clearly violates federal law, and Attorney General Paxton's enforcement of the order against school districts is now stopped," said Kym Davis Rogers, an attorney for the group, in a statement. "As the court found, Texas is not above federal law, and state officials cannot prevent school districts from providing accommodations to students who are especially vulnerable to the risks of COVID-19. We are thankful that school districts can now take the steps necessary to protect these students. No student should be forced to make the choice of forfeiting their education or risking their health, and now they won't have to." Wednesday's ruling comes as GOP-led states such as Florida and Iowa have banned mask mandates in schools. The majority of public schools in Texas began in-person classes in August. More than 210,000 students have tested positive for Covid-19, according to state data. The Department of Justice filed a statement of interest in the Texas case in late September, arguing Abbott's executive order would harm students with disabilities. "The serious adverse consequences on students with certain disabilities is readily foreseeable," the Justice Department wrote. "Some parents of children at heightened COVID-19 risk will likely keep their children at home—even though the children could safely attend school if mask protocols could be put in place."

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/17/jim-cramer-says-abbott-laboratories-shares-can-go-higher-thanks-to-covid-delta-surge.html

ABT

Abbott

Jim Cramer says Abbott Laboratories shares can go higher thanks to Covid delta surge

CNBC's Jim Cramer said Tuesday he sees more near-term upside for shares of Abbott Laboratories as the U.S. grapples with the Covid delta variant. The "Mad Money" host pointed specifically to the company's BinaxNOW coronavirus test, a self-administered diagnostic that can be bought over the counter at pharmacy chains like Walgreens and CVS . "This Binax is now the hottest product on the market. Just as Abbott had to pre-announce how poorly Binax was doing, sometimes I wonder if they have to pre-announce to the upside now that it's doing so well," Cramer said. The Food and Drug Administration authorized Abbott Labs' rapid Covid test for at-home use in December, right around the time vaccines for the disease were cleared on an emergency use basis. As availability of the BinaxNOW test increased during the spring, so too did access to Covid vaccines, which helped drive down coronavirus infection levels across the country. Now, in recent weeks, coronavirus cases have jumped in the U.S., leading Cramer to believe more and more Americans are going to seek out Abbott Labs' rapid test. "We've got so many antivaxxers in this country that they've kept the pandemic alive and now we've got new variants with a decent chance of breaking through the vaccines from Pfizer and, to a lesser extent, Moderna. You know what that means? Testing, testing, testing," Cramer said. The Covid situation also is benefiting shares of Regeneron , which makes an antibody therapy to treat the disease, Cramer said. "The tables have turned, the fortunes restored for Regeneron and Abbott Labs. Their stocks have been up all along with all the other slowdown winners," Cramer said, alluding to the fact shares of Regeneron and Abbott Labs are up 11% and 7%, respectively, in the past month. That compares with the S&P 500's roughly 2.8% gain in the same time period. "Now they have another kicker, and I think they've still got higher to go," Cramer said.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/11/texas-gov-abbott-issues-order-banning-covid-vaccination-mandates-in-rebuke-of-biden.html

ABT

Abbott

Texas Gov. Abbott issues order banning Covid vaccination mandates in rebuke of Biden

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order on Monday prohibiting any entity, including private businesses, from imposing Covid-19 vaccination requirements on employees or customers. "The COVID-19 vaccine is safe, effective, and our best defense against the virus, but should remain voluntary and never forced," said Abbott said in a statement. Abbott, a Republican, said in his order that it was prompted by the Biden administration's vaccine federal mandate, which the governor called federal overreach. President Joe Biden announced a mandate last month requiring companies with 100 or more employees to ensure that their workforces are vaccinated or regularly tested. The Labor Department has yet to release details of the emergency rule, but Biden last week called on companies to act now and not to wait for the requirement to go into effect. Abbott, who tested positive for Covid in August, has also resisted mask mandates and requiring proof of vaccination in the state. The state has continued to experience a rise in cases and crowded hospitals, prompting the governor to invest in monoclonal antibody infusion centers. Abbott issued executive orders over the summer banning local governments and school districts from requiring either masks or vaccines, issuing a $1,000 fine to those who failed to comply. School districts in San Antonio and Dallas, however, have challenged the order in court. The state legislature also passed a bill in June banning private businesses requiring vaccination proof from customers. In Monday's order, Abbott also sent a memo to the chief clerk of the state House of Representatives and the secretary of the state Senate requesting to codify the mandate in a bill. The governor said the order will be rescinded when the GOP-controlled legislature passes the bill. Other GOP-led states have taken similar approaches to Texas. Montana passed a bill banning vaccine requirements by employers. Earlier this year, Florida also banned businesses from requiring proof of vaccination.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/19/walmart-donated-to-texas-gov-greg-abbott-as-he-fought-biden-vaccine-mandate.html

ABT

Abbott

Walmart donated to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as he fought Biden Covid vaccine mandate

A worker delivers groceries to a customer's vehicle outside a Walmart Inc. store in Amsterdam, New York, on Friday, May 15, 2020. Walmart's political action committee donated to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's reelection campaign last month, as he geared up to fight a federal Covid-19 vaccine mandate, according to a new federal filing. The donation came as the retail industry has expressed concerns about the mandate weighing on operations as the holiday shopping season approaches and America faces labor shortages. The contribution also came after Abbott, a Republican who is up for reelection next year, signed a law that effectively bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, as well as legislation that includes voting restrictions. Arkansas-based Walmart made the $10,000 donation, dated Sept. 29, through its "PAC for sustainable government," according to a Federal Election Commission filing. The mega retailer's donation to Abbott was the biggest contribution it gave to any state or federal elected official that month. The Walmart PAC also contributed $5,000 to Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, also a Republican. Records show Walmart has contributed to both Abbott's and Patrick's campaigns in the past. The company has also contributed to Democrats. "As a company that operates in all 50 states, it is necessary for us to engage political leaders from both parties across a broad spectrum of policy matters. Our company and PAC engage in a bipartisan manner based on a range of issues that impact our associates, customers and shareholders," a Walmart representative told CNBC. "We have not been and will never be a single-issue contributor, and we recognize that at times elected officials will back legislation we don't support or condone. However, it's important that we continue to engage in the political process and make our views known to policymakers and other stakeholders." President Joe Biden in September announced that his administration would implement a Covid vaccine mandate that would cover private businesses with 100 or more workers. It will apply to about two-thirds of the private sector's workforce. The administration is expected to publish the rules soon.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/26/texas-covid-gov-abbott-deploys-thousands-of-out-of-state-medical-staff-to-battle-delta-surge.html

ABT

Abbott

Texas Gov. Abbott to deploy 2,500 more out-of-state medical staff to battle delta Covid surge

Texas Governor Greg Abbott speaking at a press conference at the Texas State Capitol in Austin on May 18, 2020. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday the state will get 2,500 additional medical personnel from across the country to help alleviate pressure on the state's health-care system imposed by this summer's Covid surge. Texas began requesting external assistance just two weeks ago, when Abbott announced that the Texas Department of State Health Services had coordinated a first wave of over 2,500 out-of-state workers to respond to the delta variant. With this latest addition, the state will have approximately 8,100 outside medical personnel, including nurses and respiratory therapists. Covid patients are currently taking up more than half of all intensive care beds in Texas as of Thursday, compared with 30% nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. "The medical personnel and equipment deployed by DSHS will provide crucial support to our health care facilities as they treat hospitalized cases of COVID-19," Abbott said in a statement. The Texas health services department is also distributing ventilators, hospital beds, heart monitors and oxygen machines, the statement said. More than a quarter of Texas' nearly 52,000 reported hospital inpatients have Covid, HHS recorded Thursday.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/05/texas-gov-abbott-orders-new-special-session-to-pass-gop-voting-laws.html

ABT

Abbott

Texas Gov. Abbott orders new special session to pass GOP voting laws

Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced the US Army Corps of Engineers and the state are putting up a 250-bed field hospital at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in downtown Dallas during a press conference at the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Sunday, March 29, 2020. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday ordered the Legislature to reconvene for a third time to try to pass a Republican-backed voting restrictions bill that Democratic members blocked by leaving the state nearly a month ago. The announcement, which had been expected, puts new pressure on the more than 50 Democratic lawmakers who left Texas for Washington, D.C., on July 12 and have remained there since. They had been preparing to celebrate running out the clock on the current 30-day special session that ends Friday, which would torpedo the sweeping elections overhaul for the second time since May. But their holdout may not be over. Some Democrats said this week that they had no intention of returning to the state Capitol, even after they return to Texas and face possible arrest to compel their attendance. State Rep. Chris Turner, the leader of the House Democratic Caucus, would not say following Abbott's announcement whether they would return before the new session begins Saturday. But asked about members who say they will keep refusing to show up, Turner told The Associated Press: "It's very much under discussion. I'll just leave it at that." Abbott, who is up for reelection in 2022, made a new elections package part of a 17-item agenda he instructed the GOP-led Legislature to consider over the next month. It includes other hot-button measures sought by conservative activists, including new border security measures and rules over how race is taught in public schools. "I will continue to call special session after special session to reform our broken bail system, uphold election integrity, and pass other important items that Texans demand and deserve," Abbott said. The cross-country exodus last month marked the second time that Democratic lawmakers staged a walkout on the voting overhaul, which they say would make it harder for young people, people of color and people with disabilities to vote. But like the first effort in May, there remains no clear path for Democrats to permanently block the voting measures or the other contentious GOP-backed proposals up for debate. But Democratic state Rep. Eddie Rodriguez said Wednesday that there was enough will to keep trying. "A vast majority, enough to break quorum, have committed to each other to not be in the Capitol when the second called session happens," Rodriguez said. Abbott last month vowed to arrest Democrats once they return to Texas. "I don't think arresting Democrats and forcing them to the Statehouse, most of us being Hispanic or African American, or Asian American for that matter, that's not a good look," Rodriguez said. "I would hope they would take that into account. But that's up to them. Again, we don't have a lot in our control." In choosing to hunker down in Washington, the Democrats sought to put pressure on President Joe Biden and Congress to pass new federal voting rights legislation that would blunt the impact of the GOP bill in Texas. A group of key Democratic senators, including West Virginia's Joe Manchin, met Wednesday in Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's office to discuss a compromise on voting legislation. The group's members have been working for weeks with their counterparts in the U.S. House to develop a narrower approach. But even with a retooled bill, they would still face the same challenge as before: a filibuster by Senate Republicans, who overwhelmingly oppose the measure. Overcoming that hurdle would require changes to Senate procedural rules, which many moderate Democrats oppose — denying the party the votes to change the rule. Although the Texas Democrats have met with Vice President Kamala Harris, a White House official said Biden had no plans to meet with them.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/29/texas-gov-abbott-doubles-down-against-covid-health-limits.html

ABT

Abbott

Texas Gov. Abbott threatens fines again against local officials and businesses that enforce mask mandates, vaccine requirements

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order Thursday, reiterating his opposition to mask mandates, Covid-related business restrictions and vaccination requirements and issuing fines of up to $1,000 on those who fail to comply. The governor also called on state hospitals to deliver daily reports on their capacity to the Texas Department of State Health Services to send to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "The new Executive Order emphasizes that the path forward relies on personal responsibility rather than government mandates," Abbott said in a statement. Abbott's order reiterates and extends previous orders he's issued penalizing local officials and others for enforcing various Covid safety protocols.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/02/texas-abortion-law-elon-musk-reacts-to-gov-greg-abbotts-comments.html

ABT

Abbott

Elon Musk declines to address Texas abortion law directly after Gov. Greg Abbott's comments

Elon Musk on Thursday declined to weigh in directly on Texas' abortion law after Gov. Greg Abbott said the Tesla and SpaceX CEO supported his state's "social policies" following the implementation of the harshly restrictive measure. "In general, I believe government should rarely impose its will upon the people, and, when doing so, should aspire to maximize their cumulative happiness," Musk told CNBC in a tweet. "That said, I would prefer to stay out of politics," said Musk, whose companies and private foundation are both growing their operations in Texas. Abortion rights advocates and providers say the law effectively overturns precedent for abortion protections set under Roe v. Wade in 1973. President Joe Biden and others in his administration, as well as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., have vowed to take action after the Supreme Court refused to block the law from taking effect. Earlier Thursday, Abbott told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" that the new law and other politically divisive social issue laws will not make his state less appealing to businesses or individuals. "You need to understand that there's a lot of businesses and a lot of Americans who like the social positions that the state of Texas is taking," Abbott said.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/04/texas-gov-abbott-blames-covid-spread-on-immigrants-criticizes-bidens-neanderthal-comment-.html

ABT

Abbott

Texas Gov. Abbott blames Covid spread on immigrants, criticizes Biden's 'Neanderthal' comment

watch now Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday criticized President Joe Biden for calling his decisions to lift Covid-19 restrictions and mask mandates earlier this week "Neanderthal thinking" and blamed the state's ongoing outbreak on undocumented immigrants. Abbott's comments come after his widely criticized decision on Tuesday to rescind most of the state's Covid-19 restrictions, including a statewide mask mandate. Texas businesses will be allowed to open "100%," effective March 10, he said. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves made a similar move at roughly the same time. Biden on Wednesday slammed the governors for what he said was a "big mistake" and added that "the last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking." Abbott told CNBC's "Squawk Box" that the comment was "not the type of word that a president should be using" and blamed the spread of the coronavirus on immigrants crossing the southern border. The Republican governor said the Biden administration has "refused to test" them for the virus. watch now "The Biden administration has been releasing immigrants in South Texas that have been exposing Texans to Covid. Some of those people have been put on buses, taking that Covid to other states in the United States," Abbott told CNBC. "That is Neanderthal-type approach to dealing with the Covid situation." While the Republican governor didn't provide specifics, Telemundo reported on Tuesday that some migrants released by Border Patrol in the Texas city of Brownsville subsequently tested positive for Covid-19. Since the city began testing on Jan. 25, 108 migrants have tested positive for Covid-19, which is 6.3% of all those who took a test, according to the report. "The Biden administration must stop importing Covid into our country," Abbott said. Top U.S. health officials have repeatedly urged states not to lift Covid-19 restrictions as nationwide coronavirus cases and deaths stall and highly transmissible variants threaten to "hijack" the recent decline in infections. However, Abbott defended his decision to lift the state's mask requirements, claiming that Texans already know that "the safe standard, among other things, is to wear a mask." "Do they really need the state to tell them what they already know for their own personal behavior?" Abbott told CNBC. The governor added that the state's coronavirus infections are "at four-month lows" and Texas hospitals stand ready to treat an influx of patients if needed. Texas is reporting a daily average of roughly 7,265 new cases over the last week, a drop compared with the peak of more than 20,400 daily cases the state reported in January, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards However, new infections have started to creep back up across the state, with average daily new cases growing by nearly 13% compared with a week ago. Abbott said most of the state's coronavirus spread over the holiday was driven by indoor gatherings, not by restaurants and other businesses. The newly lifted restrictions "are not really that transformative" because the state's mask mandate wasn't enforced and businesses were already at 75% capacity, he said. "Maybe to people in New York it seems like this is a big difference," Abbott said. — CNBC's Will Feuer contributed to this report.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/16/fda-authorizes-abbotts-rapid-25-covid-test-for-at-home-use.html

ABT

Abbott

FDA authorizes Abbott's rapid $25 Covid test for at-home use

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday announced that it has authorized Abbott Labs ' rapid Covid-19 test for at-home use, though doctors must prescribe the test for patients. The test, which is an antigen test that delivers results in about 15 minutes, had previously been authorized for use by trained personnel only, but the new clearance will allow patients to test themselves at home with virtual assistance from a doctor. It's the third test authorized in the U.S. "that can be used completely at home," Dr. Jeff Shuren, director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in a statement. To deliver the test, which is called BinaxNOW and costs $25 for at-home use, to people's homes and to supervise the collection and testing process, Abbott said it has partnered with telehealth provider eMed. Patients collect the sample with a nasal swab themselves and an app helps guide the testing process and provide results, Abbott said. Everyone 15 years or older who are suspected of having Covid-19 by their health-care provider and is within the first seven days of symptom onset are eligible for the test, the FDA said. The test can also be used in people 4 years or older, though an adult needs to collect the sample, the agency said. "FDA continues to authorize COVID-19 tests that will give more Americans access to greater testing flexibility and options," FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said in a statement. "The BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Home Test will have a significant manufacturing footprint with the potential to support testing for millions of people." Abbott said it expects to deliver 30 million at-home tests in the first quarter of 2021, with another 90 million in the second quarter. The FDA noted that antigen tests are not as accurate as many molecular tests. "As the pandemic has evolved, the need for rapid testing has only grown. Unfortunately, we're still hearing that many people can't access testing as quickly as they need it," Robert Ford, Abbott's president and CEO, said in a statement. "That's why Abbott is bringing our rapid BinaxNOW test and NAVICA platform into homes." The FDA first authorized the test for use by trained personnel in August, touting it at the time as the first Covid-19 test that costs about $5 and delivers results in minutes on a testing card without lab equipment, similar to a pregnancy test. The U.S. quickly purchased 150 million of the tests for $750 million to expand testing capacity. However, at-home use of the test will cost $25, more than the $5 it costs in medical settings, Abbott said Wednesday. "FDA's authorization of the BinaxNOW card test for home use means we should have tens of millions of COVID-19 tests in the coming months that Americans can use without leaving their home," Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Wednesday in a statement. The authorization comes after the FDA cleared Ellume's at-home Covid test on Tuesday. That product was authorized for use in anyone 2 years or older and does not require a prescription.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/19/coronavirus-vaccine-two-health-care-stocks-are-best-plays-analysts-say.html

ABBV

AbbVie

AbbVie and one other health stock offer best way to play vaccine hopes, these analysts say

One group of health care stocks is standing out in the space. Stocks such as Moderna and Novavax — names in the testing and treatment space — have soared as investors place bets in the race for a Covid-19 vaccine. "We remain bullish on the biotech industry broadly because, aside from tech, it's difficult to find that type of broad-based strength anywhere else in the market," Ari Wald, head of technical analysis at Oppenheimer, told CNBC's "Trading Nation" on Monday. Moderna led the group Monday after the company reported positive data in its early-stage human trial for a coronavirus vaccine. That news kicked off a rally in the S&P 500 . However, Wald is placing his bets on another health-care name. "AbbVie is a standout in our work. The stock reversed a two-year downtrend last November before falling victim to indiscriminate market selling in March. We think that long-term reversal is resuming higher now that market conditions are firming," said Wald. Nancy Tengler, chief investment officer at Laffer Tengler Investments, is also bullish on AbbVie, and on Johnson & Johnson. "We own Johnson & Johnson which declared their vaccine news, the initial news, on Feb. 12 and then found the lead candidate for the vaccine on March 30. We liked that company before Covid, but it is certainly well-positioned along with AbbVie and Amgen ," Tengler said during the same segment. AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson are positive this year, while Amgen is down 3%. "Valuation led us to this group. Politics were not in favor of this group last year and I think that's gone away as we all strive to find a vaccine," said Tengler. Disclosure: Laffer Tengler Investments holds ABBV, JNJ and AMGN. Disclaimer

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/20/jim-cramers-mad-money-recap-stock-picks-sept-20-2019.html

ABBV

AbbVie

Everything Jim Cramer said about the stock market on 'Mad Money,' including the week ahead, iPhone sales, AbbVie vs. Bristol-Myers and Zscaler CEO

watch now CNBC's Jim Cramer take a look at the week ahead in stock investing. The "Mad Money" host explains why he has a good feeling about new iPhone sales in China. He sits down with the CEO of cloud-based cybersecurity provider Zscaler to get an understanding of the competitive landscape. Eye on the market: Ignore the Fed talk next week Two conflicting forces are working to influence the market and the "bad set" happened to win out on Friday, CNBC's said. China's trade delegation decided to cut short its trip to Washington for trade talks with the United States. The major averages all finished the session down less than 1% as it seemed unlikely the country would resume buying goods from American farmers. Looking past parts of the economy implicated in the U.S.-China trade war, employment is strong and domestic companies without Chinese exposure continue to have a positive impact, Cramer said. In the week ahead, the "Mad Money" host advised viewers not to pay attention to Federal Reserve reactions and to realize that the strong domestic economy and internationally-oriented economy are both balancing "on a knife's edge." "That's the right prism to use if you want to understand this market," he said. Projecting iPhone sales and the market's reaction A customer inspects two Apple iPhones at an Apple Store in Shanghai, China. Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images Cramer is bullish about 's iPhone potential in China. The tech titan has been a focal point of the trade war between the United States and China, but the dispute reportedly has not damped Chinese consumer interest in the latest iPhone launch that hit stores worldwide on Friday. Demand for the cheaper of the three iPhone 11 models in China has been . "Sure, the trade war's taking its toll on business ... it's just not taking its toll where it was supposed to," the host said. "That's why I'm a lot less worried about how the iPhone 11 will sell in China ... I'm actually excited about Apple's prospects in the People's Republic." AbbVie vs. Bristol-Myers — Who made the best acquisition? A trader works by the post that trades AbbVie on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Brendan McDermid | Reuters A war of words heats up as Zscaler, Palo Alto Networks spar for clients Jay Chaudry, founder and chief executive officer of Zscaler Inc. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images Zscaler CEO Jay Chaudhry shrugged off any worries of stiff competition from rival Palo Alto Networks . "You know, when paradigm shift takes place, incumbent and legacy vendors are often displaced, Chaudhry said in a one-on-one with Cramer. "They feel the pain and they try to attack everyone," Earlier this month, Palo Alto executives made comments to shareholders that sent Zscaler's stock down nearly 5%. Leadership at the firewall provider said "We displaced" Zscaler as a supplier to a Fortune 50 U.S. retailer and a "major" health care provider in Europe. Palo Alto also took aim at Symantec , and . Shares of Zscaler are down more than 23% since that day, according to FactSet. The stock, however, is up more than 31% this year. Cramer's lightning round

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/25/abbvie-deal-may-conclude-a-tumultuous-4-years-for-botox-maker-allergan.html

ABBV

AbbVie

AbbVie deal may conclude a tumultuous 4 years for Botox-maker Allergan

The company's leadership has come under pressure from activist investor from David Tepper for management changes. Shareholders have been calling for Allergan to split or sell the company. Allergan, the maker of Botox and blockbuster eye treatment Restatis, isn't the same industry leader it once was. The stock has lost about half its value since 2017. The drugmaker has struggled ever since its planned $160 billion mega deal with Pfizer fell through in 2016 after pushback from the Obama administration, analysts say. The pharmaceutical company has also been hit with drug trial setbacks and generic competition. At the time, Allergan was selling its generic drug business to Israel drugmaker Teva Pharmaceutical for $40.5 billion. The cash and stock deal, announced in July 2015, was seen by investors as a positive for the Ireland-based pharmaceutical company. It freed Allergan to focus on more bankable brand-name drugs, while also providing it with more cash to pay down debt. Allergan is "trying to move higher up into the food chain, so they'll probably go after a branded drug company," Cooperman, the Omega Advisors chairman and CEO, told CNBC in an interview on July 28, 2015 . "Maybe AbbVie." "Investors have been frustrated," said RBC Capital Markets analyst Randall Stanicky, who has been calling for a break up Allergan since 2017. He said a combination of drug trial setbacks, disappointments with capital deployment, strategic missteps and the company's inability to grow earnings has pressured the stock. Now, Allergan's fortunes may change. AbbVie announced Tuesday it would buy Allergan for about $63 billion, a 45% premium over Allergan's closing share price of $129.57 on Monday. According to the deal, Allergan shareholders will receive 0.866 AbbiVie share and $120.30 in cash for each Allergan share for a total value of $188.24 a share. If approved, the deal would combine two struggling companies seeking growth. Stanicky said the deal is a "nice exit from a tough situation" for Allergan. "I think investors should be happy with this exit," he added. Allergan investors cheered the deal Tuesday. Shares of Allergan surged 25.4% on Tuesday while AbbVie shares fell 16.3%. AbbVie has been looking to diversify its portfolio as blockbuster arthritis treatment Humira faces competition from cheaper versions in Europe and faces expiration of its patents in the U.S. in 2023. Allergan's aesthetics products and eye care and other medicines could help AbbVie shore up revenue. David Maris, a research analyst at Wells Fargo who covers Allergan, told CNBC's "Power Lunch" on Tuesday that he isn't convinced that the deal is a better long-term alternative for Allergan shareholders looking past Humira's patent expiration. But in a follow-up phone interview, Maris added that the stock had been underpeforming for so long, the board had to do something. The deal is a "little disappointing," Maris said." "I can see why AbbVie wants to diversify away from Humira. I don't know why an Allergan shareholder would want to diversify into Humaria." Jefferies health-care desk analyst Jared Holz said AbbVie's stock decline is a "bit overdone," saying this solves a growth problem for each company. "I feel like I'm the only person in the world who feels this deal isn't a disaster," he said. "It is a homerun for Allergan shareholders."

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/18/abbvie-shares-fall-after-california-insurance-regulator-sues-company-over-alleged-kickbacks.html

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AbbVie

AbbVie shares fall after California insurance regulator sues company over alleged kickbacks

AbbVie shares fell almost 3 percent on Tuesday after the California Department of Insurance sued the pharmaceutical company for allegedly giving health-care providers kickbacks for prescribing its arthritis drug Humira. The suit alleges that AbbVie provided cash, trips and other gifts to health-care providers as incentives to prescribe the drug. The company allegedly also provided additional professional services, such as free insurance processing and marketing assistance. The scheme was pulled off by a group of registered nurses known as Abbvie Nurse Ambassadors, who are sent into patients' homes after they are prescribed Humira and were trained to downplay potential risks of the drug, according to the suit. The company "only provides the Ambassadors as long as the physicians continue to prescribe AbbVie's drug instead of selecting another course of treatment," according to the California Department of Insurance. AbbVie spokeswoman Adelle Infante said in a statement that the allegations had no merit. "AbbVie provides a number of support services for patients, once they are prescribed Humira, that both educate and assist patients with their therapy, including nursing support, and these resources are beneficial to patients dealing with a chronic condition," Infante said. "They in no way replace or interfere with interactions between patients and their healthcare providers." The allegations were brought to the attention of the department by Lazaro Suarez, who was employed as an AbbVie Nurse Ambassador in Florida. According to the lawsuit, private insurers have paid out $1.2 billion in pharmacy claims for Humira, which would make the case the largest instance of insurance fraud in the history of the California regulator.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/26/senate-panel-grills-abbvie-ceo-over-bonuses-tied-to-sales-of-humira.html

ABBV

AbbVie

Senate panel grills pharma CEO over executive bonuses and sales of AbbVie blockbuster drug Humira

Richard Gonzalez, chairman and chief executive officer of AbbVie Inc., listens during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on drug pricing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019. Humira sales are one of the company's four main financial targets — along with net revenues, operating margin and return on assets — that accounted for 60 percent of Gonzalez's short-term incentive plan. The plan pays out a cash award for each of the top five executives equal to up to 200 percent of their base salary, depending on if they meet the targets and other performance measures. Humira's $18.3 billion in 2017 sales — which rose 14.6 percent from the previous year and accounted for about 65 percent of the company's $28.1 billion in revenue — were a major factor in calculating the compensation for AbbVie's top executives last year, according to the company's most recent compensation data. A Senate panel grilled AbbVie Chairman and CEO Richard Gonzalez about tying executive bonuses to sales of the U.S. drugmaker's blockbuster arthritis treatment Humira. The company hit its internal target for Humira sales last year, helping its top five executives to nearly max out their cash bonuses with a payout equal to 175 percent of their annual base pay, the company said. "In 2017 all financial and strategic goals were materially achieved, resulting in performance scores between 99% and 100% of target," the company said. Gonzalez, 64, made a total of $22.6 million for his performance in 2017, $4.3 million of which was his cash bonus. The rest of his compensation was base salary and a mix of stock, restricted shares and options. "This strikes me as problematic," Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in questioning the CEO at a hearing on prescription drug costs before the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday. "Would you make a smaller bonus if you dropped the price of Humira?" In response, Gonzalez said, "Humira was one element of a set of financial factors that were evaluated as part of my compensation. It's obviously a very significant product for us. So it is clear it would be a part of the evaluation." Wyden snapped back with, "I'd like that in writing. It looks to me you'd be making a smaller bonus if you dropped the price of Humira. I'd like that in writing within 10 days." Since 2014, AbbVie has nearly doubled the price of its top-selling drug Humira, which is used to treat diseases including arthritis, plaque psoriasis and Crohn's, according to a review of data provided by Rx Savings Solutions. The drug now carries a list price of more than $60,000 per year. AbbVie has been aggressive in keeping cheaper copycat versions of its drug off the U.S. market. The company is not expected to face biosimilar competition in the U.S. until 2023. The drug's list price and patent faced the brunt of the heat from senators at the hearing. At one point, Wyden likened AbbVie's patent practices to Gollum, the slimy "Lord of the Rings" character who coveted the ring of power. "Can the patients opt for a less expensive alternative? They can't, because AbbVie protects the exclusivity of Humira like Gollum with his ring. Thick cobwebs of patents and shadowy deals with drugmakers, all of them are in place to keep the cash flowing," Wyden said. Gonzalez argued the drug has so many patents because it's used to treat several different ailments. WATCH: Lawmakers grill pharma execs over high drug costs

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/12/abbvie-settles-humira-patent-disputes-with-novartis-unit.html

ABBV

AbbVie

Abbvie settles Humira patent disputes with Novartis unit

Humira, the injectable rheumatoid arthritis treatment is pictured in a pharmacy in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Abbvie said on Thursday it settled all patent disputes with Novartis , granting it a non-exclusive license to manufacture and sell a copycat version of blockbuster drug, Humira. Abbvie, however, did not disclose details regarding the royalties it will receive from Novartis generics unit, Sandoz, as part of the agreement. Shares of Abbvie rose 2.39 percent to $92.87 in after-market trading. The license period will begin on Sept. 30, 2023 in the United States and on Oct. 16 in most countries in the European Union, Abbvie said in a statement. Sandoz received marketing approval for its Humira biosimilar from the European Commission in July and had submitted its application to the U.S. health regulator early this year. Last year, Abbvie reached a settlement with Amgen Inc , delaying Amgen's cheaper biosimilar version of Humira until Jan. 31, 2023. Humira is the world's best-selling prescription medicine and has long buoyed AbbVie's business, raking in $5.19 billion in second-quarter sales. But as cheaper biosimilar versions come closer to entering the market, the company has been trying to grow sales from its other medicines, including cancer treatment Imbruvica.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/16/fda-approves-humira-maker-abbvies-new-rheumatoid-arthritis-drug.html

ABBV

AbbVie

FDA approves Humira maker AbbVie's new rheumatoid arthritis drug

A screen displays the share price for pharmaceutical maker AbbVie on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved AbbVie 's new treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, a win for the drugmaker seeking to widen its portfolio as its blockbuster flagship therapy Humira faces competition. The drug, Rinvoq, also called upadacitinib, belongs to a class of drugs known as JAK inhibitors that block inflammation-causing enzymes called Janus kinases. It is set to compete with Pfizer 's Xeljanz and Eli Lilly 's Olumiant. Rinvoq's label has a warning that flags risks of serious infections and lymphoma. In a notice, the FDA also said that patients taking JAK inhibitors in general risked developing blood clots. AbbVie has been aggressively fending off competition for Humira by signing deals with rival companies to prevent their cheap versions of the drug from entering the United States, its biggest market, until 2023. Humira, which treats rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, is the world's best-selling medicine, and brought in global revenue of $4.87 billion in the second quarter, but sales have been falling as it faces competition from cheaper rivals in Europe. To further diversify its pipeline, AbbVie in June announced a deal to buy Botox-maker Allergan for $63 billion. It has also launched a new psoriasis medicine, Skyrizi, to help retain some market share. Shares of the company rose 2.2% to $64.36 in early afternoon trade.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/20/analyst-calls-of-the-day-beyond-meat-abbvie-hewlett-packard-more.html

ABBV

AbbVie

Here are the biggest analyst calls of the day: Beyond Meat, AbbVie, Hewlett Packard & more

Ethan Brown, founder and chief executive officer of Beyond Meat Inc., second right, looks at a monitor during the company's initial public offering (IPO) at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York, U.S., on Thursday, May 2, 2019. Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Tuesday: J.P. Morgan said it saw potential for Beyond Meat to acquire new customers following a secondary stock offering. "We see three primary reasons for renewed optimism: (1) The potential to acquire new food service customers, (2) Continued strength in measured data, and (3) Valuation. We appreciate that the secondary offering spooked many investors; however, founder/CEO Ethan Brown trimmed only a tiny portion of his holdings, and we cannot blame anyone involved pre-IPO for locking in some gains." Read more about this call here.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/19/cramer-lightning-round-abbvie-is-a-rocket-ship-going-higher.html

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AbbVie

Cramer's lightning round: Abbvie is a 'rocket ship' going higher

Starwood Property Trust : "I think it's still cheap. It's had a nice run, but I still like it very much and I think it should be bought right here." Masimo Corp. : "I've liked it since it came public. I think it's terrific." Abbvie : "The stock is a rocket ship and it's terrific. It's at $88, it's still got a 5% yield, it goes higher." Idexx Laboratories : "It's no longer run by John Ayers and I do like the thesis very much ... but I understand the trepidation. I'm reserving some judgment on Idexx myself." United Natural Foods : "I'm not as big a fan of it as you are." Sea : Need to do homework on it. PG&E Corp .: "Sarah, [it's] too hard."

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/26/stocks-making-the-biggest-moves-premarket-beyond-meat-accenture-target-rite-aid-kb-home-more.html

ACN

Accenture

Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: Beyond Meat, Accenture, Target, Rite Aid & more

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell: Beyond Meat – McDonald's is testing a new "PLT" – a plant, lettuce, and tomato sandwich – that uses Beyond Meat's plant-based patties. The tests will take place in 28 restaurants in Canada. Accenture – The consulting firm earned $1.74 per share for its fiscal fourth quarter, 3 cents a share above estimates. Earnings growth was helped by improvement in digital and cloud services. Revenue was slightly shy of analysts' forecasts, however, and Accenture gave a current-quarter revenue forecast below estimates due to a stronger dollar. Conagra Brands – The food producer reported adjusted quarterly profit of 43 cents per share, 4 cents a share above estimates. Revenue was below Wall Street forecasts, with organic net sales falling 1.7%. FactSet – The financial information provider earned an adjusted $2.61 per share for its latest quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.47 a share. Revenue was also above Wall Street forecasts, but the company gave a fiscal 2020 earnings forecast that is below current consensus. Target – The retailer's stock was raised to the No. 1 position on Cowen's "Conviction List," based on strong recent results and an improved profit margin outlook. Rite Aid – The pharmacy chain operator for its latest quarter, 5 cents a share above estimates. Revenue missed forecasts, however, as did comparable-store sales. KB Home – KB Home reported quarterly profit of 73 cents per share, 7 cents a share above estimates. The home builder's revenue was below Wall Street forecasts. KB Home saw a 24% rise in net orders during the quarter. Peloton – Peloton priced its initial public offering at $29 per share, at the high end of the expected range. The offering values the fitness bicycle maker at $8.1 billion, nearly double its most recent valuation.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/24/stocks-making-the-biggest-moves-in-the-premarket-accenture-darden-restaurants-blackberry-more.html

ACN

Accenture

Stocks making the biggest moves in the premarket: Accenture, Darden Restaurants, BlackBerry & more

Take a look at some of the biggest movers in the premarket: Accenture (ACN) – The consulting firm reported quarterly profit of $1.70 per share, falling 3 cents a share short of Wall Street forecasts. Revenue also came in slightly shy of estimates and the company gave a weaker-than-expected current-quarter revenue forecast, as clients spend less due to the Covid-19 pandemic. E.W. Scripps (SSP) – Scripps announced a deal buy privately held TV network operator ION Media for $2.65 billion. The deal is being backed by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B), with Berkshire making a $600 million preferred equity investment in Scripps to help finance the purchase. BlackBerry (BB) – The software company beat estimates by 9 cents a share, with quarterly earnings of 11 cents per share. Revenue was also above expectations, on strong demand for its security and car software. CarMax (KMX) – The used-vehicle retailer earned $1.79 per share for its latest quarter, well above the consensus estimate of $1.08 a share. Revenue was also above analysts' forecasts. CarMax saw vehicle sales rise by 3.9%, with comparable-store sales up 1.2%, and its financing profit increased by 29%. Darden Restaurants (DRI) – The parent of Olive Garden and other restaurant chains earned 28 cents per share for its latest quarter, beating the consensus estimate of 5 cents a share. Revenue was very slightly below Street forecasts with sales during the quarter at about 82% of prior-year levels. The company also reinstated its dividend. FactSet (FDS) – The financial information and services provider earned $2.88 per share for its latest quarter, 34 cents a share above estimates. Revenue came in above forecasts as well. FactSet said it expected fiscal 2021 adjusted earnings of $10.75 to $11.15 per share, compared to a consensus estimate of $10.84 a share. Rite Aid (RAD) – The drugstore chain reported a quarterly profit of 25 cents per share, compared to analysts' expectations of a 1 cent per share loss. Revenue was also above estimates, with strength in both the retail pharmacy and pharmacy services segments. UnitedHealth (UNH) – The health insurer is in advanced talks to buy online pharmacy startup DivvyDose, according to a Bloomberg report. The proposed deal is said to be worth about $300 million, according to people familiar with the matter, although nothing has been finalized. Nikola (NKLA) – Nathan Anderson, head of short-selling firm Hindenburg Research, told The Wall Street Journal that more bad news will emerge about the electric truck maker Nikola. Hindenburg recently released a report about a series of improprieties at Nikola, which has hit the stock hard even as Nikola calls the report "false and misleading." Dollar Tree (DLTR) – Dollar Tree is resuming its stock buyback program, after suspending it in March due to the pandemic. The discount retailer has roughly $800 million in buyback authorization remaining under that program. H.B. Fuller (FUL) – Fuller reported quarterly earnings of 76 cents per share, 6 cents a share above estimates. The adhesives maker's revenue also topped forecasts. The company said it has performed well during the pandemic, although it does expect current-quarter revenue to be flat to lower compared to a year ago. Jefferies Financial (JEF) – Jefferies earned $1.07 per share for its third quarter, well above the consensus forecast of 34 cents a share. The investment firm also saw revenue top estimates, helped by record investment banking and asset management revenue. Goldman Sachs (GS) – Goldman was upgraded to "buy" from "neutral" at UBS, which said Goldman is already generating solid results in the current environment and could benefit further from election-related volatility. FedEx (FDX) – FedEx was upgraded to "buy" from "hold" at Stifel, which said FedEx is benefiting from pandemic-related changes, including much faster growth in demand levels than originally anticipated.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/19/stocks-making-the-biggest-moves-in-the-premarket.html

ACN

Accenture

Stocks making the biggest moves in the premarket: Darden, Lennar, Accenture, Marriott & more

Take a look at some of the biggest movers in the premarket: Darden Restaurants (DRI) – The parent of Olive Garden and other restaurant chains beat estimates by a penny a share, with quarterly earnings of $1.89 per share. Revenue was also above estimates. Same-restaurant sales were up 2.3%, compared to the consensus Refinitiv estimate of a 1.2% increase. Darden suspended its dividend, withdrew its forward guidance due to the coronavirus outbreak, and that same-restaurant sales are down 5.9% so far for the current quarter. Lennar (LEN) – The homebuilder reported quarterly profit of $1.27 per share, well above the consensus estimate of 84 cents per share. Revenue came in above estimates as well. Going forward, Lennar said it is managing every element of its balance sheet, cash management, and cash flow to maintain its strength as it deals with the coronavirus outbreak. Accenture (ACN) – The consulting firm earned $1.91 per share for its latest quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 a share. Revenue came in above estimates. Unlike many companies, Accenture did issue a full-year forecast that it said reflects current assumptions about the coronavirus impact but added that the ultimate result depends on many factors that it may not be able to predict. PNC Financial (PNC) – Wells Fargo upgraded PNC to "overweight" from "equal weight" at Wells Fargo Securities, which calls PNC the "Bank of Steel" due to its strong risk management and superior positioning during difficult times. Marriott (MAR) – Marriott has withdrawn its 2020 guidance and is eliminating its dividend due to the coronavirus outbreak. It will make a final dividend payment on March 31. The hotel chain said occupancy has fallen below 25% in both North America and Europe. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) – The bank will temporarily close about 1,000 branches, to help protect employees and reduce the spread of the coronavirus. Williams-Sonoma (WSM) – Williams-Sonoma reported quarterly earnings of $2.13 per share, 8 cents a share above estimates. The housewares retailer's revenue also beat forecasts as same-store sales jumped 7.6%. As many other companies have done, Williams-Sonoma did not give any forward guidance due to coronavirus-related uncertainty. Five Below (FIVE) – Five Below came in 3 cents a share ahead of estimates with quarterly earnings of $1.97 a share. The discount retailer's revenue matching Wall Street forecasts. Five Below also declined to give forward guidance. Square (SQ) – Square won the approval of federal and state banking regulators to open its own bank in Utah, expected to launch in 2021. The mobile payments company had been trying to gain approval to start a bank for 2-1/2 years. Walmart (WMT) – Walmart will remain open but will shorten operating hours, and also announced it would hold an hour-long "senior shopping event" each Tuesday that would be limited to customers aged 60 and older. Dollar Tree (DLTR) – The discount retailer was named a "Catalyst Call Buy" at Deutsche Bank, which points to elevated sales volumes at both Dollar Tree and Family Dollar due to demand for cleaning supplies, food, and household essentials. Best Buy (BBY) – Best Buy will remain open, but will shorten hours and only permit a small number of customers in a store at one time. AbbVie (ABBV) – AbbVie's Kaletra HIV treatment did not prove effective against the coronavirus, according to a study released by the New England Journal of Medicine. Guess (GES) – Guess reported quarterly earnings of $1.22 per share, 10 cents a share above estimates. The apparel maker's revenue came in below forecasts. Guess also said it was a "strong position" to handle the impact of the coronavirus on its business. TripAdvisor (TRIP) – TripAdvisor has withdrawn its prior 2020 financial outlook. The travel review site had said last month it was seeing a limited impact from the virus outbreak but is now seeing a more significant impact. Clorox (CLX) – The household products maker was downgraded to "neutral" from "outperform" at Credit Suisse, which cited valuation following its recent outperformance.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/16/2-ai-beneficiaries-that-havent-caught-up-yet-according-to-top-value-investor.html

ACN

Accenture

2 AI beneficiaries that haven't caught up yet, according to top value investor

Artificial intelligence-adjacent stocks have been the clear leaders of this bull rally, but there may still be some potential beneficiaries of the trend that haven't caught up yet, according to Aaron Dunn. While some investors have voiced their concerns over lofty valuations, Dunn, the co-head of value equity at Morgan Stanley Investment Management and a portfolio manager on the Eaton Vance Value team, told CNBC in a recent interview that he's been keeping an eye on Micron and Accenture . Both stocks represent businesses with good returns, he said. Micron benefits from the consolidation of the memory business, while Accenture is capital light. Accenture is profitable, while Micron is not too far behind. Dunn believes that semiconductor manufacturer Micron could benefit as demand for memory chips begins to outpace supply once again. "With AI, you need more memory," he said. "I think we're going to go back to a period where memory is tight, and Micron has really good new technology that's also going to soak up excess capacity." In February, the firm announced that it had started production of its HBM3E, or High Bandwidth Memory wafer. These chips would be comparable with Nvidia's graphic processing units for AI capabilities, while also requiring less power and acting at higher speeds, Dunn said. Meanwhile, Micron could also be a beneficiary of the U.S.'s desire to have more of a domestic presence in the semiconductor chip market. "Effectively, MU will be getting paid by the U.S. government to build in-country capacity," Dunn said. Shares of Micron have rallied 9% so far this year, but Nvidia has gained 77% over the same time period. The portfolio manger cautioned that while Micron shares have had a big runup — it's gained 77% since hitting a 52-week low last March — and may be at risk of a modest pullback, the stock's long-term fundamentals look to be very strong. MU 6M mountain MU 6-month chart Dunn also listed professional services firm Accenture as a potential AI beneficiary. Shares have added 7% so far this year, as of Friday's close. Accenture is likely to rally as firms begin to adopt AI and large language learning models into their business operations, Dunn said. "Businesses will need help in understanding how AI should be used and the eventual implementation of those technologies," he said. "Accenture is positioned to provide this. This is likely an inflection point for them that will define the intermediate trends for them." ACN 6M mountain ACN 6-month chart Dunn's fund, Eaton Vance's Focused Value Opportunities Fund , has underperformed its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index , so far this year. Since 2014, the fund has outperformed its benchmark in five of the past nine years. It has an expense ratio of 1.04% and a neutral rating from Morningstar, which is partly attributed to its fee structure.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/16/these-are-the-top-5-companies-to-work-for-in-india-says-linkedin.html

ACN

Accenture

These are the top 5 companies to work for in India, according to LinkedIn

These are the 2024 top companies in India, according to LinkedIn. LinkedIn has released its eighth annual list of top companies to work for in India, and companies that prioritized its employees' experience and growth dominated this year's ranking. From mass layoffs to the adoption of generative AI, the global work landscape has seen some major shifts in the past several years and employees and employers alike are learning how to adapt with the times. "Whether it's launching upskilling initiatives to accelerate the AI proficiency of their professionals or offering flexible working arrangements, these are the companies leading the way in attracting professionals as well as retaining them in our ever-changing world of work," says Pooja Chhabria, LinkedIn career expert. The ranking is based on eight pillars: the ability to advance, skills growth, company stability, external opportunity, company affinity, gender diversity, educational background, and employee presence in the country. Here are the top 5 places to work for in India in 2024, according to LinkedIn:

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/29/analysts-say-buy-these-stocks-in-a-recession.html

ACN

Accenture

Accenture and these other stocks could hold up in a recession, Wall Street says

The debate rolls on about the chances of an economic downturn, but Wall Street analysts said this week there's plenty of quality companies to invest in if a recession occurs. CNBC combed through company research to find analysts from different industries singling out stocks in their coverage universes. They cited stocks that are compelling to investors such as Verra Mobility , Accenture , Autodesk , MasterCraft Boat Holdings and A.O. Smith . Accenture continues to impress analysts at Bernstein. The consulting company reported earnings this week and not only beat expectations on revenue but raised its full year outlook. Bernstein analyst Harshita Rawat said unlike the last recession, this time would be different if there is one. Accenture "is likely better positioned due to diversified revenue growth and higher share of cloud," she said. Shares are Accenture are up 0.41 percent, to $175.77. In new coverage this week, analysts at BTIG initiated Verra Mobility with a buy. The company, which provides toll management to rental car companies, "offers a recession-resistant story at a time when concerns about a potential economic slowdown have arisen among investors," analyst Mark Palmer said. The stock is up today 12 percent, to $11.73. MasterCraft Boat Holdings , which designs and manufactures recreational powerboats, may be of interest to small-cap investors, according to Baird analyst Craig Kennison. This is because many of them have a, "contrarian mindset and assume the next recession could be just around the corner," Kennison said. "We see exceptional value for investors that can look through a potential downturn," he said. Shares are down in early trading 0.87 percent, to $22.43. Here are some other stocks analysts think would weather a recession:

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/28/stocks-making-the-biggest-moves-premarket-accenture-fedex-lululemon-office-depot-pvh-more.html

ACN

Accenture

Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: Accenture, FedEx, Lululemon, Office Depot & more

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell: Accenture — The consulting firm earned $1.73 per share for its latest quarter, 16 cents a share above estimates. Revenue also beat Wall Street forecasts and Accenture raised its full-year outlook, as it benefits from its investments in digital and cloud-based services. Movado Group — The watch maker reported adjusted quarterly profit of 67 cents per share, 12 cents a share above consensus. Revenue also topped estimates and Movado said it saw a significant increase in profit margins during the quarter. Lululemon — Lululemon reported adjusted quarterly profit of $1.85 per share, beating forecasts by 9 cents, a share, while revenue was above Wall Street forecasts. The yoga wear maker also issued better-than-expected guidance for the full year and announced a $500 million stock buyback. PVH — PVH beat estimates by 8 cents a share, with quarterly profit of $1.84 per share. The apparel maker's revenue also beat analysts' projections. PVH's results were helped by a strong performance for its Tommy Hilfiger brand, and it also issued an upbeat outlook for the full year. FedEx — Susquehanna downgraded FedEx shares to "neutral" from "positive," noting an uncertain macroeconomic environment as well as an anticipated increase in capital spending by FedEx. Five Below — Five Below came in a penny a share ahead of estimates, with quarterly earnings of $1.59 per share. The discount retailer's revenue also registering a beat. Five Below did, however, issue a 2019 earnings outlook of $3 to $3.07 per share, below the consensus estimate of $3.13 a share. Five Below was also added to the "Conviction Buy" list at Goldman Sachs, with a price target of $147. Church & Dwight —The maker of Arm & Hammer baking soda and other consumer products announced a deal to buy the Flawless and Finishing Touch brands of hair removal products from Ideavillage Products for $475 million in cash, plus a possible additional payout of up to $425 million depending on sales levels. Office Depot — Office Depot and software supplier Support.com will pay a total of $35 million to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that consumers were tricked into buying computer repair services. The FTC said the two allegedly deceived consumers with misleading malware claims. Johnson & Johnson — J&J was cleared of liability in a New Jersey case involving claims that asbestos in J&J's talc products had caused the plaintiff's mesothelioma. J&J is currently facing about 13,000 talc-related lawsuits, and also announced settlements in three other cases Wednesday. Fiat Chrysler — Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess told reporters he is not interesting in any tie-up with Fiat Chrysler. That comes a day after reports said Renault planned to pursue Fiat Chrysler if it can restart and successfully conclude merger talks with longtime partner Nissan. Nielsen Holdings — Blackstone has reportedly dropped out of the auction to buy Nielsen, the company best known for TV ratings. Verint Systems — Verint reported adjusted quarterly profit of $1.08 per share, beating consensus estimates by 7 cents a share. The maker of software for call centers and intelligence agencies did see revenue fall below Street forecasts. Verint's bottom line was helped by an increasing number of customers moving to cloud-based applications. Monster Beverage — The energy drink maker was named "top pick" at Credit Suisse, citing an attractive valuation and excessive worries by investors over potential competition from Red Bull and Bang.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/19/stocks-making-the-biggest-moves-premarket-accenture-conagra-rite-aid-tivo-more.html

ACN

Accenture

Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: Accenture, Conagra, Rite Aid, TiVo & more

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell: Accenture (ACN) – The consulting firm reported quarterly profit of $2.09 per share, 9 cents a share above estimates. Revenue also beat forecasts, and Accenture raised the lower end of its 2020 adjusted earnings forecast. Conagra Brands (CAG) – Conagra beat estimates by 6 cents a share, with adjusted quarterly earnings of 63 cents per share. Revenue topped estimates as well. The maker of food brands like Birds Eye, Healthy Choice, and Vlasic also raised the amount of cost synergies related to its 2018 acquisition of Pinnacle Foods. Darden Restaurants (DRI) – The parent of Olive Garden and other restaurant chains earned an adjusted $1.12 per share for its latest quarter, 5 cents a share above estimates. Revenue was slightly below forecasts. Sales at restaurants open at least a year rose 2%, in line with analysts' forecasts. FactSet (FDS) – FactSet beat estimates by 16 cents a share, with quarterly profit of $2.58 per share. The provider of financial information services saw revenue miss forecasts. The bottom line was helped by an increase in profit margins. Rite Aid (RAD) – The drugstore chain reported quarterly profit of 54 cents per share, compared with a consensus estimate of 9 cents a share. Revenue also beat forecasts, with results boosted by better expense control and increased prescription business at Rite Aid pharmacies. Micron Technology (MU) – Micron reported adjusted quarterly earnings of 48 cents per share, a penny a share above estimates. The chip maker's revenue came in above Wall Street forecasts as well. Micron said the current-quarter would represent the bottom of what's been a difficult period for the memory chip market. The news is also giving a boost to other chip stocks like Western Digital (WDC) and Nvidia (NVDA). Boeing (BA) – Boeing's debt rating was cut one notch by Moody's, as the grounding of the jet maker's 737 Max aircraft continues. Moody's said it sees long term risk to Boeing's reputation following its move to suspend production of the jet in January. Seattle Genetics (SGEN) – The drugmaker and Japan's Astellas Pharma won U.S. approval for their experimental drug to treat advanced bladder cancer, the first such drug to win Food and Drug Administration approval. TiVo (TIVO) – TiVo will merge with technology licensor Xperi (XPER) in a stock-swap deal. TiVo shareholders will own about 53.5% of the combined company. Freddie Mac (FMCC) – Freddie Mac is offering early retirement to 25% of its workers, according to a Reuters report. The move is said to be part of an effort to reform the housing finance agency. Green Dot (GDOT) – Green Dot announced the retirement of Chief Executive Officer and founder Steve Streit, as well as Chief Financial Officer Mark Shifke. The financial technology company's chairman, William Jacobs, will serve as interim CEO. Herman Miller (MLHR) – Herman Miller beat estimates by a penny a share, with quarterly profit of 88 cents per share. The office furniture maker's revenue came in below analysts' forecasts. The company said its results were impacted by lower-than-anticipated order levels in an uncertain economic environment, although it added that profit came in at the higher end of its forecasts despite those difficulties.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/10/accenture-interactive-anatoly-roytman-on-his-career-path.html

ACN

Accenture

How Accenture Interactive’s Anatoly Roytman rebuilt his career from scratch after the dotcom bubble burst

It may seem in the not-too-distant past, but when Anatoly Roytman started his own digital agency in the second half of the 1990s, digital was deemed “a very new field.” Yet it “worked great,” he said — that is until the internet bubble burst and he went bankrupt. So in a way, he had made it, and then lost everything. “I was starting from scratch (again),” said Roytman, now senior managing director of Accenture Interactive across Europe, Africa and Latin America (EALA). He told CNBC’s Karen Tso on an episode of “What Drives You” how he had to find a new job and pick himself back up. “I joined Digitas — Digitas is an agency in the States. I was with them for six years until Publicis bought them. Then I decided to go and look for different types of companies where we could combine technology and creativity,” he said.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/28/accenture-tops-second-quarter-estimates-raises-profit-forecast.html

ACN

Accenture

Accenture tops second-quarter estimates, raises profit forecast

Accenture on Thursday raised its full-year profit forecast after reporting better-than-expected second-quarter earnings, benefiting from its investments in digital and cloud services. The consulting and outsourcing services provider's shares rose 4 percent before the opening bell. Much of Accenture's recent growth has been driven by digital and cloud services, which include everything from managing clients' social media marketing strategies to helping them migrate to the cloud. Revenue from digital, cloud and security-related services, which the company calls "the New," constituted more than 60 percent of its total revenue in the second quarter. Accenture raised its full-year earnings per share forecast range to $7.18 to $7.32, from $7.01 to $7.25. Net income attributable to the company rose to $1.12 billion, or $1.73 per share, in the quarter ended Feb. 28, from $863.7 million, or $1.37 per share, a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected a profit of $1.57 per share. Revenue rose 5.5 percent to $10.45 billion, ahead of estimates of $10.30 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/15/adobe-falls-after-posting-quarterly-results-how-to-play-the-stock.html

ADBE

Adobe Inc.

Adobe falls after the software giant posts quarterly results. Here’s how to play the stock

Market Movers rounded up the latest reactions on Adobe from investors and analysts. The pros discussed the software company after it reported fiscal third-quarter earnings and revenue that beat analysts' expectations. Adobe also reported in-line forward guidance with expected fourth-quarter revenue of $4.975 billion to $5.025 billion . Bank of America and Goldman Sachs reiterated Adobe as buy . The stock closed down 4.2% Friday. Shares are up 57% for the year, getting a boost from the hype around artificial intelligence.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/14/tuesdays-top-stocks-that-analysts-are-watching.html

ADBE

Adobe Inc.

Here are Tuesday's biggest analyst calls: Nvidia, Tesla, Apple, Disney, Microsoft, AMD, Amazon, Adobe & more

Here are Tuesday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Wells Fargo reiterates Microsoft as overweight Wells raised its price target on the stock to $425 per share from $410 and said it still sees a slew of positive catalysts. "Post FQ1 results, we are revisiting our Q4 tactical call on MSFT . We see a favorable catalyst path still ahead, inc. updates at this week's Ignite conf + future evidence of Copilot monetization." Needham initiates Docebo as buy Needham said the learning management software company has a large total addressable market. "Our industry work suggests that learning/training are top priorities for HR buyers heading into 2024 and the TAM [total addressable market] for Docebo is significant, at $25B." Deutsche Bank upgrades Take-Two to buy from hold Deutsche said in its upgrade of the video game company that it has "increased long-term visibility." "We are upgrading Take-Two to Buy (from Hold), and increasing our 12-month price target to $175 (up from $155)." UBS upgrades Agiliti to buy from hold UBS said in its upgrade of the medical equipment company that it sees plenty of upside. "We upgrade AGTI to Buy ahead of cost improvement upside, execution of a turnaround plan, and a solution for a challenged customer base." Morgan Stanley downgrades Freyr Battery to equal weight from overweight Morgan Stanley said the battery maker faces "significant challenges." "While cash burn is manageable the stock should trade at discount to cash value until FREY shows progress on its sample cell campaign." Barclays upgrades Fortrea to overweight from equal weight Barclays said in its upgrade of the health contract research company that it sees improved bookings. "We upgrade FTRE to Overweight from Equal Weight on a stronger bookings trajectory that is likely to start flowing through to an improving top line and OpEx discipline that likely leads to EBITDA upside in '24." Barclays upgrades Mosaic and Nutrien to overweight from underweight Barclays upgraded several potash and aggriculture companies and said a compelling entry point. " MOS, NTR and ICL - Potash producers go all-in. We upgrade MOS and NTR to OW from UW, and ICL to OW from EW, as we see an attractive entry point after recent relative underperformance." JPMorgan downgrades BeautyHealth to underweight from neutral JPMorgan said there are too many negative catalysts for the beauty company. "We think investors were prepared for a softer quarter from BeautyHealth given the aesthetic prints weve seen to date; however, there's clearly more to unpack from a 3Q23 headlined by both a significant negative revision to the financial outlook and the exit of CEO Andrew Stanleick." Bernstein reiterates Apple as market perform Bernstein said it's analysis shows Apple is seeing gross margin improvement, but that's standing by its equal weight rating on the stock. "Beyond FY 24, we believe that Apple may be able to sustain flattish product gross margins, but see overall margins improving 50-100 bps per year due to a continued mix shift to services." Redburn Atlantic Equities reiterates Amazon as buy Redburn said it sees "material upside" for shares of Amazon. "We see material upside for the stock, with AWS poised for a reacceleration, ecommerce performance remaining robust and free cash flow improving." Goldman Sachs reiterates Nvidia as buy Goldman said it's bullish heading into Nvidia earnings next week. "While we do not expect the debate around CY2025 earnings power to be settled on this upcoming earnings call, we expect strong FY3Q results and FY4Q guidance as well as constructive forward-looking commentary from management to reinforce our bullish view on the stock." Baird upgrades Aspen Technology to outperform from neutral Baird said in its upgrade of the software company that it has "best-in-class" profitability. " Aspen is known in the industry as an established player with 35+ years selling optimization software to process industries including over 2,100 customers globally." Bernstein upgrades Kraft Heinz to outperform from market perform Bernstein said the stock is cheap. "We are upgrading Kraft Heinz to Outperform with a TP of $40 due to its cheap valuation, fair relative positioning in a GLP-1 world given its protein-forward portfolio in the U.S., and an improved business model implemented under Mr. Miguel Patricio." Roth MKM initiates Marvell as buy Roth said the semiconductor company is well positioned. "We are initiating coverage on Marvell Technology (MRVL) with a Buy rating and a $60 price target. We believe MRVL's broad data-infrastructure-centric portfolio is well-positioned to benefit from high-performance data center infrastructure upgrades." Roth MKM initiates Advanced Micro Devices as buy Roth initiated the stock with a buy and said it has a "differentiated portfolio." "We are initiating coverage on Advanced Micro Devices with a Buy rating and a $125 price target. We believe AMD's differentiated portfolio of high performance compute/networking processors and accelerators represents a strong investment opportunity." Morgan Stanley reiterates Tesla as overweight Morgan Stanley said it's standing by its overweight rating on shares of Tesla . "More than ever, we believe share price performance leaders/laggards will come down to capital efficiency." Evercore ISI adds Adobe to the core ideas list Evercore said the stock is well positioned heading into 2024. "While the ~78% move in Adobe shares YTD requires investors to have some patience in the near-term, we believe that Adobe is well positioned into CY24." TD Cowen upgrades Surgery Partners to outperform from market perform TD Cowen upgraded the surgical facilities company mainly on valuation. "We've patiently waited for an opportunity to recommend SGRY shares at what we deem a still-reasonable growth valuation." Barclays reiterates Disney as equal weight Barclays said it's having trouble finding upside for Disney shares. "While there could be enough variables to provide downside support at present levels, upside narrative, important for valuation expansion, remains difficult to articulate."

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/08/wednesdays-biggest-stocks-to-watch-on-wall-street.html

ADBE

Adobe Inc.

Here are Wednesday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Rivian, Datadog, DraftKings, Lucid, Target, Adobe and more

Here are Wednesday's biggest calls on Wall Street: UBS reiterates Apple as neutral UBS said its checks show wait times for Apple's iPhone Pro and Pro Max have fallen. "Utilizing UBS Evidence Lab that tracks iPhone availability across 30 countries, wait times for the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max across the US, China, Europe, and Japan fell WoW to 15 days and 10 days, respectively, on average." Loop upgrades Context Logic to hold from sell Loop upgraded the e-commerce platform company as it "seeks strategic alternatives." "We are upgrading our rating from Sell to Hold and lowering our price target from $6 to $4 on shares of WISH as the company seeks strategic alternatives." UBS reiterates Target as buy UBS lowered its price target on the stock to $174 per share from $184 but said it's standing by Target shares. "By now, we think it's well understood that Target's sales remain pressured in 3Q. The company's CEO has been vocal about the consumer pulling back, not only on discretionary items, but also on consumables. Still, we think Target managed its margin well in the quarter." Wells Fargo initiates Fair Isaac as overweight Wells Fargo said in its initiation of the software credit scoring company that it has unique assets. " FICO Scores achieved enviable de facto "market standard" status, becoming the benchmark for credit worthiness across several key verticals such as mortgage, auto, and card." Wells Fargo upgrades Glaukos to overweight from equal weight Wells Fargo upgraded the ophthalmic disease company and said it sees a slew of positive catalysts. "We are upgrading GKOS to Overweight and raising our PT to $83 due to two recent positive reimbursement updates and the upcoming launch of iDose, which represents a significant growth driver." Citi downgrades NXP Semiconductors to sell from neutral Citi said it's concerned about sales declines for the chipmaker. "It will get much worse – expect 40% downside to Consensus. We note all NXP peers are guiding sales to decline roughly 20% peak to trough and NXPI has underperformed during corrections." Bank of America upgrades Fluence Energy to buy from neutral Bank of America said the energy storage is the next big thing in renewables. "We are raising shares of FLNC to Buy with a tweaked $26 PO (+$2) as we get ourselves incrementally comfortable on accelerating storage backdrop." Cantor Fitzgerald downgrades Lucid to neutral from buy Cantor downgraded the electric vehicle company after it revised down its annual production guidance. "We are downgrading Lucid (LCID) to Neutral and lowering our PT to $6 (from $10) amidst lower expected revenues, persistent large negative gross margins, revision of the company's annual production guidance, and industry demand slowdown." TD Cowen downgrades Estée Lauder to market perform from outperform TD Cowen said in its downgrade of Estée Lauder that it sees China deteriorating. "Moving to Market Perform as Mainland China could see continued softness due to a volatile Chinese consumer, and Hainan & South Korea Travel Retail may worsen before getting better." Bank of America reiterates Rivian as buy Bank of America said Rivian is "still in [the] right place/time with right product/strategy." "We reiterate our Buy rating on RIVN, which is predicated on our view that the company is one of the most viable among the start-up EV automakers and also a relative competitive threat to incumbent OEMs." Susquehanna initiates Marqeta as positive Susquehanna said it's bullish on the fintech company for the short and long term. "We think there are a number of ways for investors to win with MQ , and a clear catalyst path to get there." Goldman Sachs upgrades Quanta Services to buy from neutral Goldman Sachs said the construction company is executing well. "On a relative basis, given PWR's continued execution track record and greater exposure to seemingly more resilient customers, we believe the pullback presents investors an opportunity to gain exposure." Raymond James downgrades Masimo to market perform from outperform Raymond James said it sees a lack of visibility for the med-tech company. "We are lowering our rating on MASI to Market Perform (from Outperform). The lack of visibility into growth, and the sizable estimate reduction are thesis-changing, combined with a valuation that is less compelling." Bank of America reiterates DraftKings as buy Bank of America said it's bullish heading in to DraftKing's investor day next week. "We think the day will focus on 1) a new medium-term revenue and profit bridge for 2026 or 2027, 2) detailed cohort and profit analyses across existing/more mature states and 3) updated TAM and market share assumptions." Bernstein reiterates Adobe as outperform Bernstein raised its price target on the stock to $660 per share from $627 and said it's growing more bullish. " Adobe has delivered on a wide and growing set of unique and valuable AI driven capabilities that are going to drive not only additional revenue from existing customers (price increase, upsell, and Gen AI tokens in the future) but more importantly attract new users." Mizuho downgrades Datadog to neutral from buy Mizuho said in its downgrade that "additional upside looks too modest." "Yesterday, DDOG defied many skeptics with a much better than expected 3Q. Total revenue growth of 25% Y/Y significantly surpassed the Street's 20% forecast." Citi upgrades Microchip to buy from neutral Citi said estimates are close to bottoming for the integrated circuits manufacturer. "We are upgrading MCHP to Buy as we believe the Consensus estimates are close to bottoming and the three factors that caused MCHP to trade at a discount – high debt, low tax, conglomerate discount – are going away." JPMorgan upgrades Datadog to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said the worst is behind Datadog. "We are upgrading Datadog shares to OW from Neutral and increasing our price target to $115. As a reminder, DDOG shares peaked at nearly $200 per share in 2021 and have produced zero return for the past three years– so the bigger picture has been a challenging multi-year period."

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/31/morgan-stanley-upgrades-adobe-cites-ai-acceleration.html

ADBE

Adobe Inc.

Morgan Stanley upgrades Adobe, cites A.I. acceleration

Morgan Stanley thinks Adobe can benefit from artificial intelligence-powered products even more. The bank upgraded Adobe to overweight from equal weight Monday and hiked its price target to $660 per share from $510. Morgan Stanley's new forecast now implies nearly 25% upside. The stock had climbed more than 57% year to date. ADBE YTD mountain Adobe year to date Analyst Keith Weiss said that while Adobe may have been "late to the party," the company still stands to gain from artificial intelligence integration across its line of products. "Importantly, GenAI products like Firefly coupled with enhancements to flagship applications renew our confidence in a robust product innovation engine at Adobe," Weiss said. Weiss also pointed to the popular Adobe Creative Cloud, which could push the company's earnings-per-share compounded annual growth rate toward 17% from 2022 to 2025. "Supported by one of the strongest franchises in software, Adobe's Creative Cloud is well positioned to integrate Generative AI functionality into existing workflows of a broad base of subscribers, enabling stickier customer engagement and opportunity to monetize incremental productivity provided to users," he said. — CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/11/a-dreaded-death-cross-chart-pattern-points-to-even-more-losses-for-this-struggling-software-stock.html

ADBE

Adobe Inc.

A dreaded 'death cross' chart pattern points to even more losses for this struggling software stock

Adobe showed all the technical characteristics of a top performer during the second half of 2023. After a key breakout in May of last year, ADBE pounded out a clear pattern of higher highs and higher lows, along with consistently strong momentum and impressive relative strength. But 2024 has been a dramatically different year, with almost every bullish factor listed above reversing to a more bearish reading. This week, ADBE flashed the dreaded "death cross" signal — a pattern that typically points to further downside — with the 50-day moving average crossing down through the 200-day moving average. Is this just the beginning of a protracted downtrend for this software name? The technical evidence would suggest further downside is very much a possibility. Adobe created a classic double top pattern in January, when the stock retested the December 2023 high around $630 and failed to break above this resistance level. Price momentum has shifted to a bearish range, with the relative strength consistently below 50 over the past two months. It's worth noting that the death cross observed this week happened only after the stock had established a clear downtrend of lower highs and lower lows. This sort of moving average technique is very much a lagging indicator, meant to confirm a downtrend that has already begun. In fact, the last time Adobe flashed a death cross was in January 2022. The stock was already down about 25% from its November 2021 high when the pattern appeared, and ADBE lost another 45% in value after that bearish signal. What downside objectives can we identify based on the current setup? Let's incorporate Fibonacci retracements as a way to anticipate potential support levels, assuming this downtrend continues. Now we can see that the gap lower in March, after the Q1 earnings release, dropped the price right down to the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level. This support level, just below $500, aligns well with the September 2023 price low. Although ADBE experienced a brief bounce higher after that downside gap, the bears regained control in recent weeks. Now that the first Fibonacci level has been broken, this would suggest further downside with potential support at the 61.8% level around $411, along with secondary support at the 50% level around $453. Back in 2022, a similar death cross resulted in an additional 45% drop for Adobe before the eventual low was established. While a repeat of that sort of extreme downtrend may seem unlikely, the bearish configuration of price action, moving averages, RSI, and relative strength suggests that investors should treat this stock as guilty until proven innocent. -David Keller, CMT marketmisbehavior.com DISCLOSURES: None THE ABOVE CONTENT IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY . THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSITUTE FINANCIAL, INVESTMENT, TAX OR LEGAL ADVICE OR A RECOMMENDATION TO BUY ANY SECURITY OR OTHER FINANCIAL ASSET. THE CONTENT IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND DOES NOT REFLECT ANY INDIVIDUAL'S UNIQUE PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES. THE ABOVE CONTENT MIGHT NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUR PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES. BEFORE MAKING ANY FINANCIAL DECISIONS, YOU SHOULD STRONGLY CONSIDER SEEKING ADVICE FROM YOUR OWN FINANCIAL OR INVESTMENT ADVISOR. Click here for the full disclaimer.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/15/adobe-ceo-says-ai-will-wont-replace-human-ingenuity-itll-augment-it.html

ADBE

Adobe Inc.

Adobe CEO says A.I. will won't replace human ingenuity, it'll augment it

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen told CNBC's Jim Cramer that generative artificial intelligence will augment human ingenuity, not replace it. Adobe's Firefly software makes heavy use of generative AI, which users can employ in the company's popular suite of programs like Photoshop and Illustrator. Narayen said the software will increase productivity and give smaller businesses the chance to more easily develop their ideas. "It's going to bring so many more marketing folks, or small or medium business, into the fold in terms of saying, we have this creative idea, and now we can use the tools even more easily to create it," he said. "And so, it really is about this accelerant, it's about more affordability, and it's about more accessibility. And Adobe has always, always won when we solve problems and we allow more people into the field." He called generative AI's ability to "hallucinate," or generate new images, magic. "It is almost like you can focus exactly on what you want the output to be, and the computer does this magic, and so often, as I've been playing with it, I tell myself, 'How did it do that?'" Narayen said. "So, you know, it really is this sort of incredible co-pilot, or agent on your behalf that's able to understand what you're trying to accomplish before you even have the desire to do it, it does it for you." Narayen added that Firefly is integrated with the company's free software, Adobe Express. The company is fresh off a successful quarter, reporting $4.82 billion in revenue, exceeding estimates of $4.77 billion. Adobe stock finished up more than 2% on Thursday.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/26/thursdays-biggest-stocks-to-watch-on-wall-street.html

ADBE

Adobe Inc.

Here are Thursday's biggest analyst calls: Meta, Apple, Microsoft, Live Nation, Adobe, Disney & more

Here are Thursday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Evercore ISI upgrades Live Nation to outperform from market perform Evercore said it sees an attractive entry point for the live theater and entertainment company. "Regulatory overhang, uncertainty about '24 growth, and upside to nearterm estimates creates an attractive entry point for Live Nation's equity. Bank of America reiterates Meta as buy Bank of America said it's standing by its buy rating after Meta's earnings report on Wednesday. "With expense guide resolving some uncertainty, we believe stock can see renewed enthusiasm on 2024 upside, while growing optimism on AI capabilities can drive multiple expansion. Piper Sandler reiterates Apple as overweight Piper said it's standing by its overweight rating on the stock ahead of earnings next week. "We are reducing estimates on Apple's December quarter guide ahead of earnings next week. The primary reasons for our cut are a tough global phone environment, initial weakness for iPhones in China, and slightly tough compares for Mac and iPad." Goldman Sachs reiterates ServiceNow as buy Goldman said it's standing by its buy rating on the stock after Wednesday's robust earnings report. "With its strategic positioning across multiple end-markets in enterprise software ($220bn TAM), coupled with still significant margin unlock vs. scale peers (e.g. MSFT, ADBE), we continue to view ServiceNow as amongst the most compelling investment opportunities in software." DA Davidson upgrades Adobe to buy from hold DA said the stock is "best-in-class." "We are upgrading Adobe to a BUY rating and adding it to D.A. Davidson's 'Best-of-Breed Bison' list, comprising a select group of long-term best in class companies with sustainable competitive moats." KeyBanc downgrades Thermo Fisher to sector weight from overweight Key said it sees too many moving parts for Thermo Fisher. "We see lower growth than peers in FY24 and release a revised earnings model." Oppenheimer upgrades Adobe to outperform from market perform Oppenheimer said the stock has a "favorable outlook." "We raise our rating on Adobe to Outperform from Perform and initiate a $660 target on the stock as we see a strengthening business momentum, a favorable outlook for FY2024, and durable growth based on positive fundamental trends and a top position in software for the generative AI opportunity gleaned from our customer and industry surveys." HSBC upgrades Microsoft to buy from hold HSBC said the Microsoft has an "attractive valuation." "We upgrade MSFT to Buy (from Hold) after stronger-than expected 1Q FY24 results and on our improved outlook." Bank of America downgrades F5 Networks to underperform from neutral Bank of America said in its downgrade of the security and networking company that it sees muted growth for F5. "F5's stock has underperformed NASDAQ in four of the last five years, and is up only 6% YTD vs. NASDAQ's 23%. We expect revenue growth to remain muted, at -2% and +4% over the next two years, and believe the stock may continue to underperform our coverage universe." Cantor Fitzgerald initiates Rocket Lab as buy Cantor said in its initiation of the space company that it has a "proven and successful launch track record." " Rocket Lab is a space company that develops and launches orbital rockets that deploy payloads for government and commercial customers." Citi reiterates Endeavor as buy Citi said in a note on Wednesday night that the entertainment company should consider going private. "Earlier [Wednesday], Endeavor released an 8K suggesting it was reviewing its strategic alternatives. Shortly thereafter, Silver Lake (who controls 71% of the Endeavor vote) announced it was considering taking Endeavor private. Given the sharp deterioration in Endeavor's equity value, this doesn't come as a big surprise." Bank of America initiates Paycom as buy Bank of America said it's bullish on the "fast growth" payroll and human resources company. "We are initiating coverage of Paycom with a Buy rating and $330 PO, implying upside of 30%. Piper Sandler reiterates Amazon as overweight Piper Sandler said it thinks Microsoft and Alphabet's earnings reports portend well for Amazon's quarterly report on Thursday. "For AMZN stock, down from the recent highs, we believe that this commentary has already been partially absorbed." Redburn Atlantic Equities reiterates Disney as sell Redburn said estimates remain too high with too many challenges for Disney. "With estimates still too high in our view, we remain confident in our Sell recommendation." Jefferies downgrades Bath & Body Works to hold from buy Jefferies said in its downgrade of the stock that it sees slowing growth. "We are downgrading to Hold as we see limited growth opptys. Our data across social, foot traffic, & share suggest a slowing of trends for BBWI." Northland upgrades Nextracker to outperform from market perform Northland upgraded Nextracker after the solar tracker solutions company's robust earnings report. "With such strong results, however, we expect the stock to rise still further as the merger arbitrage bets settle in and the stock begins being driven by fundamentals."

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/15/stocks-making-big-premarket-moves-arm-gm-ford-adobe-and-more.html

ADBE

Adobe Inc.

Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: Arm Holdings, GM, Ford, Adobe and more

General Motors assembly workers picket outside the General Motors Bowling Green plant during the United Auto Workers national strike in Bowling Green, Kentucky, October 10, 2019. Check out the companies making headlines before the bell. KeyCorp — The Cleveland-based regional bank rose almost 2% premarket after Piper Sandler said the shares have begun to recover and it's growing "more comfortable" with its profit estimates. Piper upgraded KeyCorp to overweight from neutral. Keysight Technologies — Shares added about 1.5% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the test and measurement equipment maker to overweight from equal weight. The investment bank said Keysight's current valuation doesn't reflect its double-digit earnings growth. Apellis Pharmaceuticals — The biopharmaceutical company climbed 3.5% before the open after Wells Fargo upgraded to overweight from equal weight. The bank said Apellis offers a favorable risk-reward ahead of third-quarter earnings. General Motors , Ford , Stellantis — GM and Ford fell less than 1% and Stellantis rose less than 1% after the United Auto Workers went on strike Thursday night. About 12,700 workers at three key assembly plants walked out, according to the union. Unity Software — Shares in the video game developer stock added almost 3% premarket on the heels of an upgrade to buy from Bank of America. A stable advertising business, better monetized game engine, priced-in "risks and execution issues" and "potential upside" to 2024-25 earnings estimates underpinned the upgrade. DoorDash — Shares of the food delivery company slid almost 3% premarket after MoffettNathanson downgraded DoorDash to market perform from outperform. The research firm said that the resumption of student loan payments could hurt food delivery demand. Arm Holdings — Shares of the semiconductor and software stock gained 5.4% premarket after its rally on Thursday, when the company made its Nasdaq debut through an initial public offering and jumped nearly 25%. Needham initiated coverage of the British company with a hold rating, saying Arm's valuation looks "full" in a post-smartphone era. Adobe — Shares fell 3.4% on the back of the company's fiscal third-quarter earnings report Thursday. Earnings and revenue at the Photoshop and Acrobat maker beat analysts' estimates and forward guidance matched Street projections. While Goldman Sachs and Bank of America reiterated buy ratings, JPMorgan remained neutral, citing macroeconomic headwinds and a high premium for Adobe's pending acquisition of Figma for $20 billion. Nucor — The steelmaker fell 2.3% before the open after issuing weaker-than-expected earnings guidance for the third quarter, citing weaker pricing and volumes. Nucor forecast earnings between $4.10 and $4.20 per share, versus the $4.57 expected by analysts polled by LSEG. — CNBC's Brian Evans, Michelle Fox, Alex Harring, Hakyung Kim, Tanaya Macheel, Jesse Pound and Pia Singh contributed reporting.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/08/premarket-movers-kroger-docusign-snowflake-adobe-and-more.html

ADBE

Adobe Inc.

Stocks making the biggest moves before the bell: Kroger, DocuSign, Snowflake, Adobe and more

The DocuSign website is seen on a laptop in Dobbs Ferry, New York, April 1, 2021. Check out the companies making headlines in premarket trading. Kroger — The supermarket chain fell 2.8% following a mixed second-quarter report. Kroger reported earnings per share ex-tems of 96 cents, beating the consensus forecast of 91 cents from analysts polled by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv. But Kroger posted $33.85 billion in quarterly revenue, under the $34.13 billion anticipated by analysts, and said it would pay as much as $1.2 billion to settle most claims related to opioids. Planet Labs — The satellite imagery stock slipped 2.6% in premarket trading after delivering a weaker-than-expected quarterly report Thursday. Planet Labs posted a loss of 14 cents per share on revenue of $53.8 million in the second quarter, while analysts surveyed by LSEG anticipated a loss of 8 cents per share and revenue of $54.1 million. Current-quarter and full-year guidance missed Wall Street estimates. DocuSign — The electric signature stock advanced 2.4% in premarket trading on the heels of a stronger-than-expected quarterly report released Thursday. DocuSign posted adjusted earnings per share of 72 cents on $688 million in revenue, while analysts surveyed by LSEG forecast earnings of 66 cents per share and revenue of $678 million. Snowflake — Shares of the cloud data provider rose nearly 2% in premarket trading after D.A. Davidson initiated research coverage of the stock with a buy rating. The Wall Street firm said Snowflake is in an advantageous position with "best-in-class growth rates" and is set to benefit from increased demand for artificial intelligence applications. First Solar — Shares added 2.8% in early trading after being upgraded to buy from hold by Deutsche Bank on Thursday. The Wall Street firm cited First Solar's strong growth message during its investors day. It also raised its price target to $235 a share, implying 30% upside. Adobe — The maker of Photoshop software rose nearly 2% in premarket trading after Mizuho upgraded it to buy from neutral. Mizuho said that accelerating web traffic is a reason to become more optimistic on Adobe. The company will report its next quarterly results Sept. 14. Gilead Sciences — The maker of antiviral drugs rose 1.6% in premarket trading. On Friday, Bank of America upgraded Gilead to buy from neutral, saying its growing pipeline is unappreciated by investors. The bank also raised its price target to $95 from $88, representing more than 25% upside from Thursday's close. RH — The home goods retailer dropped 7.3% in premarket trading after third-quarter guidance fell short of analysts' estimates, according to FactSet. "We continue to expect the luxury housing market and broader economy to remain challenging throughout FY23 and into next year as mortgage rates continue to trend at 20-year highs, and the current outlook is for rates to remain unchanged until the second quarter of 2024," CEO Gary Friedman said in a letter to shareholders. — CNBC's Yun Li, Sarah Min, Jesse Pound, Michelle Fox and Scott Schnipper contributed reporting.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/17/stocks-making-the-biggest-premarket-moves-.html

ADBE

Adobe Inc.

Stocks making the biggest premarket moves: Walmart, Adobe, Cisco, Hawaiian Electric and more

The Walmart logo is seen near its store in Williston, Vermont, June 19, 2023. Check out the companies making the biggest moves in premarket trading. Walmart — Shares added as much as 1% after the big-box retailer raised its full-year forecast and reported an earnings and revenue beat. Adjusted earnings per share for the quarter was $1.84, topping the $1.17 expected from analysts polled by Refinitv. Revenue came in at $161.63 billion, versus the $160.27 expected. Cisco Systems — The computer networking giant added 2.2% following its earnings beat postmarket Wednesday. Adjusted earnings per share for its fiscal fourth quarter came in at $1.14, topping the $1.06 expected from analysts polled by Refinitiv. Revenue was $15.2 billion, compared with the $15.05 billion expected. Adobe — The software company added about 2% after Bank of America upgraded shares to buy from neutral. The bank said Adobe was on the verge of becoming a leader in artificial intelligence. Bank of America also upped its price target to $630 per share from $575, implying more than 22% upside from Wednesday's close. Hawaiian Electric — The utility company that oversees Maui Electric sank nearly 18% in premarket trading, continuing its slide over concerns of its potential liability in Maui's wildfires. On Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported Hawaiian Electric is in talks with firms that specialize in restructuring. On Thursday, Bank of America lowered its price target on the stock for the second time this week, from $11 to $10. CVS — Shares tumbled about 7% in the premarket after Blue Shield of California announced it is moving from CVS to Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drug Company and Amazon Pharmacy. Blue Shield of California will still use CVS Caremark for specialty drugs and to provide prescriptions for patients with complex conditions. Wolfspeed — Shares dropped nearly 17% following the company's earnings report after the bell Wednesday. Wolfspeed posted an adjusted earnings-per-share loss of 42 cents for its fiscal fourth quarter, missing expectations of a loss per share of 20 cents, according to Refinitiv. However, the company's revenue tops estimates. Ball Corp . — The stock popped 3% in premarket trading after BAE Systems announced it was buying Ball's aerospace business for $5.55 billion in cash. VinFast Auto — Shares of the electric vehicle startup fell nearly 5% in premarket trading as VinFast's stock searches for its level after debuting earlier this week. The stock rose more than 250% Tuesday in the first session after VinFast merged with a special purpose acquisition company, but shares retreated nearly 19% Wednesday. — CNBC's Alex Harring, Jesse Pound and Michael Bloom contributed reporting.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/05/amd-reportedly-hits-us-regulatory-roadblock-for-chain-tailored-chip.html

AMD

Advanced Micro Devices

AMD reportedly hits U.S. regulatory roadblock for China-tailored chip

A smartphone with a displayed AMD logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023. American semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices has failed in getting a made-for-China AI chip past U.S. regulators and will need to apply for an export license, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. The report said AMD designed the chip to have lower performance than its premium products in order to comply with U.S. export restrictions. But Bloomberg reported the Commerce Department did not clear the chip for sale in China because it was still too advanced. AMD will now have to obtain a license from the department's Bureau of Industry and Security, the report said. It's not clear if the company will apply for the license. AMD and the Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security did not immediately respond to CNBC's requests for comment. While the U.S. has restricted sales of products containing the nation's most advanced semiconductor technologies to China, citing national security concerns, American companies have continued to sell mature or less advanced technologies to the massive market without licenses. AMD's products include chips that can be used to develop and train AI models - something U.S. officials have warned that Beijing could use to gain military advantages.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/08/stocks-to-buy-on-friday-like-aapl-and-coin.html

AMD

Advanced Micro Devices

Here are Friday's biggest analyst calls: Nvidia, Apple, Netflix, Broadcom, Disney, AMD, Coinbase, GE & more

Here are Friday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Oppenheimer downgrades Figs to perform from outperform Oppenheimer said it sees too many challenges for the surgical wear company. "We remain constructive upon longer term prospects for FIGS and the company's shares. That said, nearer-term, we are increasingly concerned that internal and external challenges, which have impacted trends at the company lately, are likely to persist, longer than initially anticipated." D.A. Davidson upgrades MongoDB to buy from hold DA upgraded the stock following earnings on Thursday. "We are upgrading shares of MDB from Neutral to BUY & are raising our PT from $405 to $430. Citi reiterates Apple as buy Citi lowered its price target on the stock to $220 per share from $225 but said it's sticking with Apple. "Maintain buy on structural gross margin expansion due to premiumization supported by AI smartphones and services growth." Barclays initiates Western Alliance as overweight Barclays said the regional bank is one of the best positioned in the firm's coverage. "The names we believe are best positioned within our coverage include WAL, EWBC, and WBS, which each have ample capital, strong credit, and stable funding." JPMorgan upgrades General Electric to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said GE is a "premier" name. "Looking ahead, it is clear that GE is the premier large cap name in Comml Aero with regard to 1) the business, 2) where that business is in the cycle, 3) the balance sheet.." JPMorgan upgrades Kinetic to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said the midstream operator is a "high quality business." "Overall, we upgrade KNTK to OW given attractive growth visibility." Goldman Sachs upgrades Coinbase to neutral from sell Goldman upgraded the stock as crypto prices are surging. "We are upgrading shares of COIN to Neutral from Sell, as crypto prices have surged to all time highs, and COIN daily volumes have reached levels not seen since 2021." Evercore ISI reiterates Alphabet as outperform Evercore said the stock is a new top pick at the firm. "Meanwhile, GOOGL's tech & data assets are clearly among the strongest in the world. And along with negative sentiment on GOOGL shares and cautious management commentary ('larger base') has come seemingly conservative Street estimates." Wells Fargo reiterates Disney as overweight Wells says the stock is "best-positioned" in the ad market. "We see DIS best-positioned and WBD most at-risk." Bank of America downgrades Victoria's Secret to underperform from buy Bank of America double downgraded Victoria's Secret due to too many negative catalysts. "We see risk to F24 sales guidance, as it assumes the broader lingerie market will stabilize in 2H after declining MSD [ mid single digits ] in 1H, as well as the impact of initiatives in sport and technology materializing." Morgan Stanley upgrades UBS to overweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley said in its upgrade of UBS that the "stars are aligned." "Short-term cyclical, long-term structural upside." Wolfe upgrades Gates to outperform from peer perform Wolfe said in its upgrade of Gates that it sees margin expansion for the power transmission company. "We see significant multiple expansion potential driven by growth recovery and better margin/FCF execution." UBS initiates AST SpaceMobile UBS said the space satellite company is well positioned. " AST is pre-revenue, but we believe it will be a leader in the emerging space- to-cellular broadband market - an industry with the potential to generate $10s of billions in annual revenue by providing uninterrupted coverage to traditional mobile devices." Morgan Stanley initiates enGene as overweight Morgan Stanley said in its initiation of enGene that it's a leader in bladder cancer therapy. "We initiate at Overweight with a $40 PT." Bank of America downgrades Petrobras to neutral from buy Bank of America said it's concerned about the lack of dividends for the Brazilian oil company. "In our view, the decision to not announce extraordinary dividends tonight heightens the risk perception at PBR and also suggests that the company could be pivoting to an agenda more focused on growth (leading to higher capex and M & A)." Bank of America reiterates Marvell as buy Bank of America said it's sticking with shares of Marvell following earnings on Thursday. "Legacy under pressure but AI well on track, reiterate Buy." JPMorgan reiterates SentinelOne as overweight JPMorgan added a positive catalyst watch on the cyber security company heading into earnings next week. "We expect strong 4Q results with constructive initial FY25 guidance from SentinelOne when the company reports earnings next week." Piper Sandler reiterates Microsoft as overweight Piper added the stock to its triple select list of top picks. " MSFT is a top ranked stock in the Macro Select model because it possesses the quality fundamental characteristics that typically outperform in similar economic backdrops." Goldman Sachs reiterates Broadcom as buy Goldman said investors should buy the dip in shares of Broadcom . "Although the market may have been looking for a positive revision in management's FY2024 outlook and, as a result, the stock may correct in the near-term, we would recommend investors to use any stock price weakness as an opportunity to add to positions, particularly with the company's robust competitive position in AI and its ability to extract better growth and margins in Software intact." Barclays reiterates Netflix as equal weight Barclays said streaming consolidation is poised to be a bigger win for YouTube than Netflix. "In the case of premium entertainment streaming, as distribution has shifted from being bundled to unbundled subscriptions and consumption has become atomized due to device and service fragmentation, value attribution for each service becomes more explicit." JPMorgan upgrades Teva to neutral from underweight JPMorgan said it sees a "favorable catalyst path" for the pharmaceutical company. "Along these lines, we are taking a more balanced approach to our ratings (which have been negatively skewed) and are moving TEVA from UW to N." Craig-Hallum upgrades Smith & Wesson to buy from hold Hallum said in its upgrade of the gun maker that it has "momentum" into the election cycle. "SWBI continues its deft execution and is entering the election cycle in an optimal position, with lean channel inventory, strong demand tailwinds and improving operating leverage." Bank of America upgrades Textron to buy from neutral Bank of America said in its upgrade of the biz jet company that the stock is undervalued. "Textron has been one of our better performing large caps YTD, up 12.31% (vs. S & P 500 +8.17%). However, concerns around Industrials, falling bizjet demand, and poor defense sentiment have peaked, translating into a multiple that is roughly one standard deviation below the historical averag Bank of America downgrades Vail to neutral from buy Bank of America said the setup looks too challenging for the ski and mountain resort company. "We are downgrading shares of Vail Resorts to Neutral from Buy. We see the setup as more challenging from here given 1) risk to FY24 guidance as visitation remains weak, 2) risk to FY25 estimates as MTN's Y/Y organic growth is slower than anticipated..." Deutsche Bank initiates Li Auto as buy Deutsche said the China auto company is a top pick. " Li Auto i s the largest 6 / 7 seater vehicles manufacturer in China with a 13.8% market share in 2023, which is the sweet spot of the automobile electrification mega-trend in China." RBC upgrades Carvana to sector perform from underperform RBC said the risk/reward is improving for Carvana shares. "We believe 1) any return to more meaningful unit growth will likely get fully if not overly extrapolated in the stock with additional amplification possible from the heavy short interest, 2) the company's cash generation/car may be better than many investors realize." Melius reiterates Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia as buy Melius said it doesn't see Advanced Micro Devices having any impact on Nvidia's momentum but that it likes both stocks. Melius also called AMD a "Nvidia-Mini" and Melius raised its price target on the stock to $265 per share from $192. "However, we don't believe AMD will have an adverse impact on Nvidia's momentum as the TAM is larger and Nvidia is the industry's driving force."

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/13/stocks-making-the-biggest-moves-midday-tsla-gehc-coin.html

AMD

Advanced Micro Devices

Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Tesla, GE HealthCare, Coinbase and more

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. Crypto stocks — Stocks whose performance is tied to the price of bitcoin rose as the cryptocurrency pushed to another record for the third day in a row. Crypto exchange Coinbase lost 1.7% and bitcoin proxy MicroStrategy surged nearly 10.9%. In the crypto mining sector, Marathon Digital lost 2.4%, while Riot Platforms added nearly 1%. CleanSpark gained about 3.8%. Texas Roadhouse — The restaurant chain added 2.6% on the back of an upgrade to outperform by Baird. The firm said the Kentucky-based chain should be able to keep climbing, even as it sits near all-time highs. Moelis & Co. — Shares gained 3.7% after Goldman Sachs upgraded the investment bank to neutral from sell and said it is an "an outsize beneficiary as the cyclical upswing begins," following its post-earnings pullback. Tesla — The stock slid 4.5% after Wells Fargo downgraded the electric vehicle maker to underweight from equal weight, noting "risk to volume as price cuts are having a diminishing impact ." Nvidia , Advanced Micro Devices , Micron Technology — Shares of the chipmakers fell Wednesday as the artificial intelligence-related rally continued to fizzle this week. Nvidia shares slipped 1.1%. Micron dropped 3.4% and AMD lost 3.9%. Dollar Tree — Shares of the discount retailer fell 14.2% after a disappointing quarterly report . Dollar Tree posted adjusted earnings of $2.55 per share on $8.64 billion of revenue for the fourth quarter. Analysts surveyed by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv, had penciled in $2.65 per share on $8.67 billion in revenue. The company also announced it had identified 970 of its Family Dollar locations for potential closure. Dollar General — The discount retailer fell 1.9% following competitor Dollar Tree's worse-than-expected quarterly results. Dollar General is set to release its own earnings Thursday before the open . It's up more than 14% this year. GE HealthCare — Shares dropped 3.6% after the medtech company announced a secondary offering of 13 million shares. GE HealthCare Technologies was spun off from General Electric in early 2023 . Legend Biotech — Shares added 4.4% after Raymond James initiated coverage of the commercial-stage biotechnology company at an outperform rating . The firm is bullish on Legend Biotech's Carvykti therapy, which treats multiple myeloma. Royal Caribbean , Carnival — Shares of both cruise line operators climbed after Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of the stocks at buy ratings , saying it sees pricing power and pent-up demand for cruise stocks. Royal Caribbean shares rose 1.8%, while Carnival's stock price jumped 2.9%. Petco Health and Wellness — Shares tumbled 1.6% after the beaten-down pet retailer announced a search for a new CEO. The company reported a revenue beat for the fourth quarter on Wednesday, posting adjusted earnings per share of 2 cents on revenue of $1.67 billion. Analysts had expected earnings of 2 cents per share on revenue of $1.62 billion, per LSEG. — CNBC's Alex Harring, Brian Evans, Samantha Subin, Yun Li, Lisa Kailai Han, Pia Singh and Michelle Fox contributed reporting.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/02/nvidia-and-advanced-micro-devices-are-strong-buys-to-play-ai-trends-raymond-james-says.html

AMD

Advanced Micro Devices

Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices are strong buys to play A.I. trends, Raymond James says

Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices are strong buys given their artificial intelligence leadership, according to Raymond James. Analyst Srini Pajjuri resumed coverage of the semiconductor stocks, saying the two companies will emerge as winners as enthusiasm ramps up for artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies. "Nvidia Corporation is the undisputed leader in AI/ML and arguably has the best autonomous driving solutions," Pajjuri wrote in a Wednesday note. Nvidia is up 55% in 2023 after losing half of its last year, but the analyst said that its current valuation is justified given the growing tailwinds around artificial intelligence. Pajjuri called AI/ML cloud service the "new growth vector." The analyst's $290 price target on the company implies 27% upside from Wednesday's close. Meanwhile, Advanced Micro Devices is an "underappreciated play on AI/ML," according to the analyst. "Near-term investors focus is on server share gains, which should continue through the year." The analyst's $100 price target suggests shares can advance another 27% from Wednesday's close. Raymond James said it expects the two firms will benefit from tailwinds lifting the broader semiconductor industry in the year ahead, such as the growth in AI technologies, broader electric vehicle adoption, as well as easing inflationary pressures. "While valuations look a bit stretched, we expect upward estimate revisions to start in 2H23 as inventories normalize, setting the stage for continued outperformance," the analyst wrote. —CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/13/intel-survived-bid-to-halt-millions-in-sales-to-chinas-huawei-sources-say.html

AMD

Advanced Micro Devices

Intel survived bid to halt millions in sales to China's Huawei, sources say

Patrick Gelsinger, chief executive officer of Intel Corp., speaks during the Intel Innovation Taipei technology forum in Taipei, Taiwan, on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. Intel has survived an effort to halt hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of chip sales to Huawei, two people familiar with the matter said, giving one of the world's largest chipmakers more time to sell to the heavily sanctioned Chinese telecoms company. "No American company, especially those receiving taxpayer funding, should be fueling its innovation," he said, referencing Intel's expected grant from the Commerce Department to expand its U.S. chip production. Republican Senator Marco Rubio called on the Biden administration to revoke Intel's license to sell to Huawei "immediately" following the Reuters report. It has also allowed Huawei to keep a small but growing share of the global laptop market, while AMD was deprived of hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of sales to the Chinese sanctioned firm, data showed. Intel's ability to hang on to a license to sell chips while a rival could not obtain similar permission demonstrates the uneven and uncertain terrain companies face as the U.S. seeks to limit Beijing's access to sophisticated American technology, especially to a heavily sanctioned company like Huawei. The push came from Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices , which argued it was unfair that it did not receive a license to sell similar chips to Huawei and from China hawks, who are seeking to stop all sales to the Chinese firm. U.S. President Joe Biden has long been under pressure to revoke a license, issued by the Trump administration, that allows Intel to ship advanced central processors to Huawei for use in laptops. Intel has survived an effort to halt hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of chip sales to Huawei, two people familiar with the matter said, giving one of the world's largest chipmakers more time to sell to the heavily sanctioned Chinese telecoms company. Intel, Huawei, the Commerce Department and the White House declined to comment. AMD did not respond to a request for comment. Describing the curbs on Huawei as economic bullying," the Chinese Embassy in Washington urged the United States to "stop overstretching the concept of national security" to "suppress Chinese companies." Huawei, a symbol of the years-long technology war between Washington and Beijing, was added to the trade restriction list by the Trump administration in 2019 over alleged sanctions violations. Huawei has previously denied wrongdoing. Being added to that list usually bars U.S. suppliers from selling anything to the targeted company. But in late 2020, just before former President Donald Trump left office, the Commerce Department granted some U.S. Huawei suppliers — including Intel — special permission to sell certain items to the telecoms equipment giant. AMD applied for a license to sell similar chips in early 2021 after President Joe Biden took office but never received a response to its application, a source said. Reuters could not determine why Intel was granted its license and AMD was not. But the impact on CPU chip sales to Huawei was immediate, with the share of sales of Huawei laptops containing AMD chips plunging from 47.1% in 2020 to 9.3% in the first half of 2023, an internal AMD presentation with data sourced to NPD and GfK showed. Intel's share of sales of Huawei laptops containing its chips soared during the period from 52.9% to 90.7%, according to the presentation. That left the two companies with upwards of a $512 million dollar "estimated revenue discrepancy" by early 2023, according to the presentation. Circana, the company created last year from the merger of NPD and IRI, and GfK, which is now owned by NIQ, declined to comment. The push to revoke licenses appeared likely to bear fruit last year when a government official said publicly that Huawei's licensing policy was under review and privately told companies the Commerce Department would fix the licensing discrepancy, sources said. But by late last year, the agency had shelved plans to revoke licenses, without providing a reason, said a person familiar with the matter and a U.S. official, who stressed the plan could be revived at a later date. Reuters could not learn why the Commerce Department shelved its plans to revoke Intel's license. But the action came as Washington took pains to reset relations with Beijing, including reestablishing military-to-military talks, after a Chinese spy balloon's discovery in U.S. airspace last winter soured relations between the two superpowers. Intel's license is expected to expire later this year, and is unlikely to be renewed, sources said. Meanwhile, Huawei continues to rely heavily on Intel chips for its laptops, its website shows.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/04/goldman-says-the-run-is-done-in-the-hottest-ai-play-in-the-market-today.html

AMD

Advanced Micro Devices

Goldman says the run is done in the hottest AI play in the market today

One of the most popular artificial intelligence plays may be nearing the end of its red-hot run, according to Goldman Sachs. Analyst Michael Ng initiated coverage of Super Micro Computer with a neutral rating Monday, saying that while the high-performance server company's partnerships with Nvidia , Advanced Micro Devices and Intel back the past year's 825% rally, now the shares look "fairly valued." SMCI 1Y mountain Super Micro Computer over the last year "SMCI is very well positioned to serve demand from AI CSP's over the next few years, but serving enterprise AI infrastructure demand in the years after likely will be more competitive, particularly given more enterprise-focused IT hardware suppliers such as DELL and CSCO," Ng wrote, referencing cloud services providers. Super Micro Computer has grown to nearly $60 billion in market capitalization and is slated to join the S & P 500 later in March. The stock has more than doubled in the first eight weeks of the year, soaring more than 278% in 2024 after climbing 246% in all of 2023. That's why further upside looks limited. Among his reasons for no more than a neutral opinion, Ng highlighted that Super Micro Computer currently trades in line with Nvidia on a price-to-earnings basis. Beginning next year, he said, he expects revenue growth to slow to 51% from a 61% compound annual growth rate between 2021 and 2024. Ng initiated a price target of $941 on SMCI, implying about 4% upside from Friday's close. Shares rallied 20% on Monday. — CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed reporting.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/19/hedge-funds-took-profits-in-these-popular-technology-stocks-during-the-fourth-quarter.html

AMD

Advanced Micro Devices

Hedge funds took profits in these popular technology stocks during the fourth quarter

Hedge funds appeared to take profits in a host of winning " Magnificent Seven " stocks during the fourth quarter at the end of a blowout year for the septet. Firms from Appaloosa Management to D1 Capital reduced or vacated positions in many popular 2023 stocks, locking in profits ahead of the new calendar year, recent securities filings show. The moves came after a stellar year for the sector in the wake of a crushing 2022. The S & P 500 Information Technology Index surged 49% in the past 12 months, boosted by optimism surrounding the introduction of artificial intelligence and the contribution it's expected to make to profits. Take a look at how Wall Street played the tech group in the final months of last year. Profit-taking in AI darling Nvidia Chipmaker Nvidia dominated investor enthusiasm in 2023, rallying 239% as market participants bet on its advanced AI processors. That share price appreciation inspired some investors to take profits before year-end. D1 Capital's Dan Sundheim zeroed out his more than $60 million position in the semiconductor stock during the fourth quarter, while billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller shrunk his position by nearly 30%. David Tepper's Appaloosa Management trimmed its stake by about 23%, while Phillippe Laffont's Coatue Management and Tiger Global's Chase Coleman sold about 5% and 13% of their respective Nvidia positions. Still, Nvidia shares rallied 14% in the fourth quarter, extending a 3% gain in the September quarter. The Jensen Huang-led chipmaker locked in the majority of its profits in last year's first half, but is already up 47% year to date. Nor was Nvidia the only semiconductor maker that hedge funds cut back on in the fourth quarter. Along with Nvidia, Tepper reduced stakes in Advanced Micro Devices , Intel and Qualcomm , while halving his position in Taiwan Semiconductor . Coatue slashed its holding in TSM, a semiconductor manufacturer and foundry by 87%, while Viking Global's Ole Andreas Halvorsen liquidated an entire stake in chip designer Arm Holdings , which went public in September. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF surged about 21% in the fourth quarter as the sector capped off its best year since 2009. Reducing exposure to the rest of Magnificent Seven Hedge funds also took profits in a handful of other popular Magnificent Seven stocks that helped power 2023's AI-fueled market rally. Google- and YouTube parent Alphabet was one. During the fourth quarter, shares rose about 7%, capping off a year when it climbed a total of 58%. The company spent the latter part of the year battling it out with Microsoft for the top chatbot and overcoming the perception that it had fallen behind in the AI race. Duquesne Family Office's Druckenmiller ditched a nearly $113-million stake in Alphabet and a roughly $19 million Amazon position, while Baupost Group's Seth Klarman reduced his Alphabet position by nearly a quarter. Coatue's Laffont slashed his stake in Alphabet Class A and Class C shares by 64% and 74%, respectively. Third Point's Dan Loeb also dumped an Alphabet position worth about $120 million , while paring back stakes in Amazon and Microsoft by about 10% ad 9%, respectively. The latter two, however, remained among Third Point's top three holdings at the end of the quarter, totaling more than $600 million each. D1's Sundheim reduced stakes in Microsoft and Meta Platforms by more than 62% and 26%, respectively, while Coatue cut about 9% of its Meta stake. D1 Capital's Microsoft sale brought the fund's stake to less than $242 million. The moves in Meta came in a quarter in which the Instagram owner surged 18%. The stock is already up 33% in 2024 after jumping 194% in 2023, with investors rewarding the social media provider's focus on efficiency. Viking Global sold its entire roughly $1 billion Microsoft stake and slashed its Amazon position by 44%, while Berkshire Hathaway trimmed its Apple stake. Corvex Management liquidated its position in the iPhone maker. Beyond the most prominent companies, hedge funds also made key reductions in other popular technology and semiconductor bets last quarter. Starboard Value's Jeffrey Smith , for example, reduced its stake in Salesforce by 11% after taking an activist stake in the software company in 2022, while Sundheim's D1 Capital sold out its entire position. Shares of Marc Benioff -led Salesforce have risen 10% this year after nearly doubling in 2023. Appaloosa's Tepper also reduced its stakes in Uber and Chinese technology giants Pinduoduo and Baidu , while liquidating entire stakes in Arista Networks and JD.com . Fresh bets on technology To be sure, a handful of hedge funds opened or raised their bets on some technology stocks even as they pulled back or exited positions in others. Alphabet was a new bet for a handful of hedge fund leaders, including Viking Global and Scion Asset Management 's Michael Burry. Burry, known for calling the subprime mortgage crisis, also opened a $4 million position in Amazon totaling more than $4 million, and a stake in Oracle . He also beefed up existing positions in China-based technology providers Alibaba and JD.com. D1 Capital's Sundheim also hiked positions in Amazon and Alphabet, while Druckenmiller amped up his Microsoft holding by 7%. Tepper increased the size of his positions in Microsoft and Amazon and established a new one in Oracle. Third Point's Loeb increased his bet on Meta Platforms, even as Tiger Global and Viking Global trimmed their positions. Elsewhere, Coatue opened fresh stakes in Salesforce, Apple and ServiceNow , while lifting his Netflix position by 14%. Away from Nvidia, Taiwan Semi and Arm, other semiconductor companies attracted new attention. Viking Global opened a fresh position in Advanced Micro Devices , and Coatue's Laffont expanded his holding in the chipmaker a hair and revealed a new bet on Intel. For his part, Tiger Global's Coleman lifted his holding in Taiwan Semiconductor by 48%, or about $94 million, while unveiling a more than $203 million position in Broadcom . — CNBC's Alex Harring and Yun Li contributed reporting

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/15/move-over-nvidia-a-new-hot-ai-play-has-soared-950percent-in-the-past-year.html

AMD

Advanced Micro Devices

Move over, Nvidia. There's a new hot AI play that has soared 960% in the past year

Nvidia better watch out, at least in terms of stock performance. One high-flying artificial intelligence stock has soared 960% over the past year and may soon become as familiar Nvidia, the dominant, better-known and far larger maker of AI processors. Super Micro Computer was highlighted Thursday at Bank of America by analyst Ruplu Bhattacharya, who began research coverage with a buy rating and $1,040 price target, citing the San Jose, Calif.-based company's leadership position in the rapidly growing market to create server technology, where it enjoys a critical advantage. "We think this provider of server and storage solutions will be a beneficiary of AI-driven demand growth ( > 50% of revenues now tied to accelerators like GPUs)," the analyst said. "We believe the market for AI servers is much larger than is factored in Street models." Recent stock performance notwithstanding, Nvidia, the leading provider of high-end graphics processing units (GPUs) with 80% of the global market, dwarfs Super Micro. Nvidia's market value Thursday totaled some $1.8 trillion, or about 37 times Super Micro's $49 billion. SMCI 1Y mountain Super Micro Computer shares over the last year Super Micro popped 13% during Thursday's session, approaching $1,000 per share. The call from Bank of America comes amid a period of rapid strength for the maker of GPU server systems. Super Micro's already attracted the attention of the investing community, nearly doubling since reporting strong earnings at the end of January. Shares have more than tripled already this year year after soaring 246% in 2023. Despite the runup in the stock, Bank of America argues that investors may still be overlooking Super Micro's potential, citing its accumulating backlog and capacity expansion, and partnerships with Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Intel . "We expect the market for AI servers to grow, on average, 50% CAGR over the next three years, vs. historical growth of the overall server market (5.5% CAGR over the past 17 years), and we expect Super Micro's revenue to grow even faster driving market share gain," Bhattacharya said, referrring to compound annual growth rates. SMCI YTD mountain Year to date stock performance Bank of America's price target reflected 18% upside from Wednesday's close and is the highest on Wall Street, according to FactSet. Super Micro already trades far above the consensus analyst price target of $683. Bhattacharya added that Super Micro's ability to build "server technology from the ground up" gives it a strategic boost. "This allows it to develop the highest performing customized solution for clients," Bhattacharya said. "That's a key competitive advantage in our view, as is its ability to quickly incorporate new designs and reduce time-to-market." — CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed reporting

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/20/stocks-making-the-biggest-moves-midday-nvda-wmt-dfs.html

AMD

Advanced Micro Devices

Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Nvidia, Walmart, Discover Financial and more

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. Semiconductor stocks — Popular semiconductor stocks declined, with Nvidia dropping more than 4% ahead of its Wednesday print. Super Micro Computer shed nearly 2% even after Rosenblatt issued a price target at a Street high . Advanced Micro Devices sank about 4.7%, and Marvell Technology lost nearly 2%. Walmart — Shares climbed more than 3% and notched a new all-time high on Tuesday following the retailer's earnings report . Walmart beat expectations for its holiday quarter and announced its purchase of TV maker Vizio . Vizio shares surged about 16%. Discover Financial — Shares of the credit card issuer soared 12.6% after it agreed to be acquired by Capital One Financial in a $35.3 billion all-stock deal. Capital One shares were little changed. The company expects the merger to help expand its credit card offerings and its deposit base. Caterpillar — Shares dropped more than 2% after Evercore ISI downgraded the industrial machinery giant to in line from outperform. The Wall Street firm said investors should take some profits after the stock rallied more than 25% over the past year. Home Depot — Shares last inched lower by less than 1% after the home improvement retailer reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings . Home Depot said its quarterly sales declined nearly 3% year over year, but it still surpassed Wall Street's earnings and revenue expectations. Meanwhile, the company expects sales will rise 1% in fiscal 2024. Barclays — U.S.-traded shares of the British bank surged 12% after the bank announced a major operational restructuring, including cost-cutting efforts. Barclays also declared a 1 billion pound share buyback plan. The bank reported a yearly decline in net attributable profit in 2023, as well as a lower-than-expected forecast. Airline stocks — Alaska Air added 3.7% and Southwest Airlines were flat after Deutsche Bank upgraded their shares to buy from hold. The firm cited an "improving domestic supply backdrop." Southwest also got an upgrade from Bernstein to market perform. Medtronic — Shares advanced 1.7% after the medical device company surpassed Wall Street estimates for both top and bottom lines in its fiscal third quarter. Medtronic also issued higher-than-expected earnings guidance for the full year, which it now estimates to be in the range of $5.19 to $5.21 per share. Analysts polled by FactSet forecast $5.16 per share. US Foods — Shares of the food distributor rose less than 1% following an upgrade to overweight from neutral by Piper Sandler. The investment firm said US Foods' stock has a "relatively clear path" to rise given the continued strength of the U.S. economy. Arm Holdings — The British chip designer sank 5%, pulling back from its 2024 rally. Arm shares have been on a roller-coaster ride since earnings earlier this month, due to a convergence of factors. — CNBC's Yun Li, Alex Harring, Jesse Pound, Tanaya Macheel, Hakyung Kim and Brian Evans contributed reporting.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/15/wall-street-weighs-in-on-whats-going-on-with-arm-holdings.html

AMD

Advanced Micro Devices

What's behind the 'once-in-a decade momentum' in Arm Holdings stock

Shares of Arm Holdings have been on a rollercoaster ride since reporting earnings last week , posting three moves of 19% or more within the last six trading sessions. What's driving these astounding moves is a confluence of factors including a scarcity in shares, sudden retail investor enthusiasm and a potential short squeeze. That's all on top of a strong quarterly print and an ongoing frenzy for AI. "That's just created this once-in-a-decade momentum," said Mehdi Hosseini, an equity research analyst covering the stock at Susquehanna International Group. The UK-based company, which designs and sells the instruction sets that allow customers like Apple , Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices to develop chips, is up 64% since reporting results and nearly tripled since its public market debut in September. While the company posted robust results and guidance, analysts have cast doubt over the magnitude of recent stock moves, which include a 48% post-earnings rally and a 19% drop during Tuesday's session. The action's also driven up Arm's price-to-earnings ratio to 86 times on a next-twelve month basis, putting it at a premium to AI chip darling Nvidia. "The numbers did come up, fundamentals did seem a little bit stronger than people thought, but does that warrant doubling the stock price? Probably not," said Needham analyst Charles Shi. "There's a lot of other stuff that's not fundamentally driven going on here." ARM mountain 2024-02-08 Arm since reporting earnings One key factor at play is the limited number of shares in the marketplace. SoftBank , which took the company public last year , owns 90% of outstanding shares and is barred from selling those shares until its 180-day post-IPO lock-up period expires in March. That's stifled supply and driven up a higher bid for shares. While the share demand problem may seem short-term, Ryuta Makino, a research analyst at GAMCO Investors, said there's no guarantee that SoftBank even sells those shares next month. In fact, he suspects that SoftBank may hold on to stock in a similar fashion to what it previously did with Alibaba . SoftBank may retain a majority of its stake as a "strategic asset" and "poster child" for its AI portfolio, he added. Retail traders getting involved Arm seemingly came out of nowhere to become one of the most popularly traded names among retail investors in recent sessions. It ranked as the fifth most highly traded name across stocks and ETFs over a recent five-day period, behind Nvidia, Tesla and Advanced Micro Devices , according to data from Vanda Research. Options activity is also on the rise, and suggests heightened bullish sentiment, the firm said. Then comes the whole short-interest predicament. The number of shares being sold short in Arm is up 26% since the start of February, according to data from predictive analytics firm S3 Partners. Traders typically buy shares short as a bet that the price of an asset will fall. Hosseini suspects that the recent activity in Arm could be a product of a short squeeze akin to 2021's meme stock craze, when a slew of heavily shorted companies surged as retail traders piled into the stocks and forced short sellers to cover their losses. The move typically fuels a stock rally and can lead to other market participants buying shares due to a fear of missing out. The unwavering excitement around AI that's driven an investing frenzy over the last year may also be a factor at play with Arm. Needham's Shi noted that while the company isn't a "pure play" AI trade, and offers very limited exposure to the theme, investors have grouped it into that bucket given its ties to several technology leaders. "The narrative is in their favor because they keep talking about AI in their story," he added. "But I think this is a part of the mania."

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/04/goldman-analysts-say-these-stocks-have-the-most-downside-potential.html

AFL

Aflac

Goldman analysts say these stocks have the most downside potential

Western Digital and Intel are up by double digits in 2023, but Goldman Sachs says these shares may see sharp declines. Despite a volatile interest rate environment and a rough third quarter, the Wall Street firm maintains an overall positive outlook on the equity market. Chief U.S. equity strategist David Kostin predicts the S & P 500 will rise 5% to 4,500 by year-end, citing roughly flat multiples and modest earnings growth. But even given this optimism, Goldman believes some stocks are bound to fall. In a recent note, the firm detailed several stocks that have the most downside potential based on Goldman's respective target prices. Take a look at some of these expected losers, with prices and downside current as of the end of September: Computer drive manufacturer Western Digital has rallied nearly 43% since the start of the year, making it one of the best performers in the S & P 500, but Goldman believes the stock could still fall 32%. This summer, Western Digital issued weak guidance for its fiscal first quarter, calling for a loss ranging between $2.10 and $1.80 per share, excluding items. Analysts polled by FactSet called for a loss of $1.43 per share. Goldman also expects chip giant Intel to dive 21%. Shares are already up 35% in 2023. In July, Intel posted second-quarter results that showed a return to profitability following two consecutive quarters of losses. On Tuesday, Intel said it would operate its programmable chip unit as a stand-alone business , with the goal of conducting an initial public offering for this business within the next two to three years. Airbnb is another high flyer that could be due for a decline, according to Goldman. The firm sees a descent of more than 14% for the lodging stock, a sharp turn from its 49% year-to-date gain. Recently, KeyBanc Capital Markets downgraded Airbnb to sector weight from overweight. KeyBanc analyst Justin Patterson cited slowing revenue growth and a near-term peak in margins as reasons for the downgrade. Other names on Goldman's list include Northrop Grumman , APA , Hormel Foods and Aflac . — CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed reporting.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/06/analysts-say-buy-underappreciated-stocks-like-palo-alto-albertsons.html

AFL

Aflac

Wall Street analysts see opportunity this year in these underappreciated stocks

The market volatility may be causing some investor uncertainty but there's still plenty of value to be found according to Wall Street analysts who named some of their top underappreciated stocks this week. CNBC PRO combed through Wall Street research to find some of the best ideas amid the market frenzy. They include: CNX Resources , Aflac , Palo Alto Networks , Ryder Systems , Tandem Diabetes Care and Albertsons . Palo Alto Networks The cybersecurity company was upgraded to outperform from neutral this week by investment firm Credit Suisse. The firm believes the stock is inexpensive compared to peers in its sector and poised to break out as the coronavirus subsides, according to analyst Brad Zelnick. "We see an opportunity in PANW which has lagged the group and should benefit both in the near and long term," he wrote. Zelnick also said Palo Alto should benefit from the Biden administration's commitment to cyber defense. "Ultimately, we see PANW as well positioned to leverage its strong brand, large installed base, and relatively broad next gen security portfolio to capture incremental wallet share," he said. In addition, Zelnick expects companies to begin to ramp up spending on cyber initiatives that were put on hold due to the pandemic. "We see an underappreciated opportunity in Palo Alto Networks," Zelnick said. Shares ended the week up 8%. Ryder Systems The transportation and logistics company was recently initiated with a buy rating by Goldman Sachs analyst Jordan Alliger. "While Ryder has been a public company since 1955, we do think that there is a significant amount of the Ryder story that is not fully appreciated by the market - both on a near- to medium-term, and a secular basis," he wrote. Alliger said he sees several "industry tailwinds" that indicate possible "share price momentum" throughout the rest of the year. They include rising truck orders as the economy rebounds and an increase in truck pricing, which Alliger said usually correlates to shares going higher. And Alliger noted that even though the stock finished 2020 up 14%, it still lagged most peers in its sector. The firm also has a Street high price target of $87 per share which indicates nearly 30% upside potential from the current share price. Ryder is an "undervalued pro-cyclical stock opportunity," he said. Albertsons Shares of the grocery store chain are down almost 3% since the company's strong third-quarter earnings report in mid January. In addition, Albertsons has also received several downgrades from Wall Street in recent weeks. But Bank of America analyst Robert Ohmes is urging clients to stick with the stock. Ohmes says his firm sees more upside and called the company a "top value pick" in a recent note. "As a destination retailer w/ growing omni-channel offerings, we view ACI as well-positioned to drive/maintain share gains near term and long term," he said. The firm also praised the company's strong digital growth as well as its rapidly expanding "drive up and go" grocery delivery service known as DUG among other things. "[We] continue to view ACI undervalued post strong F3Q," Ohmes wrote. Palo Alto Networks- Credit Suisse, Outperform rating "We also see an opportunity in PANW which has lagged the group and should benefit both in the near and long term. ... .We upgrade Palo Alto Networks shares to Outperform from Neutral, as we see the company well positioned heading into, what we believe, will be a strong spending environment in 2021. ... .Ultimately, we see PANW as well positioned to leverage its strong brand, large installed base, and relatively broad next gen security portfolio to capture incremental wallet share." Ryder Systems- Goldman Sachs, Buy rating "Undervalued pro-cyclical stock opportunity. ... .While Ryder has been a public company since 1955, we do think that there is a significant amount of the Ryder story that is not fully appreciated by the market - both on a near- to medium-term, and a secular basis. ... .Class 8 truck inventory remains at low levels and with the US economy set to rebound further in 2021, the need for additional trucks should increase. When used truck prices show momentum, there tends to be a positive correlation with Ryder share price" CNX Resources- Wells Fargo, Overweight rating "In our view, CNX continues to be an underappreciated free cash flow yield story. Critically,the free cash generation is accelerating towards the ~$500mm per year target by 2022in accordance with the current seven year plan. Management has indicatedthat it has the inventory to keep generating FCF beyond that despite some recentconcerns from investors. As natural gas rig activity remains well below maintenancelevels, we see a low cost cash flow machine with options for shareholder cash returns. Aflac- Morgan Stanley, Overweight rating "Underappreciated capital return story ... .We view Aflac as the industry's most undervalued capital return story, and also consider it to be a strong COVID recovery stock as the vaccine is distributed, leading us to raise our rating to Overweight. The migration toward cash flow generation as a tangible measure of shareholder value creation in the life insurance space is set to accelerate, in our view. Aflac stands out to us as the leading undervalued cash flow return story in the industry, and we are raising our rating to Overweight." Tandem Diabetes Care- Piper Sandler, Overweight rating "Taking all this together, we certainly cannot discount the fact that there are new devices coming to market that TNDM needs to watch out for, and we also want to again be clear that all our calculations are very rough estimates. ... .We're well aware of the skepticism out there, and we'll be the first to admit that there are valid risks to be cognizant of, but given all these points we encourage investors to take a deep look at this great medtech growth story and build positions in this widely undervalued name." Albertsons- Bank of America, Buy rating "Continue to view ACI undervalued post strong F3Q. ... .While IDs are likely to inflect negatively on tough compares in early F22 (vs. peak industry sales w/ the outbreak of COVID in March), we believe ACI's outlook continues to be supported by its leadership in Fresh, expansion of ready to eat/heat meal offerings, and rollout of DUG. ... .ACI remains a top value pick, Reiterate Buy & $22 PO. As a destination retailer w/ growing omni-channel offerings, we view ACI as well-positioned to drive/maintain share gains NT & LT" Dan Amos, chairman and chief executive officer of Aflac, pets a duck while sitting on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the opening bell in New York, September 10, 2018. Lucas Jackson | Reuters

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/13/how-workplace-benefits-might-reflect-the-new-reality-of-covid-19.html

AFL

Aflac

How workplace benefits might reflect the new reality of Covid-19

In this article AFL Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT 10'000 Hours | DigitalVision | Getty Images This fall, when employees sign up for next year's workplace benefits, they should take a close look at the offerings. Odds are they'll be changing in 2021. The coronavirus pandemic was hard on employers and workers, forcing them to adapt on the fly amid social distancing and efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus. Suddenly, employees found themselves working extended hours from their kitchen tables while caring for their children, often at the same time. More from FA Playbook: Op-ed: All types of investors can improve their financial fortunes Advisors guide clients through Covid-19 crisis Op-ed: CARES Act lets you tap your 401(k). What to know first Workers are stressed out. Their bosses know it. That means their workplace benefits could reflect that new post-pandemic reality. "It's an opportunity for employers to re-look at what they've been providing," said Kristen Appleman, senior vice president at payroll provider ADP. "How do you position it?" she asked. "Can you increase it to provide for mental health or support services, including child care and dealing with adult family members?" Here are three major themes employees can expect to see during the 2021 benefits enrollment season. Greater use of telemedicine AJ Watt | Getty Images Employers may have started offering telemedicine in recent years to keep the cost of care down, and the pandemic has helped drive employees toward remote medical treatment. Indeed, 43% of employers polled by Aflac say they now offer telemedicine to their workers, up from 29% last year. The insurer polled 1,200 benefits decision-makers from June 12 through June 30. "It's partially the convenience factor, but there's also the fear factor: I don't want my employee in high-outbreak cities going to the doctor if I can accomplish the same level of care virtually," said Matthew Owenby, chief human resources officer at Aflac. Virtual medicine has also given employers a way to provide greater access to mental health care. watch now More than a quarter of employers polled by Aflac said mental health issues have affected their business in the past year. About 30% say they'll offer virtual mental health coaching, up from 18% in the prior year. "Wellness plans aren't new and have been a thing for about 10 years now," said Liz Supinski, director of data products at the Society for Human Resource Management. "We've seen wellness plans move into the mental health space and more offerings around stress relief, relaxation and yoga," she said. Addressing the childcare conundrum Whether parents are working remotely or their jobs require them to leave home, chances are they're juggling childcare and virtual-learning demands at the same time. Low-income families face the brunt of the childcare conundrum. That's because few of them are able to work from home in the first place. Less than a quarter of households with income below 250% of the federal poverty level can do at least some of their work remotely, according to the Urban Institute. Employers' offerings in this space won't be a panacea for stressed-out parents, but it will at least offer some measure of relief. watch now "The marketplace is crying out for solutions," said Supinski at the Society for Human Resoureces Management. "There are indications that childcare may not recover and so many childcare providers may be going out of business." Three in 10 employers offer access to backup childcare, while another 30% either plan to add it or are considering doing so, according to data from Willis Towers Watson. The consultancy polled 553 U.S. employers, most of whom have at least 1,000 employees, the week of Sept. 7. Just over a quarter of the employers polled by Willis Towers Watson have offered discounts or subsidies to help offset the cost of childcare centers and tutoring. Meanwhile, 16% said they've contributed to parents' dependent care flexible spending accounts, a tax-favored account that families can access at work to help offset the cost of care for kids under age 13, Willis found. An emphasis on wellness Peathegee Inc | Tetra images | Getty Images Whether it's keeping workers from burning out or ensuring they're managing their finances, employees should anticipate seeing greater emphasis on wellness programs at the workplace. "Your health and wellness can really change medical outcomes if you take care of yourself," said Owenby of Aflac. "These benefit programs will become more standard offerings, versus a 'nice to have.'" Those wellness initiatives include stress management programs, web-based resources for healthy living and even free testing for Covid-19, Aflac found in its research. "We've seen plans either discontinue physical fitness in favor of broadening mental health or physical fitness options migrate to various online options," said Supinski at the Society of Human Resource Management.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/29/on-tap-this-week-jobs-report-plus-10-key-earnings-what-we-want-to-see.html

AFL

Aflac

On tap this week: Jobs report plus 10 key earnings. Here's what we want to see

All three major averages advanced for the week, powered by strong mega-cap earnings and favorable inflation data. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite led with a 2% gain, while the S & P 500 increased about 1% and the Dow rose 0.6%. Thursday snapped a 13-day winning streak for the 30-stock Dow average, a stretch not seen since 1987. Looking to next week, earnings season enters its second half with the last of our mega-caps — Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN) — set to report on Thursday. More economic data is on the way, which should show how the Federal Reserve is doing in its battle against inflation. That includes the super important monthly jobs report on Friday. 1. Economic releases : It's another big week for data following the Federal Reserve's expected decision this past Wednesday to raise the federal funds rate by another 25 basis points. The ISM Manufacturing report comes out on Tuesday and factory orders on Thursday. Combined, these reports provide insight into the state of manufacturing, which accounts for about 12% of U.S. GDP. This number been contracting for the past eight months as of June's ISM Manufacturing report. That trend isn't expected to have reversed in July, but investors are forecasting the rate of contraction to slow. Anything below 50 on the ISM purchasing managers' index (PMI) is indicative of a contraction while anything above that level points to expansion. The rate of contraction/expansion is measured by the distance from that 50-level benchmark. The further below 50, the faster the contraction and the further above 50, the faster the rate of expansion. Also out Thursday is the ISM Services PMI, which has showed the services industry has expanded for six months straight through June. Investors expect this trend to continue but don't expect the rate to ramp up. We'll get a better read on the employment picture on Wednesday with the ADP report and then, more importantly, on Friday's nonfarm payrolls report for July. As has been the case for many months, we want a strong headline number (200k is the estimate as of Friday) to be tempered by a slight slowdown in annual wage inflation (4.2% is the estimate as of Friday). Unemployment is expected to hold steady at about 3.6%. One thing to note: In past reports a lot of emphasis has been on the strength of the headline number and wage inflation on the view that higher-than-expected results would support elevated inflation. However, these two numbers have stayed high and inflation has come down — as we saw on Friday with the release of the June personal consumption expenditures price index. It will be interesting to see if investors are still as concerned about the impact these numbers may have on inflation. If we can get inflation down while keeping folks employed and making more than they did last year, that's an incredibly bullish set up as we work our way into 2024. Consumption represents nearly 70% of U.S. GDP and employment and wages play into consumers' buying power, even if the magnitude of their role in inflation is being somewhat questioned. 2. Quarterly earnings : Economic releases are important, especially the nonfarm payrolls report. But they are all backward looking. As a result, earnings will continue to garner the bulk of investors' attention as they provide better insight into the state of various industries at a granular level and in real time. We are about halfway though earnings season, with 51% of S & P 500 companies in the books, according to FactSet. Of those that have reported, 80% reported an upside earnings surprise while 64% reported better than expected revenue results. Let's hope the positive trend continues. Caterpillar (CAT) and Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) report Tuesday morning before the bell. For Caterpillar, there is going to be a lot of focus on the backlog and current state of dealer inventories. Caterpillar put up very strong results the last time around, but some investors worried those results were as good as it gets for the machinery maker, weighing on shares. It was a view we disagreed with due to billions of dollars earmarked by the government for infrastructure projects that should prolong the cycle. As for Stanley Black & Decker, we want to see progress on the three problem areas we called out in our initiation alert : too much inventory, bloated costs and a problematic supply chain. We're about one year into the company's restructuring, so we expect to hear about how it's going and what more can be done to unlock even more cost savings. Housing market dynamics should also be in focus as new home construction, repair, and remodeling in the U.S. all require tools like those made by Stanley Black & Decker. Later Tuesday after the bell, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Starbucks (SBUX) and Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) report. For AMD, we'd like further confirmation the PC market has bottomed, as well any updates on the timing of its MI300 AI chip production ramp. For Starbucks, it's all about demand in China. Management had good things to say about the region last quarter, but investors remain on edge about the pace of the post-Covid recovery. As for Pioneer Natural Resources, management missed the mark last quarter on realized prices and as a result took a hit on free cash flow performance. We want to see management get it right this time around, especially on free cash flow which is used for buybacks and the variable portion of the company's dividend payout. On Wednesday before the bell, Emerson Electric and Humana (HUM) report results. For Emerson, we really need to see some follow-through on the second quarter's strong performance. The name went into penalty box after reporting a disappointing fiscal first quarter but managed to work it's way out of the hole with a strong fiscal second quarter performance. Let's see if it can stay out. As for Humana, the benefits expense ratio (or medical loss ratio) will be in focus as an uptick in hospital visits and elective procedures have weighed on the name since mid-June. Bausch Health (BHC) is Thursday. Not much to say here, as the results will likely remain overshadowed by the ongoing Xifaxan litigation. As noted last quarter, a resolution in Xifaxan litigation and the spinoff of the remainder of its Bausch + Lomb stake represent the two most important future catalysts for the stock. Any commentary on these fronts would be welcome. Thursday after the close brings us to the main events of the week: Earnings from Apple and Amazon. From Apple, a general update on the business, some commentary on the demand in China and the opportunity in India (which investors see as the next major growth region) and maybe some comments on efforts to diversify the supply chain. Any commentary on feedback since the Vision Pro was unveiled would also be welcome. As for Amazon, we want to hear more about progress being made to rein in costs and grow into excess fulfillment capacity in its retail business. As for cloud unit AWS, we're listening for commentary on customer cloud optimization efforts as well as future capital expenditure expectations as the team works to build out it's artificial intelligence capabilities — a theme that was in focus during the calls hosted by Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL) and Meta Platforms (META). For those looking to review first quarter performance ahead of these releases, be sure to keep our first-quarter earnings report card handy. Here's the full rundown of all the important domestic data in the week ahead. Monday, July 31 Before the bell: SoFi (SOFI), onsemi (ON), Symbotic (SYM), ImmunoGen (IMGN), Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (ARLP), AerCap Holdings N.V. (AER), CNA Financial Corp. (CNA), Alexanders (ALX), Apellis Pharmaceuticals (APLS), Community Bank System (CBU), SJW Group (SJW), Hutchison China MediTech Limited (HCM), Camtek Ltd. (CAMT), Silvercrest Asset Management Group (SAMG), Loews Corp (L), Oxford Lane Capital Corp. (OXLC), Banco Santander - Chile (SAN), Silicom Ltd (SILC), SuperCom Ltd. (SPCB) After the bell: Arista Networks (ANET), Avis Budget Group (CAR), Diamondback Energy (FANG), Lattice Semiconductor Corp. (LSCC), Republic Services (RSG), Yum China Holdings (YUMC), Western Digital Corp. (WDC), Monolithic Power Systems (MPWR), Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC), Vornado Realty Trust (VNO), BioMarin Pharmaceutical (BMRN), PetMed Express (PETS), AvalonBay Communities (AVB), Harmonic (HLIT), SBA Communications Corporation (SBAC), Brixmor Property Group (BRX), J & J Snack Foods Corp. (JJSF), Cushman & Wakefield (CWK), Hologic (HOLX), Leggett & Platt (LEG), Sonoco (SON), Sanmina Corporation (SANM), TFI International (TFII), Trex (TREX), TrueCar (TRUE), Welltower (WELL) Tuesday, August 1 10:00 a.m. ET: ISM Manufacturing PMI 10:00 a.m. ET: JOLTS Job Openings Before the bell: Caterpillar (CAT) , Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) , Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NCLH), Uber Technologies (UBER), Pfizer (PFE), Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (EPD), Merck & (MRK), JetBlue Airways Corporation (JBLU), Allegro MicroSystems (ALGM), Altria Group (MO), SunPower Corp. (SPWR), SiriusXM Holdings (SIRI), Molson Coors Beverage (TAP), Marriott International (MAR), Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), BP p.l.c (BP), SYSCO Corp. (SYY), Global Payments (GPN), Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC), Shutterstock (SSTK), Ares Management LP (ARES), Equitrans Midstream Corporation (ETRN), International Game Technology (IGT), Illinois Tool Works (ITW), Ecolab (ECL), IDEXX Laboratories (IDXX), Rockwell Automation (ROK), Watsco (WSO), Bloomin' Brands (BLMN), Graphic Packaging International Corp. (GPK), Gartner (IT), Zebra Technologies Corp. (ZBRA), IQVIA Holdings (IQV), Oshkosh Corporation (OSK), Leidos Holdings (LDOS), Eaton Corp. (ETN), yte Corp. (Y), Lear Corp. (LEA) After the bell: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) , Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) , Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) , Devon Energy Corp. (DVN), Pinterest (PINS), MicroStrategy (MSTR), e.l.f. Beauty (ELF), SolarEdge Technologies (SEDG), Lumen Technologies (LUMN), Virgin Galactic Holdings (SPCE), Caesars Entertainment (CZR), VF Corp. (VFC), Exact Sciences Corp. (EXAS), Paycom Software (PAYC), Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX), Suncor Energy (SU), Camping World Holdings (CWH), Mosaic (MOS), Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK), Match Group (MTCH), Boston Properties (BXP), American International Group (AIG), Allstate Corp. (ALL), Aspen Technology (AZPN), Columbia Sportswear (COLM), Electronic Arts (EA), Flowserve Corporation (FLS), Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM), Denny's, Corp. (DENN), Prudential Financial (PRU), Container Store Group (TCS), Ternium S.A. (TX), Vimeo (VMEO), AFLAC (AFL), Cardlytics (CDLX) Wednesday, August 2 8:15 a.m. ET: ADP Employment Survey Before the bell: Emerson Electric (EMR) , Humana (HUM) , Bausch + Lomb Corporation (BLCO), CVS Health (CVS), Generac Holdings (GNRC), Cameco Corp. (CCJ), Perion Network Ltd. (PERI), Kraft Heinz (KHC), Builders FirstSource (BLDR), Carlyle Group L.P. (CG), Scorpio Tankers (STNG), Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd (TEVA), Phillips 66 (PSX), Dynatrace (DT), Rithm Capital Corp (RITM), Wingstop (WING), Ferrari N.V. (RACE), Spirit AeroSystems Holdings (SPR), Vertiv Holdings Co (VRT), Johnson Controls (JCI), Allegiant Travel (ALGT), BorgWarner (BWA), CDW Corp (CDW), DuPont (DD), Driven Brands Holdings (DRVN), Scotts Miracle-Gro (SMG), Yum! Brands (YUM), Allegheny Technologies orporated (ATI), AmerisourceBergen Corporation (ABC), Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (ACRE), Adient plc (ADNT), Editas Medicine (EDIT), Garmin Ltd. (GRMN), WWE (WWE), Bunge Ltd. (BG), Criteo S.A. (CRTO), Seagen (SGEN) After the bell: PayPal (PYPL), Shopify (SHOP), QUALCOMM (QCOM), Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY), Unity (U), Robinhood Markets (HOOD), MercadoLibre (MELI), Energy Transfer LP (ET), Etsy (ETSY), Apache Corp. (APA), Albemarle Corp. (ALB), MGM Resorts International (MGM), Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO), Sunrun (RUN), Joby Aviation (JOBY), Confluent (CFLT), DoorDash (DASH), Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR), HubSpot (HUBS), CF Industries Holdings (CF), Lemonade (LMND), Goodyear Tire & Rubber (GT), Fastly (FSLY), Realty ome Corp. (O), Upwork (UPWK), Metlife (MET), TripAdvisor (TRIP), Pacific Biosciences of California (PACB), EVgo (EVGO), Rush Street Interactive (RSI), Revolve Group LLC (RVLV), Zillow Group (ZG), JFrog Ltd. (FROG), Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. (HLF), Schrödinger (SDGR), Simon Property Group (SPG), Cheesecake Factory (CAKE), Clorox (CLX), McKesson Corp. (MCK), NerdWallet (NRDS), Public Storage (PSA), Qorvo (QRVO), Cerus Corporation (CERS), C.H. Robinson Worldwide (CHRW), Traeger (COOK), GXO Logistics (GXO), RE/MAX Holdings (RMAX), Rayonier (RYN) Thursday, August 3 8:30 a.m. ET: Initial jobless claims 10:00 a.m. ET: Factory Orders Before the bell: Bausch Health Companies (BHC) , Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD), Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), Cheniere Energy (LNG), ConocoPhillips (COP), Expedia (EXPE), Moderna (MRNA), Wayfair (W), Hasbro (HAS), CIGNA Corp. (CI), Lantheus Holdings (LNTH), Quanta Services (PWR), Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN), Fiverr International Ltd. (FVRR), Air Products & Chemicals (APD), TopBuild Corp. (BLD), EPAM Systems (EPAM), InterDigital (IDCC), Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD), Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (AUPH), Cummins (CMI), HF Slair Corporation (DINO), Southern (SO), Starwood Property Trust (STWD), Vulcan Materials (VMC), Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), Daqo New Energy Corp. (DQ), First Citizens BancShares (FCNCA), Cedar Fair Entertainment (FUN), Kellogg (K), Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA), Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation (OCSL), Privia Health Group (PRVA), Becton, Dickinson & (BDX), Chimera Investment Corp (CIM), Canadian Natural Resources Ltd (CNQ), Shift4 Payments (FOUR), Hyatt Hotels Corp (H), Lion Electric (LEV), Portillos (PTLO), Shake Shack (SHAK), Deluxe Corp. (DLX), Iron Mountain (IRM), Murphy Oil Corp. (MUR), PBF Energy (PBF), Papa John's International (PZZA), Targa Resources Corp. (TRGP), Wix.com Ltd. (WIX), Apollo Global Management, LLC (APO), Butterfly Network (BFLY), Planet Fitness (PLNT), Sempra Energy (SRE), Aptiv PLC (APTV), Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P (BIP), Canada Goose Holdings (GOOS), Pitney Bowes (PBI), Parker-Hannifin Corporation (PH), Trimble (TRMB), WESCO International (WCC), WestRock (WRK), Arrow Electronics (ARW), Cars.com (CARS), Constellation Energy Group (CEG), Magellan Midstream Partners (MMP) After the bell: Amazon.com (AMZN) , Apple (AAPL) , Coinbase Global (COIN), Block (SQ), Airbnb (ABNB), DraftKings (DKNG), Cloudflare (NET), Fortinet (FTNT), Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras (PBR), Amgen (AMGN), ContextLogic (WISH), Gilead Sciences (GILD), Opendoor Technologies (OPEN), Booking Holdings (BKNG), Atlassian Corporation Plc (TEAM), WW International (WW), Redfin Corporation (RDFN), Motorola Solutions (MSI), Yelp (YELP), Dropbox (DBX), Stem (STEM), Corteva (CTVA), Monster Beverage Corporation (MNST), Consolidated Edison (ED), Rocket Companies (RKT), Apple Hospitality REIT (APLE), Cirrus Logic (CRUS), EOG Resources (EOG), FIGS (FIGS), Funko (FNKO), Universal Display Corporation (OLED), Chesapeake Utilities Corp. (CPK), Opko Health (OPK), Sprout Social (SPT), Udemy (UDMY), CarGurus (CARG), DaVita (DVA), GoDaddy (GDDY), Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (KTOS), Progyny (PGNY), Post Holdings (POST), Tandem Diabetes Care (TNDM), Ziff Davis (ZD), Friday, August 4 8:30 a.m. Nonfarm payrolls Before the bell: fuboTV (FUBO), Nikola Corporation (NKLA), Fisker (FSR), Enbridge (ENB), Magna International (MGA), Dominion Energy (D), ACM Research (ACMR), Cinemark (CNK), Frontier Communications Parent (FYBR), Brookfield Renewable Partners (BEP), inTEST Corporation (INTT), Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (PAA), TELUS International (TIXT), XPO Logistics (XPO), Fluor Corp. (FLR), Gray Television (GTN), Cboe Global Markets (CBOE), LyondellBasell Industries (LYB), Twist Bioscience Corporation (TWST), Global Partners LP (GLP) (See here for a full list of the stocks in 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. CEO of Apple Tim Cook arrives at the Sun Valley Lodge for the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, July 11, 2023. Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/05/buy-defensive-stocks-like-mcdonalds-petco.html

AFL

Aflac

These defensive stocks are the best portfolio protection in an uncertain market, analysts say

Markets were turbulent this past week, but Wall Street analysts named a handful of top stocks to weather the storm. Investors should buy companies that exhibit a wide range of defensive traits, analysts say. Defensive stocks tend to be stable, regardless of how the market may perform . CNBC Pro combed through top Wall Street research to find the best buying opportunities. They include Petco , Aflac , Globe Life , Quanta Services , McDonald's and Johnson & Johnson. Quanta Services The network infrastructure company was upgraded to buy from neutral earlier this week by investment firm B. Riley & Company. "In an increasingly uncertain economic environment that includes geopolitical uncertainty, investors should look at shares of PWR as a defensive investment," analyst Alex Rygiel said. In particular, the firm said Quanta has everything a shareholder could want including robust liquidity and profitable growth. Rygiel said he was particularly impressed by the company's earnings report in late February. "We believe PWR is well positioned across all of its segments to benefit from improving end market trends towards grid modernization, storm hardening, electric vehicle charging stations, and the needed interconnections for renewable energy sources," he wrote. Quanta is also well positioned to benefit from an infrastructure bill if one materializes. "Defensive stock in [an] uncertain market," Rygiel said. Shares of the company are up 0.2% in March. McDonald's Don't give up on shares of McDonald's, according to investment firm Guggenheim. In a recent note to clients, analyst Gregory Francfort urged shareholders to remain calm — but cautious — revealing that the fast-food giant has one of the highest exposures to Russia within the firm's coverage. Still, Francfort said he's sticking with the restaurant stock. "We feel comfortable with the defensive nature of the stock and are not adjusting our estimates today despite the rising tensions, but thought it was important to highlight the risk," he said. In addition, interest rates could also weigh on the stock's multiples, but that's not the firm's base case. Francfort noted that he has confidence that sales and revenue will remain strong over the long term. "We continue to think the outlook for top-line restaurant spending remains robust and are bullish on the 3-5 year sales and earnings outlook for the group, particularly companies that have variable revenue and fixed expenses," the firm wrote. McDonald's finished the week down nearly 5.5%. Petco Shares of Petco are down more than 7% this year, and it's time to buy the dip, Wells Fargo said ahead of the company's earnings report next week. In a note to clients, the firm wrote that "another beat appears likely, FY22 expectations are muted and we see no shortage of LT (long-term) opportunities and incremental growth levers in FY22." Petco's omnichannel initiatives also appear to be resonating with consumers quite well, leaving room for plenty of upside going forward, according to analyst Zachary Fadem and his team. "In the years ahead, we see strong secular growth, category defensiveness, and share opportunities via differentiation, digital, and vet/services," he added. Petco is not immune to supply chain and gross margin pressure either, but the firm believes those are "well understood" and that investors should accumulate shares. "All in, we view the WOOF story as underappreciated at ~10.5x NTM EV/EBITDA, and we see an attractive LT entry point considering stable category growth, underlying share gains and estimates that likely move higher," Fadem said. Johnson & Johnson - Raymond James, Outperform rating "After a tough January that improved late in the month across both broader markets and our health-care top picks list, February saw momentum continue early before sharp mid-month declines as both central bank and geopolitical risks weighed on markets. … For March, we are swapping out ANGO, and adding JNJ. ANGO continues to be our favorite small cap Med Tech story, but we believe JNJ may be more appropriate for March given the expected macro volatility. JNJ is more of a defensive name, and the recent court win removes an overhang, which should allow investors to focus more on the improving fundamentals." McDonald's - Guggenheim, Buy rating "While we like MCD as a stock, we wanted to note that it has substantial earnings exposure to the country that may not be fully appreciated by investors given the relatively low number of units. … We feel comfortable with the defensive nature of the stock and are not adjusting our estimates today despite the rising tensions, but thought it was important to highlight the risk. … We continue to think the outlook for top-line restaurant spending remains robust and are bullish on the 3-5 year sales and earnings outlook for the group, particularly companies that have variable revenue and fixed expenses." Quanta Services - B. Riley, Buy rating "Defensive stock in [an] uncertain market. … In an increasingly uncertain economic environment that includes geopolitical uncertainty, investors should look at shares of PWR as a defensive investment. … We believe PWR is well positioned across all of its segments to benefit from improving end market trends towards grid modernization, storm hardening, electric vehicle charging stations, and the needed interconnections for renewable energy sources." Aflac & Globe Life - Wells Fargo, Overweight ratings "AFL: While claims normalization happened, this has been well telegraphed by management in guidance, and AFL is generally looked to as a defensive investment in the life sector in periods of uncertainty given flight to quality nature of Japan and the U.S. GL: ¾ lifeco. benefits from an improving health landscape, with 4Q21 Covid impact $0.46. With Covid migrating back up in age, this suggests modestly declining average claim. GL has not seen material variable investment income like others, so screens attractive in light of continued market volatility." Petco - Wells Fargo, Overweight rating "While WOOF shares have underperformed over the last 3 months, we lean favorably into the Q4 print, as another beat appears likely, FY22expectations are muted and we see no shortage of LT opportunities. and incremental growth levers in FY22. … GM mix pressures well understood. … In the years ahead, we see strong secular growth, category defensiveness, and share opportunities via differentiation, digital, and vet/services. … All in, we view the WOOF story as underappreciated at ~10.5x NTM EV/EBITDA, and we see an attractive LT entry point considering stable category growth, underlying share gains and estimates that likely move higher." Cars are paked at Petco store in Bloomsburg. Paul Weaver | LightRocket | Getty Images

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/23/midyear-stock-picking-guide-for-bears-and-bulls-amid-recession-debate.html

AFL

Aflac

Op-ed: Here's a midyear stock-picking guide for both bears and bulls amid recession debate

Westend61 | Westend61 | Getty Images At the midpoint of 2023, some investors see a recession storm on the horizon while others see clear skies ahead. The recession crowd is worried about negative consumer sentiment, while the no-recession camp is heartened by more-positive-than-expected data from the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey, released in June. Economic pessimists fret over corporate earnings, but optimists point out that an anticipated earnings apocalypse failed to arrive in the first quarter, when earnings beat expectations. The former worry about more Fed interest rate increases, while the latter point to declining inflation. Recessions haven't always resulted in declining stock markets, and good opportunities can be found amid them. Nevertheless, recessionary business environments generally aren't good for corporate earnings, and investors' perceptions are, of course, highly impactful. Investors convinced that a recession impacting the market is imminent continue to sit on cash. But some of them might be inclined to invest for the long term in sectors unlikely to suffer heavy damage from a receding economy. Here's a midyear sector guide for both economic optimists and pessimists. Sectors for recession naysayers The best sectors for recession disbelievers are the most economically sensitive ones: industrials, materials and financials. Industrials, which manufacture finished products for commercial and consumer use, recently have been picking up steam; SPDR Industrial Select Sector ETF XLI was up 8% over the three months that ended in mid-June. Industrial names with currently low downside risk and good growth potential include: Cintas, Fastenal, Westinghouse Air Brake Co., Cummins Inc., CSX, Emerson Electric, Otis Worldwide, Carrier, Caterpillar, Honeywell, Illinois Tool Works and Lockheed Martin Corp. Well-positioned materials companies with good growth prospects include paint manufacturer Sherwin-Williams. Mayur Kakade | Moment | Getty Images Materials companies, an opaque sector to most individual investors, comprise five industry groups: metals and mining, chemicals, containers and packaging, construction materials, and paper/forest products. Materials are what industrial companies use to make products so, without them, nothing gets built. This is a small sector, but its output directly affects all the others. After a rough 2023 thus far, materials stock prices are rock-bottom low, having lagged over the last 12 months (-9% versus +4% for the S&P 500 Index ). Well-positioned companies with good growth prospects currently include: Corteva, Dow Chemical, Ecolab, Linde plc, Martin Marietta Materials, Nucor Corp., PPG Industries and Sherwin-Williams. Both industrials and materials will likely get a boost over the next couple of years from the nascent trend of reshoring or onshoring. Those terms refer to American manufacturers seeking to relocate their plants in other countries to American soil to avoid supply-chain disruptions from shutdowns and shipping bottlenecks like those of the pandemic. Another tailwind for these two sectors, especially materials, is the trillions of dollars in incentives available from recently passed congressional legislation to spur capital investment in domestic infrastructure, clean energy and technology. These initiatives will spur industrial growth and increase the use of materials for construction and green manufacturing. The most economically sensitive sector may be financials. As of mid-June, SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF XLF was down about 2.16% year to date but up 7.73% for the preceding three months. This growth has come as regional-bank fears have abated and investor confidence in banks has increased. This confidence reflects industry strength related to higher capital reserves, required since the financial crisis of 2008. Net operating income is at an all-time high, and the sector is trading at an average price-earnings ratio of about 8.5 — well below its three-year average of 12.1. And insurance companies, which have much of their treasure in bonds, are benefiting substantially from highly elevated bond yields. Names positioned for likely growth over the next year or two include: Aflac, JPMorgan Chase, T. Rowe Price Group Inc., Willis Towers Watson, American International Group, Allstate, The Hartford, and Marsh & McLennan. Sectors for the recession-expectant For those convinced recession is imminent, there aren't as many choices. Yet there are two clear equity refuges for weathering a recessionary storm: consumer staples and health care. Consumer staples companies produce retail goods that people buy regardless of what the economy is doing — food, personal care items and household products. During recessions, people still eat, bathe, clean their homes and do laundry. Still suppressed from the bear market, most consumer staples ETFs have had low single-digit returns this year. Currently buyable names include: Campbell Soup Co., General Mills, The Hershey Co., Kellogg's, Kimberly-Clark Corp., Kroger, Procter & Gamble and Walmart. Long-term demand for medical services, supplies and devices is certain in a nation where more than 10,000 Americans turn 65 each year. Willie B. Thomas | Digitalvision | Getty Images Health care is also still beaten up from the bear market, with many sector ETFs posting low single-digit or flat returns this year. But long-term demand for medical services, supplies and devices is certain in a nation where more than 10,000 Americans turn 65 each day. These demographics make health care both a defensive sector and a perennial offensive play. Pent-up demand from patients who had put off elective surgeries, such as hip and knee replacements, until after the pandemic remains quite strong as patients wait to get into operating rooms. This has dinged some health insurers but has helped health-care companies, including those held by iShares U.S. Medical Devices ETF (IHI ), which is up 7.3% for the three-month period ended in mid-June. Sector names with reasonable risk levels and good growth prospects include: Vertex Pharmaceuticals, IDEXX Laboratories, DaVita Inc., Veeva Systems Inc., IQVIA Holdings Inc., Cigna Group and Zoetis Inc. The all-weather sector

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/16/analyst-calls-of-the-day-fiat-chrysler-slack-micron-more.html

AFL

Aflac

Here are the biggest analyst calls of the day: Fiat Chrysler, Slack, Micron & more

Evercore downgraded the insurer and said it sees "potential pressure" from free cash flow in 2020 amongst other things. "While MET produced a strong underwriting quarter in 1Q19 and the stock has responded favorably, and now trades at a premium to most peers on a price to free cash flow basis, we see the accumulation of a broad list of moderate risk factors as reasons for why the stock is unlikely to materially outperform peers over the next 12 to 18 months, including: 1) Potential 3Q balance sheet review charges, 2) LTC risk, 3) Potential pressure on FCF in 2020, 4) Potential weakness in Japan FX sales, 5) Potential goodwill impairment, and 6) Above average NII vs fee income."

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/29/analyst-calls-of-the-day-starbucks-apple-ups-coca-cola-more.html

AFL

Aflac

Here are the biggest analyst calls of the day: Starbucks, Apple, UPS, Coca-Cola & more

Starbucks President and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Johnson is pictured at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders in Seattle, Washington on March 20, 2019. "In a few recent cross-sector industry notes, we suggested investors "add lower" to SBUX as we believed peaking 3Q19 comps (based on unusually one-off-driven, easy year ago comparisons) would allow an easing in the share price. In fact, the opposite occurred with post-EPS performance propelling the stock up 9% – its biggest one-day gain since November 2, 2018 – and to levels well above even our $91 December 2020 price target." "Global consumer companies are enjoying a return to form in 2019 helped by a positive global consumer backdrop, rational pricing and easing commodity cost inflation. However, another element is easy comps as 2019 results cycle against 2017/2018's challenges when the sector's core fundamentals came under intense scrutiny. We believe that such issues have not been sufficiently addressed and as comps begin to toughen, sentiment may likely shift. Only those companies that can offer attractive and sustainable growth will merit premium valuations. We see The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo Inc as two such names and we are launching coverage on both with Overweight ratings." Atlantic Equities said in its initiation that Coke and Pepsi have "attractive" and "sustainable" growth. "The call here is really about the competitive intrusion of the third-party delivery aggregators, which we expect to increase in magnitude over the next two-to-three-year period, before it potentially levels off or gets better. Simply put, we believe the aggregators are a problem for DPZ because they enable a material increase in delivery supply availability of additional restaurant menu types outside of QSR Pizza, which, in turn, creates an increase in delivery choices for DPZ's existing customer base." "In the case of Dish , the present stock price implicitly assigns a $20bn value to a zero revenue wireless business, roughly a third of Sprint which has 42mm retail subs and a premium deal valuation. Also, Dish's capital structure is likely to undergo major changes to fund the venture which is likely to be dilutive for existing equity holders. Therefore, while the deal is a strategic positive and takes away downside risk, it is unlikely to create major upside for Dish equity holders. Consequently, we downgrade the stock to UW." Barclays said the Sprint and T-Mobile deal is unlikely to create "major upside" for Dish equity holders. Stifel said in its downgrade that UPS's long term initiatives will take "extra investment" in 2020. "Now that UPS shares have run through our target price, we have to decide whether our earnings estimates are too low, our valuation is too conservative, or both. Given the company spoke on its earnings call of a challenging macro environment heading into year-end and that we believe its long-term initiatives will likely require extra investment in 2020 that could limit margin expansion and earnings growth next year, we are stepping to the sidelines with respect to the stock." Read more about this call here.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/18/i-talked-to-1000-ceos-of-successful-companies-the-no-1-job-interview-question-candidates-should-ask.html

AFL

Aflac

I talked to 1,000 of the world's top CEOs—here's the No. 1 question they want you to ask at a job interview

As the host of the radio program the "The CEO Show" for the last 15 years, I've interviewed more than 1,000 of the world's top CEOs. These leaders all come from different backgrounds, from Marriott to McDonald's to Marvel. But all agreed on the No. 1 question a candidate should ask at a job interview: "What traits will help me succeed long-term at the company?" Employers are moved and impressed by people who are proactive and who get straight to the point, so this is a great first question to ask. I also love how surprisingly simple it is. Based on my conversations, here are five traits that employers value the most:

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/12/this-is-the-best-way-to-say-no-to-co-workers-who-asks-for-help.html

AFL

Aflac

Co-workers asking for too much help? Try a '20% no and 80% alternative solution' response, says The Workplace Therapist

Nearly 60% of employees report experiencing at least "moderate" burnout, according to a 2022 Aflac Workforces Report. One way to alleviate some of that pressure is to stop obliging co-workers who are always soliciting help. If you're a people pleaser, the idea of saying "no" when someone asks you for a favor is probably horrifying. "The challenge with saying 'no' is it can be received personally," says Brandon Smith, a therapist and career coach known as The Workplace Therapist. But if a co-worker is drawing on your appeasing disposition too much, it might be time to set a boundary. Here's how to say "no" in a polite way when a colleague asks you for help.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/08/techs-next-big-disruption-could-be-delaying-death.html

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Agilent Technologies

Human lifespan could soon pass 100 years thanks to medical tech, says BofA

Getty Images One of the biggest investment opportunities over the next decade will be in companies working to delay human death, a market expected to be worth at least $600 billion by 2025, according to one of Wall Street's major investment banks. Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts Felix Tran and Haim Israel believe that genome sequencers such as Illumina , high-tech players such as Alphabet and biotech companies such as Novartis are on the cusp of "bringing unprecedented increases to the quality and length of human lifespans." Innovation in genome science, big data and "ammortality," which includes wearable technology and products in the so-called wellness space, could soon prolong healthy human life well beyond 100 years, BofA told clients Wednesday. "Medical knowledge will double every 73 days by 2020 vs. every 3.5 (years) in 2010, and genomic sequencing costs have fallen 99.999% since 2003," Israel and Tran wrote. "This has enabled a new frontier in precision medicine to further extend life expectancy, heralding a 'techmanity' (technology meets humanity) revolution." Extending human life to new bounds — long the domain of science fiction novels — could increasingly be a compelling way to make money in the public markets. With a market size already at $110 billion, the Bank of America team highlighted five key sub-themes — genomics, big data/AI health, future food, "ammortality" and "moonshot medicine" — as well as several stocks that offer exposure to the trend. Genomics Genomics, or the study of the human genome, is expected to be a $41 billion industry by 2025 and will provide the "next generation of gene editing technology offering potentially revolutionary advances in prevention and disease treatments," Bank of America said. Companies such as $46 billion genome sequencer Illumina , $27 billion lab instrument manufacturer Agilent and $89 billion life science equipment maker Danaher all have exposure to the space. Illumina in particular plays "an important role in helping advance disease research, drug development, and the creation of molecular tests," Tran and Israel wrote. Big data/AI health The growth of artificial intelligence combined with an ever-growing body of health-care data should help researchers analyze pathology, or the study of the causes and effects of diseases, in the years to come. Improvements in the technology have the potential to bring down health-related costs and enable precision medicine, the BofA analysts said. Names in this space, which is expected to grow to $36 billion by 2025, include Google parent Alphabet , Amazon (including its joint venture with Berkshire Hathaway and J.P. Morgan Chase ) and Apple . Future food Future of food companies, which are expected to ensure "healthier eating and sustainable humanity on the planet," include Dow DuPont and WW International . These companies, according to BofA, should leverage agricultural gene editing as well as healthier lifestyles and consumption. The "ammortality" theme, expected to be worth $504 billion by 2025, "will help to improve health spans & [lifespans] to the betterment of human vitality, enabling the world population to live freer of disease rather than forever." Companies that represent "ammortality" plays as described by BofA include health-care technology firms such as Intuitive Surgical and Zimmer , which worked with Apple Watch to start a clinical study for 10,000 knee and hip replacement patients. "Moonshot medicine" companies — or those that offer revolutionary solutions for health care — include the aforementioned Illumina and genomics companies as well as therapy makers such as Sangamo , Vertex Pharma and Neurocrine . These companies are working on cures or treatments for some of humanity's toughest diseases, ranging from cystic fibrosis to Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/13/here-are-the-most-loved-stocks-on-wall-street-including-amazon-and-a-little-known-energy-company.html

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Agilent Technologies

Here are the most-loved stocks on Wall Street, including Amazon and a little-known energy company

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Emmanuel Dunnand | AFP | Getty Images Amazon and a little-known energy company are Wall Street analysts' favorite stocks based on highest percentage of buy ratings. Both the online retailing juggernaut and Diamondback Energy are universally loved on Wall Street, with all analysts that cover the stocks rating them a buy. They are the only two out of 500 stocks where that's the case, according to FactSet. CNBC used FactSet to screen all companies looking for the stocks with the highest percentage of buy ratings compared with total ratings. We threw out companies that had less than 10 analysts covering them. Amazon , the world's second most valuable company behind Microsoft , grew its share of the U.S. e-commerce market to 42% in 2018, according to J.P. Morgan. The bank expects Amazon, whose stock has surged more than 2,000% in the past decade, to surpass Walmart as the largest U.S. retailer in 2020. Amazon shares are up 23% this year. "The highest quality management and franchise within global internet – a must own name with huge upside even from here," Pivotal Research's Michael Levine said in a note to clients about Amazon. "AWS duration will surprise to the upside both on topline and EBIT and the move towards one day shipping is a significant step to owning the consumer's wallet." Diamondback Energy? Amazon's accumulation of 47 buy ratings on the Street may not come as a surprise given its dominance in the e-commerce space. However, tied for first place is oil and gas drilling company Diamondback Energy . Diamondback, which drills exclusively in the Permian Basin, reported last month that its oil and natural gas production more than doubled more than doubled from a year ago to 263,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The company was one the biggest energy sector gainers in May after the biding battle for Anadarko Petroleum. Analysts believe Diamondback shares will jump 64% over the next 12 months, based on their average price target collected by FactSet. In May, Bank of America Merrill Lynch added Diamondback to its prestigious US 1 list, with a $170 price target. The bank said shares of Diamondback have underperformed but its fundamentals have improved. "FANG remains a top pick on continued benefits from a transformational recent acquisition, top-notch execution, increased shareholder friendly initiatives and above-average oil leverage," Bank of America's Asit Sen said in a note to clients. Diamondback acquired rival Energen in a $9.2 billion deal last year. The shares are down 17% over the last month. Health care loved

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/15/stocks-making-the-biggest-moves-premarket-alibaba-zillow-group-biogen-mcdonalds-beyond-meat-more.html

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Agilent Technologies

Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: Alibaba, Zillow Group, Biogen, McDonald's, Beyond Meat & more

Traders work under monitors displaying 3M Co. signage on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York. Check out the companies making headlines before the bell: Alibaba — The Chinese e-commerce giant beat estimates by a wide margin on both the top and bottom lines, driven both by increased user engagement and growth in its cloud business. Tilray — Tilray reported an adjusted quarterly loss of 27 cents per share, two cents larger than analysts were expecting. The Canadian marijuana producer's revenue did come in above estimates, helped by acquisitions, legalization of recreational marijuana use in Canada and growth in its medical markets. Aurora Cannabis — Aurora lost five cents per share for its fiscal third quarter, matching forecasts, while revenue fell below analyst estimates. Aurora – which is also a marijuana producer based in Canada – did see a surge in revenue from a year earlier, helped by the same factors that helped Tilray. Restaurant Brands International — The company's Tim Hortons chain will be testing three breakfast options made with Beyond Meat 's meatless patty. The test will begin at select locations in Canada. Separately, Restaurant Brands – which is also the parent of Burger King and Popeyes – announced plans to expand to 40,000 restaurants globally from the current 26,000 over the next eight to ten years. Zillow Group — The real estate website operator's stock was upgraded to "buy" from "neutral" at Guggenheim, based on optimism about Zillow's "Offers" home sale service. Agilent Technologies — Agilent reported adjusted quarterly profit of 71 cents per share, missing consensus forecasts by one cent. The maker of laboratory instruments also saw revenue fall short of estimates, pointing to weakness in its pharmaceutical and food markets. Agilent also gave a current quarter outlook that falls largely below Wall Street forecasts. Biogen — Biogen reached an agreement to sell its spinal muscle atrophy treatment Spinraza to England's National Health Service for an undisclosed price. Spinraza has a U.S. list price of $750,000 for the first year and $375,000 per year in subsequent years. Xilinx — Xilinx forecast fiscal 2020 revenue above Wall Street forecasts at $3.45 billion to $3.6 billion. The specialty chip maker is currently rolling out new semiconductors for use in 5G equipment McDonald's — The restaurant chain will let its franchisees decide which breakfast items to serve on an all-day basis, in an effort to simplify operations and reduce wait times for customers. Legg Mason — Legg Mason may be the target of an activist campaign by Nelson Peltz's Trian management, according to the Wall Street Journal. The paper said Trian has held discussions with the money management firm about cutting costs and improving profit margins. Amdocs — The communications software and services company reported adjusted quarterly profit of $1.06 per share, beating estimates by three cents. Revenue also beat forecasts, and the company also raised its full-year forecast. The Container Store — The retailer of storage and organization products beat estimates by three cents with adjusted profit of 33 cents per share for its fiscal fourth quarter, with revenue also beating estimates. Comparable store sales were up 8.5% during the quarter, well above the 3.1% consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/25/stocks-making-the-biggest-moves-after-hours-nordstrom-and-more.html

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Agilent Technologies

Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Nordstrom, Urban Outfitters and more

A person walks into the Nordstrom store open for business as New York City moves into Phase 2 of re-opening following restrictions imposed to curb the coronavirus pandemic on June 29, 2020 in New York, New York. Check out the companies making headlines after the bell: Nordstrom — The retail stock dropped roughly 7% in after-hours trading after missing analysts' first-quarter earnings expectations. Nordstrom reported a quarterly loss of $1.05 per share, while analysts expected a loss of 57 cents per share, according to Refinitiv. The company's quarterly revenue of $3.01 billion beat the Street's projection of $2.9 billion. Urban Outfitters — Shares of the retailer jumped about 6% in extended trading after reporting better-than-expected quarterly earnings. Urban Outfitters posted first-quarter earnings of 54 cents per share, topping analysts' estimate of 17 cents per share. The company reported revenue of $927.4 million, which exceeded Wall Street's $900.1 million expectation. Zscaler — The security company stock surged 8% after hours following better-than-expected third-quarter earnings results. Zscaler reported earnings of 15 cents per share compared with 7 cents per share expected, and revenue of $176.4 million, higher than $163.7 million estimated by analysts polled by Refinitiv. Agilent Technologies — The manufacturing stock rose about 3% in after-hours trading after posting second-quarter adjusted earnings of 97 cents per share compared with the Street's estimate of 83 cents per share, according to Refinitiv. Agilent's quarterly revenue also topped analysts' projection at $1.5 billion versus $1.4 billion expected.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/09/jpmorgan-chase-ceo-jamie-dimon-ai-could-be-as-big-as-the-internet.html

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Agilent Technologies

Jamie Dimon says AI could be as transformative as electricity or the internet—here's how to invest

JPMorgan Chase CEO and chairman Jamie Dimon believes artificial intelligence innovations will have as big of an impact on society as the invention of electricity and the internet. "We are completely convinced the consequences will be extraordinary and possibly as transformational as some of the major technological inventions of the past several hundred years," Dimon said in his April 8 annual letter to shareholders. "Think the printing press, the steam engine, electricity, computing and the Internet, among others." JPMorgan Chase began using AI over a decade ago, Dimon said in the letter. The firm employs over 2,000 AI and machine learning experts and data scientists and uses the technology across a number of divisions, including marketing, fraud and risk. Additionally, JPMorgan Chase invests $12 billion annually in a wide variety of technologies, including AI. Dimon likening AI innovation to the invention of the internet suggests the tech's impact may be felt beyond the business world. And he's not alone in that opinion. In May 2023, billionaire investor Mark Cuban told CNBC Make It that the potential impact of tools like OpenAI's viral AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT are "beyond anything I've ever seen." In a Nov. 9 blog post, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said AI "will utterly change how we live our lives, online and off."

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/09/here-are-the-most-loved-stocks-on-wall-street.html

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Agilent Technologies

With a market at record highs, these are the most loved stocks on Wall Street right now

(This story is part of the Weekend Brief edition of the Evening Brief newsletter. To sign up for CNBC's Evening Brief, click here.) The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all hit all time record-highs this week and if investors are looking at what to own from here, the following stocks are the consensus favorites on Wall Street. E-commerce giant Amazon is the most loved stock on Wall Street based on highest percentage of buy ratings. All but one of the 48 analysts covering the stock recommending buying into the Jeff Bezos-led company. CNBC used FactSet to screen all S&P 500 companies looking for the stocks with the highest percentage of buy ratings compared with total ratings. We threw out companies that had less than 10 analysts covering them. Buy ratings, in this case, include overweight ratings. It may not come as a shock that Amazon, the fourth-most valuable company in the world, is the most highly recommended stock on the Street. Over 50% of U.S. households have an Amazon Prime membership, according to UBS. The adoption of 1-Day shipping and international prime membership has helped boost the stock that is already up more than 1300% in the past decade. Amazon's 1-Day shipping "raises the bar in e- commerce yet again & accelerates the top line," said J.P. Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth in a note to clients. Amazon plays a large roll in the success of many other, smaller companies as well. Cosmetic company Coty surged 14% on Wednesday after reporting strong earnings, citing strong growth of its brand on Amazon.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/07/tech-in-cross-hairs-after-its-worst-week-since-march.html

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Agilent Technologies

Tech in trade crosshairs after its worst week since March

Technology stocks had their worst week since March, and they could remain in the crosshairs, particularly if the Trump administration unveils new tariffs on China. Strategists say inflation and trade are two major themes markets will have to navigate in the week ahead, after August's surprise jump in wage growth and as investors await the next move from Washington on the trade front. At any time, President Donald Trump could announce tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods, and he threatened Friday that he has plans for tariffs on another $267 billion ready to go. A late Friday afternoon news report that Apple warned the government that many of its products would be affected by tariffs hit that stock and sent ripples across the tech sector. The market Friday was already weak as investors considered the prospect of higher inflation. Average hourly wages, up nearly 2.9 percent, put markets on notice that more normal income growth — and therefore inflation — could be at hand. Consistently higher inflation could help reinforce the Fed's rate-hiking plans, and markets will be particularly alert to both producer and consumer inflation reports in the week ahead. "I think it kind of reminds the markets that we could very quickly get back to February in a hurry, in the sense we've had this calm period here where inflation was dormant," said James Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Leuthold Group. The Apple report came at the end of a bad week for technology, with the S&P sector down nearly 3 percent. First, there was the specter of more regulation for social media stocks and Google , as Facebook and Twitter executives testified before Congress Wednesday. On Thursday, chip stocks were hit by signs of a slowdown in orders, which some analysts blamed in part on trade. The chip selloff also raised concerns for the sector as a whole, since chip weakness is sometimes seen as an early warning for computer makers and others. "To me, it's the piling on of information coming out of the technology sector," said Paulsen. "It's something that everyone owns. It's been leading the stock market for the last three years and it's going to make you [wonder] through the weekend [whether] that's ending…People did think Apple was immune from this." Apple, in a letter to the government, said the tariffs could result in higher prices for consumers and slower U.S. growth. It said products from the Apple Watch to MacMini would be affected by the proposed tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods. But there could also be positives for Apple in the week ahead, since it is unveiling new iPhone models and other products Wednesday. Other tech companies also warned the U.S. Trade Representative that the tariffs would have negative consequences, in reports after Friday's close. Agilent said the duties would financially impede its U.S. operations and end customers in the U.S. Intel said they would hurt advancements in telecommunications infrastructure, including next generation technologies, like 5G. Dell said tariffs, including on computer parts and switches, could do "serious damage" to the company and its employees. While tech was beaten down, the fell just 0.2 percent for the week to 2,871, and the Dow , also off 0.2 percent, was at 25,916. The Nasdaq lost 2.6 percent for the week, to 7,902. "I do believe the equity market remains vulnerable to trade risks, vulnerable to this big valuation gap" between other markets and the S&P 500, said David Bianco, chief investment strategist at DWS. "Investors have to remember this will affect the profitability of U.S. companies. This is not the kind of thing that's going to cause a U.S. recession or cause S&P earnings to decline, but these are things that make the earnings estimates for the fourth quarter and next year at risk." On the inflation front, inflation has already picked up above the Fed's 2 percent target, and the core consumer price index Thursday is expected to match July's 2.4 percent pace. The Fed's preferred inflation metric, the core PCE price index was at its target 2 percent last month, and analysts expect trade issues to complicate the inflation picture. "There's a lot of things about trade wars that boost inflation," said Paulsen. The Fed is expected to raise interest rates at the end of the month, but some market pros have been skeptical that it will hike again in December, or that it will raise rates the three times it has forecast for next year. But recent inflation reports have shown a more normal pace of price pressure, and Friday's report of more normal wage growth reinforced that. For the bond market, hotter inflation data could be a lever for higher rates, but if there are more threats or actual tariffs, those could put downward pressure on yields, which move opposite price. Treasury yields jumped Friday, after the jobs data, and the yield jumped to 2.70 percent, a 10-year high. The 10-year rose to 2.93 percent. "3 percent [on the 10-year] could happen easily…assuming the trade thing doesn't explode. That would outweigh everything else," said Michael Schumacher, director rate strategy at Wells Fargo. "The theory that more inflation means a more aggressive Fed, you'd think would translate into higher 2-year yields." Schumacher said besides the potential for a tug-of-war in the bond market from inflation and trade news, there are $73 billion in Treasury auctions next week which could also drive yields higher. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the Treasury auctions 3- and 10-year notes and 30-year bonds. PPI inflation is reported Wednesday, CPI is Thursday, and another important economic report, retail sales is released on Friday. "I would downplay inflation risks…We don't see inflation as a problem, and I don't think the 10-year Treasury gets much above 3 percent this year, or even next year," said Bianco. But Bianco has said he believes the stock market is at risk of a shakeout. "We think the equity market is vulnerable to a five to 10 percent decline…We're expecting a deceleration in earnings growth next year. Our estimate is S&P earning growth goes from 22 percent in 2018 to six percent in 2019," he said. Bianco said he expects companies to absorb tariff costs rather than raise prices because it's unclear how long the tariffs would be in place, and that could hurt margins. Morgan Stanley also weighed in on tariffs Friday. "The duration of conflict will be measured in quarters, not weeks," wrote Morgan Stanley chief policy strategist Michael Zezas. "This can be a market event before it's an economic event given erosion of earnings growth [and] fiscal stimulus gains. In equities, US tech, US small caps, & Asia EM are most vulnerable. In fixed-income, we like UST duration & munis, but see risk in corporate credit."

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/14/main-yield-curve-inverts-and-china-blames-us-for-hong-kong-protests.html

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Agilent Technologies

What to watch today: Bonds flash recession signal and China blames US for Hong Kong protests

BY THE NUMBERS IN THE NEWS TODAY STOCKS TO WATCH Shares of Tilray (TLRY) was falling about 9% in premarket trading after the company reported a wider-than-expected loss. The cannabis producer did see revenue beat forecasts, and said the company would "potentially" be announcing new supply deals in the coming months. RealReal (REAL) had better-than-predicted losses in its first quarterly report since going public in late June. The online seller of secondhand luxury goods also saw revenue beat estimates. The stock was surging about 12% in the premarket this morning. Qualcomm (QCOM) named former Palo Alto Networks (PANW) chairman and CEO Mark McLaughlin as Chairman, replacing Jeff Henderson. Former Cardinal Health (CAH) CFO Henderson will remain on the board and continue to chair the chip maker's audit committee. Qualcomm shares were under some pressure. Myriad Genetics (MYGN) fell short of forecasts of adjusted quarterly profit and revenue. The company cited lower than expected reimbursements for its expanded carrier screening test, but said it is more optimistic going forward. The stock was losing about a quarter of its value in premarket trading. WATERCOOLER

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/01/goldman-sachs-stocks-investors-should-buy-on-us-china-trade-war-news.html

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Agilent Technologies

Goldman Sachs: What investors should buy, depending on which way the trade war swings

If the U.S.-China trade war escalates, investors should be betting on domestic-focused U.S. stocks, according to Goldman Sachs. If the tensions ease, however, China-exposed companies would likely outperform, the bank said in a report released Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs analysis highlighted S&P 500 companies that have notable levels of revenue or asset exposure to the China. "If trade tensions continue to rise and new tariffs are proposed and implemented, stocks with the highest domestic sales exposure should outperform," said the report, which was authored by Goldman chief U.S. equity strategist David Kostin and others from the bank. If tensions moderate, then investors should look at stocks with over 10 percent revenue or asset exposure to Greater China, Goldman said. Those companies with significant Chinese sales are "at risk from continued escalation of the trade war," and most are concentrated in the information technology sector, specifically semiconductors and related equipment, the bank said. In 2017, companies in the S&P 500 index derived 30 percent of their revenues from international sources — including 8 percent of the total from Asia Pacific and 10 percent from Europe. The information technology sector has the highest international revenue exposure at 60 percent, followed by the materials sector at 49 percent, the report said. According to Goldman, some of the companies with the highest sales exposure to Greater China include: "Top-line growth for these firms will likely come under pressure if China imposes retaliatory tariffs. Such tariffs would drive up the price paid by consumers in Greater China," the report said, referring to the region that includes mainland China, Taiwan, and special administrative regions like Hong Kong. For investors looking out for S&P stocks with the highest domestic revenue exposure, those would be mostly in the telecommunications, consumer, financials and health-care sectors, according to the report. Those include: "The most domestic-facing stocks typically outperform as US growth strengthens relative to the rest of the world. The recent trend of stronger US GDP growth has helped domestic-facing stocks outperform foreign-facing stocks," the report added. On July 6, U.S. tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese products took effect, and China retaliated with duties on the same value of American goods. Following this, the Trump administration said it was preparing possible tariffs on $200 billion more in Chinese goods.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/21/stocks-making-the-biggest-moves-premarket-hormel-apple-nike-dominos-pizza--more.html

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Agilent Technologies

Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: Hormel, Apple, Nike, Domino's Pizza & more

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell: Hormel – The food producer matched estimates with quarterly profit of 44 cents per share, but the maker of Spam, Dinty Moore, and other food brands saw revenue come up slightly short of Street forecasts. Separately, Hormel said PepsiCo would pay $465 million in cash for its CytoSport. Hormel had announced that deal earlier this week, but had not disclosed the purchase price for the Muscle Milk maker at that time. Apple , Goldman Sachs – Apple and Goldman plan to launch a credit card paired with new iPhone features in the next few weeks, according to The Wall Street Journal. Nike – Nike shares are under pressure after Duke basketball player Zion Williamson was injured after his Nike shoe split during a game. Wendy's – The restaurant chain beat forecasts by a penny a share, with adjusted quarterly profit of 16 cents per share. Revenue was short of forecasts, however, and a comparable-restaurant sales gain of 1.4 percent was shy of the 1.8 percent expected by analysts surveyed by Refinitiv. Domino's Pizza – The pizza chain fell 7 cents a share short of estimates, with adjusted quarterly profit of $2.62 per share. Revenue was also shy of estimates. U.S. comparable-restaurant sales were up 5.6 percent, compared to Refinitiv's consensus estimate of a 6.3 percent increase. Separately, Domino's announced an 18 percent increase in its quarterly dividend to 65 cents per share. Newmont Mining – The mining company earned an adjusted 40 cents per share for its latest quarter, 15 cents a share above estimates. Revenue also beat forecasts. Gold production was up 8 percent versus a year earlier. Norwegian Cruise Line – The cruise line operator beat estimates by 6 cents a share, with adjusted quarterly profit of 85 cents per share. Revenue came up slightly short of expectations. Norwegian also forecast current-quarter and full-year profit above current consensus. Bunge – The grain processor earned an adjusted 8 cents per share for its latest quarter, below the consensus estimate of 20 cents a share. Revenue also missed forecasts, with results impacted by a reduction in soybean inventories. Foot Locker – Foot Locker announced a 10 percent increase in its quarterly dividend to 38 cents per share, and the athletic apparel and footwear retailer unveiled a new $1.2 billion stock buyback program. Barclays – Barclays reported a lower-than-expected profit for the fourth quarter, but investors were cheered by a 15 percent profit in the investment bank unit. Johnson & Johnson – J&J received subpoenas from the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Officials want documents related to the safety of its talc-related products. Cheesecake Factory – Cheesecake Factory reported adjusted quarterly profit of 60 cents per share, missing Wall Street forecasts by 2 cents a share. The restaurant chain's revenue also came up short of estimates, although its 1.9 percent increase in comparable-restaurant sales was higher than the consensus estimate of a 1.1 percent rise. Navient — Hedge fund Canyon Capital has withdrawn its bid to buy the student loan servicer, in which it has a 10 percent stake. Canyon will instead launch a proxy fight with the goal of putting a slate of candidates on Navient's board. Navient had turned down a $12.50 per share takeover bid earlier this week. Agilent Technologies – Agilent reported adjusted quarterly profit of 76 cents per share, 3 cents a share above estimates. The medical device company's revenue also beat forecasts and Agilent nudged its full-year guidance higher. Avis Budget – Avis Budget earned an adjusted 53 cents per share for its latest quarter, beating the 37 cents a share consensus estimate. The car rental company's revenue came in slightly above Wall Street forecasts, and the company said its revenue would increase in 2019 thanks to a rise in rental days. Boston Beer – Boston Beer beat estimates by 14 cents with adjusted quarterly profit of $1.84 per share, though the Sam Adams brewer saw revenue come in below Wall Street forecasts. Boston Beer did give an upbeat outlook for 2019, projecting an eight to 13 percent increase in shipments. Jack In The Box – Jack In The Box reported adjusted quarterly profit of $1.35 per share, 7 cents a share above estimates. The restaurant chain's revenue also came in above analysts' projections, however comparable-restaurant sales were down 0.1 percent during the quarter.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/14/indonesia-wants-to-stop-exporting-minerals-make-value-added-products.html

APD

Air Products and Chemicals

Turning nickel into EV batteries: Indonesia wants to take its mining industry to the next level

Indonesia is looking to revitalize its resource sector. President Jokowi Widodo has vowed to boost the resource sector's contribution to national GDP by increasing downstream activities. In this photo taken in October 2021, an excavator is loading up coal onto a dump truck at a coal mine operated by PT Khotai Makmur Insan Abadi in Kutai Kartanegara, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Dimas Ardian | Bloomberg | Getty Images Indonesia may be rich in mineral resources, but its mining sector contributes only a fraction to the country's economy. It's something the country is looking to change. The Southeast Asian nation boasts of natural deposits including tin, nickel, cobalt and bauxite — some of which are important raw materials for electric vehicle production. Despite large exports, the mineral and coal sector alone contributed only 5% to Indonesia's GDP in 2019, according to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiatives. To boost its economy, Indonesia wants to move away from exporting raw materials, to focus instead on developing its downstream industries. Downstream activities involve processing raw materials into finished products to provide added value. For instance, crude oil can be refined into petroleum, diesel and plastics. President Jokowi Widodo has said: "Indonesia always exports raw materials, while it is better to process and consume them through downstream industry or domestically." As part of that plan, Indonesia banned the export of nickel ore in January 2020, and the government has pledged to the gradually stop exporting other raw materials too. "I think we can reap many benefits of stopping nickel ore export," Widodo said in late 2021. "Therefore, next year, we will stop raw materials export for bauxite ore, and next, gold and tin ores." The move downstream is expected to create jobs, increase profit margins for the sector, as well as cut down on carbon emissions. watch now "The impact is supposed to be positive, since value-added products potentially reduce coal mining companies' financial performance at the risk of coal price volatility," according to William Simadiputra, analyst at DBS Group Research. Going downstream also reduces exposure to fluctuating commodity prices and the reliance on imports. Widodo has said Indonesians will eventually stand to benefit. "Subsequently, it will create jobs ... it will generate tax income for the country, and new business opportunities, for instance, domestic companies that will export nickel ore," the president said. Climbing up the value chain Indonesia has set its sights on three key sectors for downstreaming: the mining and mineral industry, the coal and fuel industry, and the agroindustry. According to Indonesia's Investment Coordinating Board, BKPM, the country has the largest nickel reserve in the world and possesses 21 million tons of nickel. Indonesia hopes to transform raw nickel into higher end products like lithium batteries for electric cars — a move the investment board said will eventually bring economic growth. "The Government is working on research regarding lithium-ion battery innovations and it is expected that within two to three years ahead we can produce lithium battery," Widodo said in late 2020. watch now Indonesia is the world's fourth-largest coal producer, and the top thermal coal exporter globally. The Southeast Asian nation is also making a push for downstream coal projects, according to Simadiputra, who said coal mining companies receive royalties from the government when such projects succeed. Coal mining is vital for Indonesia, said Wood Mackenzie analyst Shirley Zhang. "Not only does it help ease the current global energy crisis, the country — a key exporter of thermal coal — also benefits from the high seaborne coal prices," she told CNBC. "It also ensures energy security for the country's domestic economic growth." Indonesia's coal production reached 564 million tonnes in 2020, according to the IEA. The country exported 405 million tonnes of coal in the same period — or 31.2 % of world's coal exports that year. Thermal coal is a key driver of Indonesia's economy, Zhang said, adding that manufacturing, the country's biggest GDP contributor at 26%, is also driven by coal power. Cutting reliance on LPG imports Indonesia — the fourth largest LPG importer in Asia — plans to "reduce dependence on costly LPG imports which took up Rupiah 50.6 trillion ($3.6 billion) in subsidies," according to S&P Global. For instance, Bukit Asam, an Indonesian state-owned coal miner, has initiated a $2.3 billion coal gasification project with state energy firm Pertamina and U.S. industrial gas and chemicals firm, Air Products. The project is expected to absorb 6 million tonnes of coal and produce 1.4 million tonnes of dimethyl-ether (DME), a form of renewable fuel that can be used to replace diesel and propane. watch now This will help reduce annual LPG imports by 1 million tonnes, according to Simadiputra. "Downstream activities will help to detach Indonesia from energy imports such as LPG. We expect lower energy imports to positively impact Indonesia's trade balance, especially amid the current trend of high energy prices," the analyst said. The Southeast Asian country also stands to benefit from the overall trend of clean and renewable energy too, said Zhang from Wood Mackenzie. In fact, Indonesia has the potential to become a leader in decarbonization too, she added. For example, Indonesia could establish itself as a regional authority in decarbonization by demonstrating large-scale carbon capture utilization and storage, or CCUS — a technology that captures carbon dioxide from industrial users of fossil fuels and compresses it so that it can be transported or stored for other uses. "Indonesia is also a key resource base for electric vehicle raw materials such as nickel," said Zhang. "Its production outlook will drive the pace and scale of decarbonizing the transportation sector internationally." Challenges ahead

https://www.cnbc.com/id/29837495

APD

Air Products and Chemicals

Trust in Dividends: Air Products

Dividends might fill the gap. Companies don’t raise their payouts if they’re not performing well enough to do so. And firms capable of boosting their dividend, whether they do or not, should be just as strong. Actually, Cramer probably wouldn’t recommend any other kind of stock right now. So to highlight these rare market winners, he plans to cover one such name every night this week. First up: Air Products . The stock has plummeted to $55.90 from its 52-week high of $106, but just last Thursday Air Products bumped its dividend up a penny. Nothing grand, for sure. However, few companies these days are in position to do even that. The mere 3.2% yield? No matter. It’s a sign of strength for APD to pull off an increase at all. And, yes, the dividend is safe. The earnings more than double the payout. What’s behind the strength? Well, Air Products’ January and February gases sales may have been down, but the decline slowed considerably from month to month. So a bottom might not be far off. There’s also an electronics division here that looks finally to be turning up. Air Products supplies semiconductor companies as well as the LCD industry, and we know that both those areas have been doing better recently. See: Corning’s increased guidance as well as that from Xilinx and Taiwan Semi . What Cramer likes most, though, is how the weak dollar will benefit Air Products. The company earns 53% of sales from outside the U.S., which will translate overseas revenues into more at-home profits. Taken all together and you have a company that’s in much better shape than many others in the market. That’s why Cramer’ bullish on Air Products. Questions for Cramer? madmoney@cnbc.com Questions, comments, suggestions for the Mad Money website? madcap@cnbc.com

https://www.cnbc.com/id/35954311

APD

Air Products and Chemicals

Lightning Round: Air Products, McDonald's, ATP Gas & Oil

Tessera Tech : Don’t buy TSRA, Cramer said. Vitacost.com : Cramer said he wanted to do more research on VITC before making a call. Pactiv : Cramer said he likes PTV as well as Temple-Inland and International Paper as well. Stereotaxis : Go with Abbott Laboratories instead, Cramer said. Navios Maritime : Stay away from NMM, Cramer said. He doesn’t try the dividend. Consider Nordic American Tanker in place of Navios. ATP Oil & Gas : Cramer likes ATPG, but he can’t recommend it because he’s worried about gas pricing. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters : GMCR is “going much higher over time,” Cramer said. Cramer's charitable trust owns Abbott Laboratories. Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC Questions for Cramer? madmoney@cnbc.com Questions, comments, suggestions for the Mad Money website? madcap@cnbc.com

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/27/sealed-air-to-sell-cleaning-and-chemicals-systems-division-to-bain-capital.html

APD

Air Products and Chemicals

Sealed Air to sell Diversey Care to Bain Capital for $3.2 billion

Sealed Air said it would sell its cleaning and chemicals systems division, Diversey Care, and its food hygiene and cleaning business to Bain Capital Private Equity for about $3.2 billion, as it focuses on its higher-margin businesses. The food hygiene and cleaning business, which is part of Sealed Air's food care division, and Diversey Care together will be called New Diversey, the company said on Monday. New Diversey generated net sales of about $2.6 billion in 2016. The Diversey Care business has been weighed down by a strong dollar and a slowdown in some of its end-markets. Sealed Air acquired Diversey in 2011 from its controlling shareholders, the Johnson family and private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, in a $4.3 billion cash and stock deal. Charlotte, North Carolina-based Sealed Air said on Monday it would use the proceeds to repay debt, repurchase shares, maintain its net leverage ratio in the range of 3.5-4.0 times and fund core growth initiatives. Reuters earlier this month reported that Sealed Air was in talks to sell Diversey Care. The deal, which is expected to close in the second half of this year, would allow Sealed Air to focus on its food, product and medical packaging businesses. Sealed Air's portfolio includes the Cryovac food packaging brand and cushioning brand Bubble Wrap. Citi is the financial adviser to Sealed Air and Barclays and RBC Capital Markets were Bain Capital's financial advisers.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/09/goldman-basket-of-us-stocks-linked-to-china-starting-to-beat-market.html

APD

Air Products and Chemicals

Goldman basket of U.S. stocks linked to China is starting to beat the market — Here's what's in it

U.S. stocks heavily tied to China have begun to outperform the rest of the market as the world's second largest economy country seeks to return to a pre-pandemic normal after ending most Covid controls, according to Goldman Sachs. "Recent easing of China's zero-Covid policy represents one upside risk to S & P 500 profits via stronger 2023 global growth," David Kostin, Goldman's head of U.S. equity strategy, said in a note to clients. Since the start of the fourth quarter, a basket of stocks with high China sales exposure has outperformed stocks with high domestic sales exposure by eight percentage points, Kostin said. On Dec. 7 , Chinese authorities removed virus testing requirements and health code checks for domestic travel. Beijing had previously implemented a zero-Covid policy in an attempt to shield China's 1.4 billion people from the virus, but the policy also limited economic activity and cut off the outside world. Still, Goldman cautioned that a faster-than-expected exit from the zero-Covid policy nonetheless suggests weaker near-term growth as the infection rate dramatically increases. For investors wanting to capitalize on the rebound, here are the U.S. stocks with the highest percentage of revenue tied to China, according to Goldman. U.S. companies with a major China footprint include iPhone maker Apple , which has rallied more than 2% year to date. Casino operators Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts are benefiting from the reopening of gambling in Macao. AAPL YTD mountain Apple shares year-to-date Starbucks , the world's largest coffee chain, as well as Tapestry , the owner of Kate Spade and Coach, are also heavily exposed China. Chemicals companies Air Products & Chemicals , Albemarle Corp. and auto parts supplier BorgWarner are also on Goldman's list. — CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed reporting.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/23/heres-why-2023-could-be-another-solid-year-for-dividend-stocks-and-how-to-play-it.html

APD

Air Products and Chemicals

Here's why 2023 could be another solid year for dividend stocks — and how to play it

Dividend stocks proved valuable for investors in a turbulent 2022, and many investment professionals are sticking with the group for next year. The SPDR Portfolio S & P 500 High Dividend ETF (SPYD) was down just about 1% for the year on a total return basis, easily outpacing the broader market. And with consensus expectations pointing to high interest rates and slow or even negative economic growth in 2023, dividend stocks could have quite a while left in the spotlight. "The value of dividends, which has been ignored for so long, has come into focus, and realistically is likely to stay in focus potentially for years. In any kind of lower return environment, the dividends sort of leap off the page as being something that are much more valuable," said John Porter, chief investment officer and head of equity at Newton Asset Management. Porter is not alone in that belief. Many major shops on Wall Street are bullish on dividend stocks in one form or another heading into 2023. Credit Suisse's strategist Andrew Garthwaite said in a note to clients that he was overweight dividend aristocrats, or stocks that have a long track record of growing their payouts. That group — as tracked by the ProShares S & P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL) — has outperformed the broader market in 2022, losing less than 6% on a total return basis. The fund's top holdings include Air Products & Chemicals and Caterpillar . JPMorgan, in a note to clients from strategists Marko Kolanovic and Bram Kaplan, said they were bullish on dividends and dividend futures in part because "companies have been announcing better than expected dividend increases, corporate balance sheets are healthy, and the high oil prices are driving upside in Energy company dividends." Energy stocks, along with utilities and real estate, are well represented among the group of high-dividend stocks that are popular on Wall Street. The list below shows the S & P 500 members who have a dividend yield above 3% and a buy rating from at least 60% of analysts, according to FactSet. Two names not in the previously mentioned categories are Citizens Financial Group and toymaker Hasbro . Citizens' stock has shown strength recently and is up in the fourth quarter, while Hasbro has continued to slide amid criticism of its handling of the "Magic: The Gathering" card game . That fall has given Hasbro a dividend yield of more than 4.8%. To be sure, investing in dividend stocks can be tricky during economic downturns, as falling profits can lead to dividend cuts or even suspensions. Investors should keep in mind cash flow metrics when evaluating a company to gauge how safe a dividend is. Jefferies global head of microstrategy Desh Peramunetilleke said in a note to clients that the firm prefers "low risk" plays in both the utility and real estate sectors because of economic risks. One of the names on the list, Public Storage , has seen recent insider buying . Some professional investors see that as a vote of confidence from the boardroom about the future of the company. CNBC Pro's guide to investing in 2023 The Dow's yearly performance is beating the S & P 500 by the most in decades. Here's why 2023 should be a brighter year for the traditional 60/40 portfolio Top Wall Street strategists see a bumpy 2023 ahead with minimal returns for stocks The crypto investing outlook for 2023 after a 60% decline in bitcoin this year

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/27/outperforming-fund-manager-on-stocks-to-recession-proof-your-portfolio.html

APD

Air Products and Chemicals

These 'all-weather' stocks can protect your portfolio in a recession, says outperforming fund manager

Top Wall Street executives are sounding the recession alarm. Earlier this month, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos became the latest corporate titan to warn of a recession, noting in a Twitter post that it's time to "batten down the hatches." His warning echoed that of Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, who said there's a "good chance" the U.S. is headed for a recession. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon also predicted the U.S. is likely to tip into a recession in six to nine months. The risks of a recession have risen sharply this year, as stubbornly high consumer prices forced central banks around the world to rapidly hike interest rates to rein in inflation, roiling markets and putting investors on edge. Fund manager Brian Arcese also believes the U.S. is headed for a recession — albeit one that is milder than the devastating global financial crisis of 2008. Investors who want to be "recession proof" should have a balanced portfolio, he added. "A balanced portfolio is one that is practical and designed to be all-weather," said the portfolio manager at Foord Asset Management, who co-manages the Foord International Fund and the Foord Global Equity Fund. "You need to have stocks that will work in any type of economic environment," he told CNBC Pro Talks last week. Market watchers typically describe a balanced portfolio as having a 60% allocation to stocks and a 40% allocation to bonds, but Arcese said he does not agree with this view. He likens his strategy to a barbell approach of growth-oriented names and value stocks, as well as stocks that fall in between the growth and value spectrum. "The overarching theme among all the names, if you really want to recession proof your portfolio, is to make sure that all the names that you own, whether they are growth, value, dividend paying or whatever bucket the market wants to put them in, that they all have good management teams that have a history of allocating capital well and a history of managing through an economic cycle. With that, you can gain a lot of comfort," he said. In the latest installment of CNBC Pro Talks last week, he named three stocks he thinks investors should own to protect their portfolios in a recession. Recession-proof stocks One stock he likes is Minnesota-based health insurer UnitedHealth , which he described as a "market leader" in managed care solutions. "It's a company that grows earnings in a in a defensive way through cycles — low double digit to mid-teens rate. Even a company like that is impacted by a recession but certainly far less on a relative basis than deep cyclicals for example," he said. Deep cyclicals are companies that are highly sensitive to economic cycles — they outperform when markets rise and underperform when markets dip. Earlier this month, the company reported third quarter earnings and revenue that beat consensus estimates. On top of that, it raised its full-year outlook. Shares in the company are up nearly 8% this year, handily beating the broader market. Arcese sees Pennsylvania-based industrial chemicals firm Air Products as an "incredibly defensive" company that provides a "real direct hedge" against inflation. It also has a track record of having grown dividends for 40 consecutive years, he added. "A company like that, it will go down in absolute terms as equity markets decline but it's an incredibly defensive business and something that we are happy to own through this period, and it offers that real direct hedge against inflation if it does carry on longer than investors in general expect," Arcese said. Rounding off his list is copper miner Freeport McMoRan . The stock has lost nearly 24% of its value this year, largely because of the sharp decline in copper prices, which was prompted by investors' fears of a recession, according to Arcese. But copper is key to the global energy transition, and Freeport McMoRan is well positioned to benefit thanks to its ability to mine the commodity at a low cost. "If you believe in energy transition, in green energy, the world doesn't have enough copper to get us there. And so that's a name where you're being given an attractive entry point. And if inflation continues, then it also offers you that real time inflation hedge as well," he said. The company delivered a beat on third quarter earnings, as it reported earnings per share of 26 cents on revenue of $5.00 billion, higher than analysts' expectations of 24 cents per share in earnings and $4.88 billion of revenue, according to StreetAccount. The Foord International Fund has continued to "defend investor capital this year," according to the fund's latest factsheet . The fund is down 5.8% as at end-September — beating the global stock market, which declined 25.2%, according to the fund's commentary. The Foord Global Equity fund has also done better than the market this year. The fund has lost 23.3% of its value as at end-September, against a decline of 25.6% on the MSCI World, data from the fund's latest factsheet showed.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/28/esg-investing-climate-change-jpmorgan-and-credit-suisse-stock-picks.html

APD

Air Products and Chemicals

JPMorgan: These Asian stocks are superior to their peers when it comes to ESG

JPMorgan and Credit Suisse have named a raft of stocks they think will benefit from the rapid growth of sustainable investing in Asia, as countries around the world double down on their climate change commitments. Market participants are increasingly seeking to invest in stocks based on "environmental, social and governance" factors — also known as ESG or sustainable investing. The third quarter of 2021 saw a record $15 billion of inflows into Asian sustainable funds, Credit Suisse's analysts, led by Phineas Glover, said on Jan. 19. They expect inflows to remain strong this year. Assets under management in these funds also increased significantly over the same period, to hit around $120 billion, Glover added. Increasing numbers of new funds have sprung up in response, with JPMorgan noting that 100 Asia ex-Japan ESG funds were launched in 2021, up from just 46 in 2020. Despite this growing interest, however, many sustainable stocks have had a particularly tricky start to 2022 , as investors weigh the possibility of imminent interest rate hikes from global central banks. JPMorgan's stock picks On Jan. 19, JPMorgan's Elaine Wu published a list of Asian stock ideas that she said have "superior environmental, social and governance (ESG) against sector peers." It includes industrial firm Brambles and retail conglomerate Wesfarmers in Australia. Chinese automaker Geely , Bank Rakyat Indonesia , insurer AIA , Taiwanese chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company , Chinese pharmaceutical firm Wuxi Biologics and South Korea's Lotte Chemical also made the bank's list. Among Japanese equities, JPMorgan named automaker Denso among its "top stock ideas," along with electronics and imaging firm Ricoh , air-conditioning company Daikin and insurer Tokio Marine . All of the above stocks are buy-rated by JPMorgan analysts. Credit Suisse's stock picks Meanwhile, Credit Suisse outlined a number of long-term structural themes it thinks will dominate ESG investing in the year ahead. The bank expects carbon prices to continue their rise in 2022, driven by long-term climate policy in the European Union and China, as well as corporate net-zero ambitions. The bank said the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will accelerate the carbon transition and drive higher capital expenditure in the sector. If approved will force EU businesses to pay a carbon levy for goods they import from outside the bloc . As a result, China, Japan, South Korea and India will need to aggressively decarbonize steel to remain competitive exporters to the EU, Glover said. The bank's basket of beneficiaries include renewables such as Longyuan Power , Xinyi Solar, and EDP ; steel manufacturers such as Nucor , Steel Dynamics , Hyundai Steel and Caterpillar ; as well as a raft of other related stocks such as Air Liquide , Air Products & Chemicals , Emerson and PetroChina . Credit Suisse noted that the the transition from coal to gas as a primary fuel will be a key tenet of the EU's carbon pricing rules, and benefit stocks such as TC Energy , Woodside Petroleum , Petrobas and Cheniere Energy . Meanwhile, China's commitment to reach carbon net zero by 2060 will also create opportunities for a host of stocks. "[New energy vehicles] and renewable energy value chains will continue to be strong beneficiaries," Glover said, with "top battery makers capable of further market share gain." The bank's list of beneficiaries includes automakers such as BYD , Nio , Xpeng and Li Auto , as well as battery manufacturers such as Ganfeng Lithium , Tianqi Lithium . Another theme highlighted by the bank is carbon capture and storage (CCS), which it said will be an "essential" part of the transition to net zero. Its top picks in this space include PetroChina , Huaneng Power and Datang International . All of these stock picks are rated overweight by Credit Suisse. A television camera stands in front of a screen displaying the COP26 logo on November 06, 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland. Ian Forsyth | Getty Images News | Getty Images

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/09/23/credit-suisse-says-buy-stocks-with-this-characteristic-popularized-by-warren-buffett.html

APD

Air Products and Chemicals

Credit Suisse says buy stocks with this characteristic popularized by Warren Buffett

Credit Suisse is recommending stocks with a characteristic favored by Warren Buffett for investors navigating growing risk in equity markets. The firm expects companies with "economic moats" could help investors shield their portfolios from increasing economic uncertainty. It's a term popularized by the legendary investor that refers to a company's ability to maintain competitive advantages against its peers, such as a better business model or scale. "The most important thing [is] trying to find a business with a wide and long-lasting moat around it … protecting a terrific economic castle with an honest lord in charge of the castle," Buffett said at a 1995 meeting, according to CNBC's Warren Buffett Archive. Credit Suisse identified bottom-up opportunities in companies that have high barriers to entry, just as macro risks rise. The firm's strategists pointed to aggressive action against inflation by central banks around the globe, as well as growing risks to 2023 earnings estimates, and recommended investors underweight equities. "Our economists do not rule out a recession and anticipate the US GDP growth to be 0.9% in 2023, compared to -0.2% in the Eurozone," analyst Richard Kersley wrote in a Thursday note. Still, there are opportunities in businesses with protective moats, that have "a superior ability to innovate" with strong pricing power. Here are the names. Shares of Air Products & Chemicals can surge more than 20% from here as the company has "among the most resilient business models," as it's difficult to transport gases over long distances, according to Credit Suisse. The firm has a $295 price target on the company, and shares closed Wednesday at $241.46. Hershey was approved by the firm as it "is poised for an above-algorithm growth year (5%) in 2022" because of its leading market share in confectionary, according to the note. Credit Suisse has a $250 price target on the company, implying 11.9% upside from Wednesday's closing price of $223.41 per share. "Market share gains are likely to persist through 2022 and probably beyond as retailers have awarded the company more shelf space," read the note. McDonald's is "well positioned" to perform regardless of the macro backdrop because of its leading value proposition, according to Credit Suisse. The fast food company is also recovering in overseas markets, read the note. Other companies with protective moats in the Americas include Microsoft , Nextera and Autodesk . —CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/05/bank-of-america-picks-apac-stocks-to-sell-partly-due-to-china-exposure.html

APD

Air Products and Chemicals

Bank of America picks Asia-Pacific stocks to sell partly because of high revenue exposure to China

Bank of America's Asia stocks team has not recommended buying China stocks since November 2020. Now with the resurgence of Covid controls, the analysts have screened for stocks outside the country that are vulnerable to a China slowdown. "China is the growth engine of the Asia Pacific region, with 125+ companies under BofA APAC coverage deriving more than 10% of their revenues from China," equity strategist Ritesh Samadhiya and a team said in a recent report. "The pullback in economic activity, partly due to lockdown-induced access restrictions, are expected to result in demand moderation for a variety of sectors," they said, pointing to products ranging from Taiwan and Japanese parts suppliers to Australian infant formula. Since March, mainland China has faced its worst Covid-19 outbreak since the early days of the pandemic in 2020. Economic centers across the country have restricted travel and ordered people to stay home, limiting the ability of factories to produce and transport parts among suppliers. The southeastern metropolis of Shanghai, home to the world's busiest port, is among the hardest hit, with stay-home orders lasting in many areas for more than a month. With that drag on China's growth, here are the Bank of America analysts' least-liked Asia-Pacific stocks: The companies come from a list of 31 stocks within the analysts' coverage that have a market capitalization of more than $15 billion and generate more than 10% of their revenue from China. The three names below are all rated "underperform" — or least attractive in the group of stocks covered. Fortescue Metals Australian materials company Fortescue Metals primarily mines iron ore for export to China, as well as Japan and South Korea, according to its website. Steel is made from iron ore. The company generates 89.7% of its revenue from China, according to the BofA report — the largest exposure to China among the stocks listed. "Restrictions relating to COVID-19 have impacted logistics and steel demand," Fortescue said in a release about the quarter ended in March, noting a drop of 10.5% in Chinese crude steel production from a year ago. The company said it expects policy in China will support steel demand and production for the full year. In the latest quarter, Fortescue said its iron ore shipments rose 10% from the year-ago period, contributing to record-high shipment volume for the nine months ended in March. Mitsubishi Electric Japanese company Mitsubishi Electric 's earnings are driven by factory automation systems and air conditioners, the BofA analysts said. They estimate the company generates about 11.5% of its revenue from China, and a slowdown in growth in the country would drag down demand for those two product categories. The analysts estimate that China accounts for 10% of Mitsubishi Electric's air conditioner sales, and more than 40% of factory automation system sales, when including products sold to companies in Japan and ultimately used in China. Petronas Chemicals The third and final underperform-rated company on the BofA stock list is Malaysian materials company Petronas Chemicals . About 18.5% of the company's revenue comes from China, the report said. In 2021, Petronas reported a 60% increase in revenue to 23.03 billion Malaysian ringgits ($5.27 billion). The cost of revenue during that period rose by 33% to 14.45 billion ringgits. — CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report. Bank of America's Asia stocks team expects companies in the region to see demand drop as Covid controls drag on China's economy Tian Yuhao | China News Service | Getty Images

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/09/airbnb-abnb-q1-earnings-report-2023.html

ABNB

Airbnb

Airbnb drops 10% after earnings report offers cautious outlook for second quarter

Shares of Airbnb fell as much as 10% in extended trading Tuesday despite first-quarter earnings that beat analyst estimates on the top and bottom lines, as it offered slightly weaker-than-expected guidance and a cautious outlook for the current quarter. Here's how the company did as per consensus analyst estimates by Refinitiv: EPS: 18 cents vs. 9 cents expected 18 cents vs. 9 cents expected Revenue: $1.82 billion vs. $1.79 billion expected Total revenue rose 20% year over year. Airbnb swung to a net profit of $117 million, or 18 cents per share, from a net loss of $19 million, or 3 cents per share, in the year-earlier period. The figure marks the first time Airbnb has been profitable during its first quarter on a GAAP basis. In its shareholder letter, Airbnb said it had a "strong start" to the year, and it is looking forward to another "strong summer travel season." However, it warned that second-quarter comparisons would be tough, saying, "Nights and Experiences Booked will have unfavorable year-over-year comparisons in Q2 2023 as we overlap pent-up 2022 demand following the COVID Omicron variant." The home-sharing platform forecast second-quarter revenue between $2.35 billion and $2.45 billion. Analysts polled by Refinitiv expected $2.42 billion. During its quarterly call with investors, Airbnb said it also plans to integrate artificial intelligence features, including GPT-4, into its platform over the next year or so. The company said customers can expect to see "big changes." Average daily rates were flat compared to a year ago at $168 in the first quarter, and the company said active listings increased 18% year over year. Gross booking value, which Airbnb uses to track host earnings, service fees, cleaning fees and taxes, totaled $20.4 billion in the first quarter. The company reported 121.1 million nights and experiences booked in the first quarter, up 19% year over year, in line with estimates by analysts, according to StreetAccount. The company said in the investor letter that it intends to stay focused on three "strategic priorities." The company said it is working to make hosting on the platform just as popular as travel, provide affordable stays for guests and increase its presence in "less mature" international markets. Airbnb added in the investor letter that travelers are returning to major cities, and they are also booking longer stays. Correction: Airbnb's total revenue for the first quarter rose 20% year over year. An earlier version misstated the time frame.