The S&P 500 index appears poised for a slightly higher opening today, aiming to recover after a three-session winning streak was interrupted. Tech stocks, which weighed down the market yesterday, showed signs of improvement this morning. Notably, the S&P 500 recently closed at a record high.
In corporate news, memory chipmaker Micron has reported quarterly sales and profits that exceeded expectations, buoyed by strong performance across PC, mobile, and cloud memory segments attributed to artificial intelligence advancements. Although Micron’s stock was relatively stable this morning, it has previously surged ahead of the report, prompting Citi to raise its price target from $175 to $200 while maintaining a buy rating.
Analysts at Citi and UBS are optimistic about Corning as a major player in data center cabling, recently raising their price targets. This comes alongside Corning’s expanded partnership with Apple for device screens. After a meeting with CEO Wendell Weeks, it was concluded that the company holds significant upside potential, especially following a 70% stock gain this year.
In a move reflecting confidence in its growth trajectory, Wells Fargo upgraded Amazon’s rating from hold to buy, increasing its price target from $245 to $280. This change follows an analysis predicting revenue acceleration for Amazon Web Services, particularly due to the influence of the AI company Anthropic.
However, on the e-commerce front, Instacart is facing challenges, with analysts from Stifel attributing its recent underperformance to Amazon’s inclusion of fresh groceries in its same-day delivery for Prime members. Although Stifel reduced its price target for Instacart from $64 to $56, this still implies about 30% upside potential and retains a buy rating.
Chinese tech powerhouse Alibaba saw its New York-listed shares swell by nearly 9% following a series of AI-related announcements. These included a collaboration with Nvidia on robotics and an expansion of its cloud services into new markets. In light of these developments, Bank of America has increased its price target for Alibaba from $168 to $195.
In contrast, Morgan Stanley downgraded Adobe to a hold-equivalent rating from buy, reducing its price target from $520 to $450. Analysts pointed out that the monetization of AI technologies has been slower than anticipated and that they see cleaner growth narratives elsewhere in the software sector.
Conversely, Morgan Stanley upgraded ServiceNow shares from hold to overweight buy, citing improved sentiment regarding recent struggles tied to AI challenges. Their new price target of $1,250, raised from $1,040, suggests a potential upside of 35% attributed to projected growth in subscriptions and cash flow.
JPMorgan has benefited from price target upgrades by analysts from Citi and Truist in anticipation of favorable third-quarter earnings coming next month. The company has enjoyed a remarkable year so far, with stock gains of around 30%. Within the broader market, analysts continue to favor Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, and Capital One.
Lastly, McKesson, the drug distributor, has received a wave of price target increases following a successful investor day where it raised its long-term adjusted earnings per share guidance from 12-14% to 13-16%. As one of the few healthcare stocks performing well this year, McKesson’s outlook appears promising.
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