(This is CNBC Pro’s live coverage of Thursday’s analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) A chipmaker and an oil giant from Brazil were among the stocks being talked about by analysts on Thursday. Micron Technology issued in-line revenue guidance, sending its shares lower in the premarket. Several analysts reacted to the company’s forecast and latest quarterly figures. Meanwhile, Bank of America upgraded shares of Petrobras to buy. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 8:21 a.m.: Truist hikes Nvidia price target Truist boosted its price target on Nvidia to $140 from $128.80 a share, calling the chipmaker the best way to invest behind the AI theme. The new target implies 11% upside from Wednesday’s close. Shares have surged 155% this year. “Our analysis shows that becoming the largest company by market cap does not appear to systematically challenge future investment returns,” wrote analyst William Stein. “Moreover, feedback from industry contacts (component buyers & sellers) indicate demand for Blackwell is broadening.” — Samantha Subin 8:04 a.m.: Citi boosts Arista Networks’ price target on AI expansion Citi sees more upside ahead for Arista Networks , raising its price target to $385 to $330 on Thursday. The new target suggests a 15% move higher from Wednesday’s close. The bank expects Arista Network to benefit from ethernet’s growing share in the artificial-intelligence networking market. “We believe this valuation is warranted by ANET’s high exposure to hyperscaler capex and our expectation that the stock’s multiple will re-rate with a rebound in general purpose data center infrastructure spend as well as increasing opportunities in AI networking,” analyst Atif Malik wrote in a note to clients. Shares of Arista Networks are up 42% year to date. — Michelle Fox 7:36 a.m.: JPMorgan reiterates overweight rating on Carvana Carvana’s turnaround appears to be on solid footing, and it will be hard for competitors to catch up, according to JPMorgan. Analyst Rajat Gupta reiterated an overweight rating on the used car dealer stock, saying that a recent tour of a California facility bolstered confidence about the company. “We believe CVNA’s competitive moat continues to widen in the used car space, with operating leaders well aligned on importance of continuous improvement, and more importantly, long-term vision and culture, that should bode well for the company’s performance during periods of market volatility in the future,” the note said. Carvana appears to be on the verge of bankruptcy last year but has since rebounded. JPMorgan sees the company’s business plan as sustainable. “The business has been designed to be scalable and adaptable/flexible, and this has led to significant efficiency improvements, reducing cycle times and increasing throughput,” the note said. JPMorgan has a $150 price target on Carvana, which is more than 18% above where the stock closed Wednesday. — Jesse Pound 7 a.m.: JPMorgan downgrades U.S. Bancorp over lack of near term catalyst U.S. Bancorp could face pressure in light of likely stiffer capital requirements for banks after the central bank’s stress test saw aggregate capital levels slip compared to 2023 levels, according to JPMorgan. “US Bancorp’s stress test results showed second highest loss rate in our universe in credit cards at 17.5%, similar to reported results which have shown higher loss rates than several of our large credit card players,” analyst Vivek Juneja wrote. JPMorgan downgraded the banking stock to neutral from overweight. The firm’s $43.50 price target implies about 10% upside from Wednesday’s close. “U.S. Bancorp also continues to see moderate payments-related fee growth, lagging peers, and these revenues will be impacted further by softer spending trends,” the analyst added. “The stock price has lagged but we don’t see any other catalysts medium term, hence we are moving to the sidelines.” U.S. Bancorp stock has pulled back 8% in 2024. — Brian Evans 6:35 a.m.: TD Cowen raises Grindr price target TD Cowen is optimistic on Grindr following the company’s analyst day that saw the firm increase 2024 topline guidance forecast. “Key medium-term growth drivers include core product improvements, advertising growth, and Int’l focus, with upside potentially driven by alternate use case products,” analyst John Blackledge said. “We raised our ’25-’27 rev & EBITDA est’s to reflect better than expected outlook.” The analyst reiterated a buy rating on the online dating stock and raised its price target to $14 per share from $12. TD Cowen’s forecast implies more than 18% upside from Wednesday’s $11.82 close. Grindr stock has climbed nearly 35% in 2024. — Brian Evans 6:19 a.m.: KBW upgrades Bank of New York Mellon stock on strong profitability, expected stock buybacks Bank of New York Mellon’s robust profitability compared to peer banks and its control over expenses could foster stock gains moving forward, according to Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. The firm upgraded the bank stock to outperform from market perform and raised its price target to $70 per share from $60. KBW’s new forecast implies more than 19% upside. “BNY is a high quality franchise with an attractive return profile. Our expectations call for earnings growth despite further investments in improving long-term efficiency,” analyst David Konrad said. “The resulting better-than-peer operating leverage is a meaningful positive catalyst that should differentiate BK’s stock performance versus peers as the return gap widens. Strong buybacks are expected to provide a floor for the stock, limiting downside risk,” he added. Bank of New York Mellon stock has climbed about 13% in 2024. BK YTD mountain BNY Mellon in 2024 — Brian Evans 5:45 a.m.: What analysts are saying after Micron Technology’s fiscal third quarter results Analysts on Wall Street are largely sticking by Micron Technology even after the company’s lackluster fourth-quarter revenue guidance . The in-line forecast seemingly overshadowed a better-than-expected third-quarter that saw Micron surpass estimates on the top and bottom line. Micron shares were down 5% in the premarket. “We believe MU stock is selling off due to conservative guidance and higher capex and we would buy MU on weakness as the DRAM [dynamic random access memory] upturn thesis remains intact and we expect sequentially higher revenue, EPS, and gross margins through C25,” Citi analyst Christopher Danely said. The analyst reiterated a buy rating on Micron stock with a $175 per share price target, implying nearly 23% upside from Wednesday’s $142.36 close. Goldman Sachs analyst Toshiya Hari also reiterated a buy rating following Micron’s results. He raised his price target to $158 per share price from $138, calling for 11% upside. The analyst noted the stock pullback could present a buying opportunity for investors. “We see the stock’s recent pullback, if anything, as an opportunity to add to positions as we continue to envision a) growth in AI compute initially in the core data center but ultimately at the edge, b) market share gains for Micron in the lucrative High-Bandwidth Memory market, and c) supply-side discipline on the part of Micron and its peers, driving positive EPS revisions through the end of CY2024 and into CY2025,” Hari said. Bank of America analyst Vivek Arya also noted that “the company benefits from several secular trends in the data center, cloud computing and 5G markets.” He added: “We believe we are beginning to pass the trough of the memory cycle as memory pricing improves, and see room for possible share gains in high-bandwidth memory (likely CY25E).” Arya maintained a buy rating on Micron stock with a $170 per share price target, or about 19% upside moving forward. — Brian Evans 5:45 a.m.: Bank of America upgrades Petrobras It’s time to load up on shares of Petrobras , according to Bank of America. Analyst Caio Ribeiro upgraded the Brazilian oil giant to buy from neutral. He also increased his price target on U.S.-listed shares to $17.90 from $16.80. The new forecast implies upside of 25%. “With the dust settling after the replacement of the company’s CEO, there have been important developments at PBR which have helped quell concerns on corporate governance, fuel pricing, dividends, among others,” Ribeiro wrote. Among these developments are resolutions to disputes involving a federal tax court that concluded with “very favorable terms and the company’s fuel pricing policy was maintained.” Ribeiro also expects cash returns to stay attractive this year while capital expenditures don’t “materially increase.” U.S.-listed shares of Petrobras have lagged this year, losing 11%. The stock is also trading 20% below its 52-week high reached in February. PBR YTD mountain PBR year to date — Fred Imbert
Thursday’s analyst calls: Micron earnings reaction, oil giant gets an upgrade
Jun 27, 2024