Thursday's analyst calls: Goldman gets more bullish on GM, Jefferies upgrades social media stocks

Published Thu, Nov 30 20235:45 AM ESTUpdated Thu, Nov 30 20239:10 AM EST

(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.) An automaker and two social media companies were in focus among Thursday's analyst calls. Goldman Sachs raised its price target on General Motors after the stock's best day since early 2021. Meanwhile, Jefferies upgraded shares of Snap and Pinterest to buy, citing a strong setup heading into 2024 . Check out the latest calls and chatter below. 8:39 a.m. ET: JPMorgan upgrades STMicroelectronics as end market downturn nears bottom JPMorgan is getting bullish on shares of STMicroelectronics , upgrading the semiconductor manufacturing company to overweight from a neutral rating as its end market downturn nears a bottom. Sandeep Deshpande placed shares on a positive catalyst watch. The company, he said, looks poised to beat 2024 consensus estimates given the current negative sentiment. According to Deshpande, Wall Street's failed to account for an approaching recovery within the company's consumer-exposed end markets. This includes exposure to Apple and consumer smartphone products, among other things. "After a downturn that started in 2H22, this end market is bottoming out and will likely improve in 2H24," he wrote in a Thursday note. Deshpande also thinks that shares look cheap, trading at a discount to the large cap technology universe. The company's leadership in silicon carbide should also benefit pricing given the tight supply. Shares of the Switzerland-based company rose more than 2% before the bell. — Samantha Subin 8:36 a.m. ET: Spirit AeroSystems is a 'turnaround story,' Baird says in upgrade It's time to buy Spirit AeroSystems as the stock can rebound, and potentially double from here, according to Baird. Analyst Peter Arment upgraded shares to outperform, and raised his price target, saying the aerospace company has several catalysts ahead that will boost the stock after its selloff this year. The stock is down by more than 11% in 2023. The analyst approved of the new interim CEO Pat Shanahan's speed in addressing "high-urgency problem areas" within Spirit AeroSystems to improve financial performance. He also named the revision of the Airbus production contract set for February as the "likely next catalyst" for the company. Arment's $36 price target, raised from $30, implies the stock can climb 37% from Wednesday's close. But the analyst said he thinks the stock can climb to more than $50, which could mean shares could roughly double. "Sentiment is improving on SPR and we see an opportunity for multiple expansion in 2024, especially if unit economics on Airbus shipsets are revised," Arment said. "SPR is a turnaround story with a potential path to $50+," he added. — Sarah Min 8:35 a.m. ET: Citi raises SolarEdge price target, grows more confident in recovery Citibank is growing more confident that SolarEdge can make a turnaround after meeting with the company's CFO Ronen Faier in Asia. The investment bank maintained its neutral rating on the Israeli inverter manufacturer, but raised its stock price target by $12 to $89, implying a 13% upside from the last closing price of $78.55. "We walked away more confident in demand recovery and potential for upside in both the guided revenue and margin ranges," analyst Vikram Bagri wrote. Higher electricity prices and attractive payback periods in Europe indicate strong fundamentals, according to Bagri. SolarEdge got thrashed this year as high interest rates suffocated demand, leaving the company stuck with too much inventory on its hands. Citi expects inventory normalization to take about two to three quarters, though the investment bank cautioned there are still downside risks. — Spencer Kimball 8:01 a.m. ET: JPMorgan downgrades Nokia, sees no near-term positive catalyst Analyst Sandeep Deshpande downgraded shears of Nokia to neutral from overweight on Thursday, saying first half of 2024 should be "particularly challenging" for telcos. The major U.S. companies have indicated capex will decline in 2024. Muted demand in the U.S. is also expected in at least the first half, with no potential seen right now of another part of the world compensating, he said in a note to clients. "Nokia's restructuring will help 2H24 earnings but with initial indications of 1H24 to be so difficult, it is difficult to stay bullish despite the valuation, which is well below historic levels (P/E of 7.6x vs. historic mid-cycle multiple of 14.7x.)," Deshpande wrote. U.S.-listed shares of the Finland-based company, down 23% year to date, slipped 1.4% in premarket trading. — Michelle Fox 7:53 a.m. ET: Jefferies says hold Hyperfine with portable MRI maker still in 'very early stages' Despite seeing a first-mover advantage for a little-known maker of portable portable magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, machines, Jefferies has reason for pause. Analyst Young Li initiated coverage of Hyperfine at a hold rating with a $1.25 price target. That target implies the stock could slide about 0.8% from Wednesday's close. Li said Hyperfine has an edge on its portability, workflow, time, costs and quality as a first in the new space of portable MRI scanners. But he noted that being early with its Swoop scanner is also an "unenviable position" because the company must develop a new market and win share from larger, more traditional counterparts despite having limited scale. "While HYPR's Swoop portable MRI is unique, differentiated, and has advantageous features, it is still in the very early stages of commercialization ... and lacks predictability in the selling cycle as each sale is still unique," Li told clients on Wednesday. Shares are up about 50% compared with the start of 2023. But they still trade at less than half of the price they did during highs seen earlier this year. — Alex Harring 7:51 a.m. ET: Deutsche Bank initiates Lattice Semiconductor with a buy Deutsche Bank said that, while near-term cyclical headwinds won't escape Lattice Semiconductor , the long-term outlook is still favorable. The firm initiated coverage of the chip stock with a buy rating and a $70 per share price target, or about 19% upside from Wednesday's close. "We see LSCC (~$8b market cap) as offering the rare combination of above-industry revenue growth alongside industry leading gross margins (second only to NVDA & AVGO)," analyst Melissa Weathers said. "While in the near-term LSCC will not be immune from cyclical headwinds plaguing the broader semis industry (and we've consequently de-risked our near-term estimates as a result), we believe further downside to fundamentals is already priced into shares." The chipmaker has struggled in 2023, losing nearly 9%. LSCC YTD mountain LSCC in 2023 — Brian Evans 7:36 a.m. ET: Bernstein upgrades Restaurant Brands, sees upside for Burger King Bernstein analyst Danilo Gargiulo upgraded Restaurant Brands International to outperform from market perform, saying in a note to clients on Thursday that the stock can start to rise again now that the company has weathered a difficult period. "With fears of consumer spending slowdown, and pressures in the BK US system, investors have maintained a neutral stance on the stock over the past 6 months (-4%). Yet, with the momentum built up since the beginning of the year we now see a clearer path toward QSR's LT value creation," Gargiulo said. Restaurant Brands' different franchises include Burger King, Tim Hortons and Popeye's. Burger King in particular could be due for a rebound, Gargiulo said. "We believe that the underutilized ad fund will help BK outperform peers in 1H24 in the battle for traffic; store re-imaging should yield positive net impact starting in 2H24, serving as FY25 catalyst with ramping renovations," Gargiulo said. Bernstein hiked its price target on Restaurant Brands to $85 per share from $77. The new target is 22% above where the stock closed Wednesday. — Jesse Pound 6:55 a.m. ET: Analysts are growing more cautious on Okta stock following third quarter results A solid third-quarter earnings print isn't enough to keep analysts on Wall Street bullish on Okta . Despite beating on the top and bottom line, concerns over a recent data breach in October have underpinned analyst downgrades following quarterly results over the looming ramifications of the event moving forward. "While we continue to view identity as a top priority within security and Okta as a potential long-term consolidator, given the mis-execution since the Auth0 acquisition and uncertainty on the duration and the degree to which the breach may have an impact going forward, we see risk/reward as balanced with shares trading at 24.8x FCF and 4.8x revenue vs. the 10-20% growth peers at 31.6x FCF and 6.5x revenue," KeyBanc analyst Eric Heath wrote on Wednesday. The firm downgraded Okta stock to sector weight without a price target. "We believe Okta's focus on margin expansion at a critical time like this is an oversight. We believe the company should be more focused on driving revenue growth acceleration to assuage investor concerns regarding shares losses related to the breach," Wells Fargo analyst Andrew Nowinski said. The firm lowered its rating on Okta stock to equal weight and slashed its price target to $70 per share from $80, which equates to about 1% upside from Wednesday's $70.77 close. — Brian Evans 6:32 a.m. ET: BTIG downgrades 'unanalyzable' Farfetch BTIG is moving to the sidelines on Farfetch following mixed signals on an effort to take the company private by chief executive José Neves which could lack critical support. The firm downgraded shares of the luxury apparel company to neutral from buy and removed its price target. Shares closed at 97 cents on Wednesday and have slumped more than 79% this year. FTCH YTD mountain FTCH in 2023 "While we appreciate the stock has already declined significantly and a positive outcome is still possible, we believe moving to the sidelines until the dust settles is the best course of action as the situation has become too binary for our liking," analyst Marvin Fong said. "Existing shareholders may want to see their investment through, but we would suggest investors new to the name take a wait-and-see approach." — Brian Evans 6:18 a.m. ET: Here's what analysts are saying after Salesforce's third quarter results Analysts on Wall Street are sticking by Salesforce after the company's stronger-than-expected third-quarter results. "We continue to believe that Salesforce is on track to become the next quality GARP stock. While margin expansion is likely to be more gradual from here, we believe it remains on a path to rule of 50+," Bank of America analyst Brad Sills said. The bank reiterated a buy rating as well as a top pick label, accompanied by a $300 per share price target. BofA's forecast implies more than 30% upside from Wednesday's close. Goldman Sachs also maintained its buy rating and increased its target price to $345 per share from $340. The new target implies about 50% upside moving forward. "Despite fears of high-single digit growth, 4Q guide of 10% growth looks conservative in the context of strong renewals and a large customer win," analyst Kash Rangan said. "Results validate our view (since March) that revenue growth is likely to trough in FY24 before re-accelerating in FY25." — Brian Evans 5:58 a.m. ET: Jefferies moves Snapchat and Pinterest to buy on revenue growth forecasts Jefferies says both Snap and Pinterest will be beneficiaries of strong growth channels moving forward. The firm upgraded both stocks to buy from hold. Jefferies' $41 price target on Pinterest implies about 23% upside for Pinterest, and its $16 forecast for Snap calls for a 23% increase moving forward. "We are upgrading SNAP and PINS to Buy on the view that both have catalysts for rev growth upside in FY24," analyst James Heaney said. "SNAP is our more controversial call where we believe the stock re-rates higher on North America rev growth reaccelerating into the mid-teens in '24 (vs. -7% in FY23). Our PINS upgrade is based on increasing conviction in PINS's ability to grow rev 20%+ in FY24." Shares of both companies are up sharply this year. Snap has rallied 445% in 2023, while Pinterest has gained 37%. SNAP PINS YTD mountain SNAP and PINS in 2023 — Brian Evans 5:45 a.m. ET: Morgan Stanley upgrades Hewlett Packard Enterprise on promise of AI growth While Morgan Stanley thinks more "derisking" would be preferable for Hewlett Packard Enterprise , the company's multiple isn't like to compress further. The bank upgraded shares of the information technology company to equal weight from underweight. To be sure, it maintained its $16 per share price target, which implies more than 3% downside from Wednesday's $16.52 close. "We would have liked more derisking of Intelligent Edge estimates heading into FY24, but given where we are in hardware cycle, and the longer term AI opportunity, we see little opportunity for further multiple compression," analyst Meta Marshall said. HPE shares are up just 3.5% this year, lagging the broader market. — Brian Evans 5:45 a.m ET: Goldman raises GM price target Goldman Sachs analyst Mark Delaney increased his price target on General Motors to $45 from $42 after a series of bullish moves by the auto giant. On Wednesday, GM announced a $10 billion share buyback, hiked its dividend and reinstated its full-year guidance. Shares rallied more than 9% for their best day since early 2021. Goldman's new price target implies shares will rally another 42%. GM YTD mountain GM in 2023 "We believe investors will view the business update as an incremental positive overall given that the company expects that it can sustain the underlying core profitability of its business with cost reductions and efficiencies helping to offset labor cost and mix headwinds in 2024," Delaney said. "Additionally, we believe the $10 bn ASR underscores the strong cash generation of the business and will be viewed positively by investors." — Fred Imbert