It may be holiday season on Wall Street, but that doesn’t mean analysts aren’t out and about to ring in the end of the year!
Here are three comments that caught my attention before 6 a.m. ET.
Following a recent management meeting, veteran JP Morgan retail analyst Matt Boss upgraded his rating on Gap (GAP) to overweight (buy equivalent). The price target goes from $28 to $30.
“With the foundation now in place under CEO Richard Dickson to support a consistent playbook of improved merchandising and marketing across all four brands, we see Gap at an inflection point to support revenue growth in the low to mid single digits and increase annual operating margin. historic levels of profitability,” said Boss.
A recent conversation I had with Dickson helps shed light on Boss’ call. There’s more going on here than me shopping at Banana Republic Factory more. Additional insight into the analyst vibe at Gap via Yahoo Finance’s analyst recommendation tool.
Ahead of Lululemon’s (LULU) earnings on December 5, Citi analyst Paul Lejuez maintains a neutral (hold equivalent) rating on the stock. But it’s this call on Lejuez stock that caught my attention:
“Short-term interest rates are currently at 6% of the floating rate, above the level of 4% three months ago and the highest level of short-term interest rates in two years. Based on our conversations with investors, sentiment on Lululemon remains negative about the trajectory of Lululemon’s U.S. business. Although most expect a revenue/EPS gain in the third quarter (driven by stronger international sales) and no new EPS for 2024 this quarter. Most bearish investors believe it will be difficult for Lululemon to grow earnings per share through 2025.”
More about Lululemon’s short interest and other metrics from the Yahoo Finance platform.
Veteran technology analyst Mark Mahaney at EvercoreISI is raising his price target on Netflix (NFLX) from $775 per share to $950. Netflix stock is currently trading at $886.
Mahaney calls Netflix stock a “small buy” for him, reiterating an outperform rating.
“At a high level, our survey results and recent events (e.g. third quarter earnings per share and the enormous success of the Tyson-Paul fight) suggest that Netflix is in the strongest position financially, fundamentally and competitively we have ever seen ” says Mahaney. say.
“The overall leadership in streaming – in terms of both market share and content quality – is impressive. And the clearly positive churn intent and price sensitivity results in all three surveys this quarter are material positives for a subscription business. We also see four notable near-catalysts in the long term – NFL games on Christmas Day, the release of Squid Games II on 12/26, WWE Raw in January and upcoming price increases,” he added.
