My top 10 things to watch Friday, August 9
1. Is the comeback for real? The market was headed for a lower open after the S&P 500 just had its best day since November 2022. Watch Apple and Nvidia. Those Club stocks are the two most important fallen leaders in this volatile market. For the week, the S&P, Nasdaq and Dow are still in the red, thanks in large part to Monday’s plunge.
2. Barclays upped its price target on Club holding Palo Alto Networks ahead of the cybersecurity provider’s earnings report set for Aug. 19. The firm went to $350 a share from $325 and maintained its buy-equivalent rating. Going into earnings, remember that CEO Nikesh Arora has said remaining performance obligation trends is now a more meaningful metric than billings. We added to our Palo Alto position last week.
3. Eli Lilly scored a round a price-target hikes after the Club name’s home-run quarter Thursday proved demand for weight-loss drugs is still booming. A lot of the analysts are now at $1,000 a share or higher. BMO Capital Markets went to $1,101 from $1,001. Wells Fargo upped to $1,000 from $875. Bank of America hiked to $1,150 from $1,000. During the stock’s swoon in recent weeks, we’d been urging Club members to hold onto it.
4. Dutch Bros‘ weak same-store sales guidance, which sent the stock down nearly 20% in Thursday’s session, is still a bit hard to understand, even after I had the drive-thru coffee chain’s CEO, Christine Barone, on “Mad Money” Thursday night. I think the stumble may be about Starbucks getting serious about discount to its rewards members. Barclays lowered its price target on Dutch Bros to $31 a share from $35.
5. Shares of Trade Desk climbing in response to another blowout quarter. Adjusted earnings per share and revenues both topped Wall Street estimates. Analysts like the print, as well, with a number of research shops including Citigroup and KeyBanc raising their price targets on the stock. The connected TV advertising company is a competitor to Alphabet’s DV360 in the space.
6. Barclays and TD Cowen raised their price targets on Under Armour to $8 and $7 a share, respectively. Both firms, which maintained their hold-equivalent ratings, had previously been at $6. In Thursday’s session, Under Armour stock soared 18% thanks to better-than-feared results, which have people wondering if this is the beginning of a comeback. If so, it’s early. Too early.
7. Warner Bros. Discovery‘s price target at JPMorgan was lowered to $8 a share from $10 following the media company’s second-quarter results earlier this week. Analysts kept their neutral rating on the stock, which has been a dog since the merger in 2022. Pressure is mounting on CEO David Zaslav. I think the debt load is all manageable, but that doesn’t make the common stock a buy.
8. Expedia beat expectations on the top and bottom lines, but the report hardly defies the broader travel slowdown that has emerged. The comparisons were very easy, and management said demand softened in July. Still, shares of the company, which owns its namesake site along with Hotels.com, Vrbo and more brands, were up more than 8% Friday morning.
9. Pizza is suddenly a challenge category. Piper Sandler and KeyBanc lowered their price targets on Papa John’s following its mixed earnings report, which included a steeper-than-expected drop in same-store sales domestically. KeyBanc went to $50 a share from $64. Piper also is at $50 now, down from $61.
10. Cooler and outdoor products maker Yeti reported a great quarter, resulting in price-target hikes from the likes of TD Cowen, KeyBanc, Canaccord and Citi. The company is defying the knockoff and seeing impressive expansion in its international business, which grew more than 30% for the third straight quarter.
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