Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during afternoon trading on April 2, 2024 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
The news wasn’t too good for Bank of America, with UBS worried about an “interest rate trap” that could hit one of the big four US banks.
Other analysts saw upside for Coinbase and Metaplatform as social networks expand their advertising market share.
Check out the latest calls and chats below. Always Eastern Time.
Adam Jonas, head of U.S. auto insurance at Morgan Stanley, said Tesla’s weaker-than-expected first-quarter deliveries will likely bottom out in the second quarter, but this is due to the electric vehicle sector. This is a sign that headwinds continue.
The analyst reiterated his overweight rating on Tesla stock, but slightly lowered his price target from $320 to $310 per share. Jonas’ forecast suggests an increase of more than 84% from Wednesday’s closing price of $168.38.
Tesla stock fell more than 32% in 2024.
“Negative developments in the global EV market are of great significance to Tesla, and it is natural that they will have a negative impact on the stock price in the short term,” Jonas wrote. “But at the same time, we believe investors should not ignore the continued development of Tesla’s other businesses, many of which are automotive-related (i.e. recurring revenue opportunities from Tesla’s fleet of vehicles – our company (incorporated into Tesla Network Services’ valuation)” is an area not included in the $310 target. ”
Regarding future Tesla vehicle deliveries, Jonas said, “We think the numbers will bottom out by the second quarter results, well before the model cycle picks up significantly.” Tesla stock rose less than 1% premarket.
— Brian Evans
According to Oppenheimer, the continued adoption of digital assets and blockchain technology will allow Coinbase to remain a major beneficiary in the crypto space in the long term.
The company reiterated its buy rating on the cryptocurrency exchange stock and raised its price target from $200 to $276 per share. Mr. Oppenheimer’s forecast represents an increase of about 10% from Wednesday’s closing price of $251.58.
Coinbase stock price rose over 44% in 2024.
Analyst Owen Lau said: “We see COIN as an enabler of crypto innovation that solves pain points in the existing financial system and one of the few remaining exchanges in the space.” said.
“As a leader in the crypto economy, we believe COIN is well positioned to benefit from the mass adoption of digital assets,” he added.
Coinbase stock rose nearly 1% in premarket trading.
— Brian Evans
Jeffries said if Metaplatforms’ advertising revenue growth is strong, the company could surpass Amazon’s advertising business for the first time in nine years.
The firm reiterated its Buy rating on Meta stock and raised its price target to $585 per share from $550 on Thursday. Jefferies’ forecast suggests an increase of more than 15% from Wednesday’s closing price of $506.74. Meta stock soared more than 43% in 2024.
“Revised guidance for Q1 2024 calls for even greater outperformance, with Meta capturing 50% of industry incremental ad spend (33% in 2023),” said analyst Brent Till. We believe we can do this, and this will be the highest in the company’s history.” He said. “In fact, we currently estimate that Meta’s advertising business could outstrip Amazon’s advertising business by 2024 for the first time since 2015.”
The analyst also praised the company’s suite of generative artificial intelligence products, which he said will be a key driver in capturing more ad spend.
“Just to be clear, Meta last revealed in 2021 that there were 10 million advertisers on the platform, compared to over 200 million companies. “It means there is still ample path to turn free companies into advertisers,” he said.
Meta shares rose 1.4% in premarket trading.
— Brian Evans
See chart…
Meta stock rise
After bringing in industry experts and former Amazon employees, Jeffries believes investors have “a lot to look forward to” in the company’s pipeline.
The company on Thursday reiterated its buy rating on the e-commerce stock and raised its price target to $225 per share from $190. Jefferies expects shares to rise more than 23% from Wednesday’s closing price of $182.41.
“Global AWS [Amazon Web Services] “Advertising opportunities are driving overall revenue growth, with corresponding margin increases across the business,” said analyst Brent Till.
“Our investments in AWS, content and fulfillment will support our expansion into new products, services and geographies with significant potential,” he added.
Tis warned that Amazon needs to expand its artificial intelligence offerings to remain competitive in the space as “multicloud adoption continues.”
Amazon’s stock price rose more than 20% in 2024.
—Brian Evans
UBS believes Bank of America is headed for an “interest rate trap” that will limit the upside for the stock.
The firm lowered its rating on the bank’s stock from “buy” to “neutral,” but slightly raised its price target to $40 per share from $39. UBS’s forecast suggests an increase of nearly 7% from Wednesday’s closing price of $37.44.
Analyst Erica Najarian defines an “interest rate trap” as a double-edged sword: central bank interest rate cuts or long-term interest rate rise scenarios. If the Fed does indeed cut rates, “asset-sensitive BAC would see a downward revision to EPS.” [earnings per share]” and have a negative impact on market multiples.
Najarian said that if interest rates remain high for an extended period of time, investors could become concerned about BofA’s held-to-maturity portfolio, which could reduce its price multiple.
“We have adjusted our forecasts upward to reflect three rate cuts in 2024 and four rate cuts in 2025 (previously 6 and 2) and have increased the PT by $1 to $40, resulting in a BAC’s upside during the period turned out to be limited,” Najarian said. .
“To be clear, there is a lot of positive momentum for the company, including strong deposit growth, a reawakening of the investment banking and markets business, and expectations for share buybacks to accelerate, particularly in the second half of 2024,” the analyst said. There is,” he added.
Bank of America stock rose more than 11% in 2024.
— Brian Evans
