Coming into Q3 the market feared a major cloud slowdown from MSFT due to slowing enterprise spending; however, the company posted 16% year-over-year cloud growth, assuaging these fears.  

Nobias Insights: 53% of recent articles published by credible authors focused on MSFT shares offer a “bullish” bias.  One of the two credible Wall Street analysts covering MSFT believes that shares are likely to rise in value. The average price target being applied to Microsoft by these credible analysts is $248.50, implying a downside of approximately 19.1% relative to the stock’s current share price of $307.26. 

Bullish Take: Dividend Sensei, a Nobias 4-star rated author, said, “Cloud computing is expected to grow 21% annually through 2028 to $222 billion.”

Bearish Take: Joe Toppe, a Nobias 4-star rated author, stated, “British regulators blocked Microsoft’s $69 billion purchase of video game maker Activision Blizzard on Wednesday, saying it would hurt competition in the cloud gaming market.”

During Q1, Lockheed continued to improve upon the supply chain headwinds that the company has experienced since the COVID-19 pandemic began.  The company posted low single digit sales growth and reaffirmed full-year guidance, which calls for flat top-line growth.  Management highlighted the company’s $145 billion sales backlog going forward.  

Nobias Insights: 65% of recent articles published by credible authors focused on LMT shares offer a “Bullish” bias.  3 out of the 6 credible Wall Street analysts who cover Lockheed Martin believe that shares are likely to rise in value. The average price target being applied to LMT by these credible analysts is $480.67 which is essentially in-line with the stock’s current share price of $482.55.  

Bullish Take: Harrison Miller, a Nobias 4-star rated author, said, “Shares are holding above their 50-day and 200-day moving averages and reclaimed their 10-day line Tuesday. The current buy zone for the pattern extends to 524.”

Bearish Take: Nobias 4-star rated analyst, Noah Poponak, said, ”The U.S. defense budget has grown significantly to an all-time high level, and with a large level of cumulative government debt, focus on slowing spending growth or reducing it outright could return in 2023.”

During Q1 Netflix saw its top-line growth slow and its margins compress.  The company continues to work on its password sharing crackdown, which has the potential to drive paying subscriber growth over the long-term.  During Q1, Netflix’s paid membership hit a record his of 235.5 million.  

Nobias Insights: 47% of recent articles published by credible authors focused on NFLX shares offer a “Bullish” bias.  3 out of the 5 credible Wall Street analysts who cover Netflix believe that shares are likely to rise in value. The average price target being applied to NFLX by these credible analysts is $348.00, which implies upside potential of approximately 6.1% relative to the stock’s current share price of $$327.98.

Bullish Take: Royston Yang, a Nobias 4-star rated author, said, “Paid memberships continued to rise to a new record of 232.5 million, up 4.9% year on year, adding another 1.75 million members to Netflix’s database,”

Bearish Take: Nobias 5-star rated author, David Trainer, stated, “As we noted in our report Netflix: A Meme Stock Original, NFLX has historically moved more on narrative and sentiment than fundamentals. We think it's time investors wake up to the company's fundamentals and value it accordingly.” 

Tesla’s margins fell during Q1 on the heels of recent price cuts.  While it’s true that this company continues to produce margins that are much higher than its legacy automotive peers; analysts fear that rising competition across the electronic vehicle space is going to cause ongoing bottom-line struggles for Tesla. 

Nobias Insights: 92% of recent articles published by credible authors focused on TSLA shares offer a “Bearish” bias.  2 out of the 4 credible Wall Street analysts who cover TSLA believe that shares are likely to rise in value. The average price target being applied to Tesla by these credible analysts is $175.50, which implies upside potential of approximately 6.3% relative to the stock’s current share price of $165.08.

Bullish Take: Kit Norton, a Nobias 4-star rated author, said, “Wood's Ark Invest also predicted Thursday night Tesla will reach a $2,000 per share price in 2027. Wood's firm sees Tesla's autonomous "robotaxi business" as a "key driver" for this estimated valuation.” 

Bearish Take: Nobias 5-star rated author, David Trainer, stated, “Tesla faces an increasingly uphill battle to secure its competitive position, which makes its current valuation look even more unrealistic.”

In early April, reports broke that Boeing had plans to increase 737 Max production up to levels that were well above what investors saw prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and the 737 Max crashes in Asia and Africa.  This bolstered the bullish sentiment surrounding shares.  But Friday, shares sold off by 5.56% with near-term growth in jeopardy. 

Nobias Insights: 48% of recent articles published by credible authors focused on Boeing shares offer a “neutral” bias.  However, 3 out of the 4 credible Wall Street analysts who cover Boeing believe shares are likely to rise in value. The average price target being applied to BA shares by these credible analysts is $236.25, which implies upside potential of approximately 17.1% relative to the stock’s current share price of $201.71.  

Bullish Take: Noah Poponak, a Nobias 4-star rated analyst, stated, “Goldman Sachs raised the firm's price target on Boeing to $270 from $261 and keeps a Conviction Buy rating on the shares after the company reported its total delivery numbers for Q1.”

Bearish Take: Nobias 4-star author, Rob Williams stated, “Boeing on Thursday declined 4.2% in after-hours trading after the plane maker warned that deliveries of its best-selling 737 Max jet might be delayed because of issues with a part supplied by Spirit AeroSystems.”  

Jassy’s focus on profits provided peace of mind to investors who are worried about poor macroeconomic conditions.  Jassy’s 2022 compensation was also highlighted, which came in much lower than previous years, and much lower than other big-tech CEOs, which highlighted AMZN’s determination to cut costs.  

Nobias Insights: 52% of recent articles published by credible authors focused on AMZN shares offer a “neutral” bias.  However, 6 out of the 6 credible Wall Street analysts who cover Amazon believe shares are likely to rise in value. The average price target being applied to AMZN shares by these credible analysts is $148.17, which implies upside potential of approximately 44.5% relative to the stock’s current share price of $102.54.

Bullish Take: Nobias 4-star rated analyst, Mark Mahaney, stated, “The Amazon long thesis is "very much intact," with Amazon having a leading position in online retail, cloud computing and online advertising”. 

Bearish Take: Harsh Chauhan, a Nobias 4-star rated author, stated, “Amazon had a forgettable 2022 thanks to a tepid e-commerce market and a slowdown in the cloud computing business, which eventually led the tech giant to slash jobs from lucrative areas of its business.”

JPMorgan appears to have performed well throughout the banking crisis period.  The company’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, recently said that the crisis isn’t over and will have long-term ramifications for banks; however, the company continues to show financial strength as its deposits and net interest income continue to climb.

Nobias Insights: 59% of recent articles published by credible authors focused on JPM shares offer a “Bullish” bias.  4 out of the 6 credible Wall Street analysts who cover JPM believe that shares are likely to rise in value. The average price target being applied to JPMorgan by these credible analysts is $148.00, which implies upside potential of approximately 6.7% relative to the stock’s current share price of $138.73.

Bullish Take: Harrison Miller, a Nobias 4-star rated author, said, “Deposits were slightly higher at the end of the quarter compared to the end of 2022, up 2% to $2.37 trillion, as depositors poured into the well-capitalized giant,”

Bearish Take: Rob Starks Jr., a Nobias 4-star rated author,stated, “Although JPMorgan Chase is by far the largest bank in the U.S., even it wasn't immune from the fallout that resulted from last month's collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, the second- and third-largest bank failures in U.S. history, respectively.”

Charles Schwab carries a significant amount of unrealized losses on its balance sheet, which has damaged the sentiment surrounding its shares.  Investors worry that SCHW shares will follow a similar path to the two regional banks that have failed recently; however, this week several credible authors/analysts pointed out that SCHW’s liquidity is much higher and the comparison to regional banks is not a fair apples-to-apples situation.  

Nobias Insights: 63% of recent articles published by credible authors focused on SCHW shares offer a “Bullish” bias.  1 out of the 1 credible Wall Street analysts who cover Schwab believe shares are likely to fall in value. The price target being applied to SCHW shares by this credible analyst is $65.00, which implies upside potential of approximately 31.7% relative to the stock’s current share price of $49.35

Bullish Take: Dividend Sensei, a Nobias 4-star rated author, stated, “Anyone who tells you, Schwab, is the next Lehman is either ignorant of the facts, a fool (who knows the facts but ignores them), or trying to sell you something (possibly all three).”

Bearish Take: Growth at a Good Price, a Nobias 4-star rated author, stated, “Recently, OPEC decided to cut output, which caused oil futures to spike 5% in a single day. This naturally got investors worried about more rate hikes, which in Schwab's case would be troubling, as it is sitting on a massive amount of unrealized securities losses.”

Historically, WWE has been one of the biggest winners in the media/entertainment industry posting nearly 1000% gains during the last decade.  However, several of its major shows are facing media rights negotiations in 2024 and therefore, its management team was looking to sell, in an attempt to broaden its scope, and potentially enhance its value before entering into those negotiations with major media distributors.  

Nobias Insights: 56% of recent articles published by credible authors focused on WWE shares offer a “bullish” bias.  One of the three credible Wall Street analysts who cover World Wrestling Entertainment believes shares are likely to fall in value. The average price target applied to WWE shares by credible analysts is $69.00, implying a downside potential of 31% relative to the stock’s current share price $100.38.  .  

Bullish Take: Andrew Kessel, a Nobias 5-star rated author, “The company claims there are synergies in the range of $50 million to $100 million, primarily through back-office consolidation.”

Bearish Take: Margaret Moran, a Nobias 4-star rated author, stated, “We will have to wait and see what changes the combined company plans to make before it is safe to speculate on how said changes could drive growth.”

This week, JNJ announced an $8.9 billion settlement offer in an attempt to resolve thousands of lawsuits.  Wall Street analysts noted that this figure was less than expected.  

Nobias Insights: 62% of recent articles published by credible authors focused on JNJ shares offer a “Bullish” bias.  Three out of six credible Wall Street analysts covering Johnson & Johnson  believe shares are likely to fall in value. The average price target applied to JNJ shares by these credible analysts is $190.40, implying upside potential of 15.3% relative to the stock’s current share price of $165.15.  

Bullish Take: Wells Fargo analyst Larry Biegelsen, who carries a Nobias 4-star rating, published a report this week which stated, “The firm left the call "confident" that the updated plan is "reasonable" and should ultimately allow for the situation to be resolved.”

Bearish Take: Hunting Alpha, a Nobias 4-star rated author, stated, “JNJ has been subject to over 40,000 lawsuits over its talcum baby powder product over the last decade. According to Neal Katyal, the legal liabilities are estimated to be as much as $61 billion, which would eat up more than the last 3 years of the company's free cash flows.”

BABA’s famous founder, Jack Ma, was sighted in mainland China for the first time in a year this week as well.  Ma left China amidst regulatory crackdowns on private tech companies and his return is being viewed as a bullish signal for private business in the near-term.  

Nobias Insights: 55% of recent articles published by credible authors focused on BABA shares offer a “bullish” bias.  The credible Wall Street analyst who covers Alibaba believes shares are likely to fall in value. The average price target being applied to BABA by this credible analyst is $155.00, which implies upside potential of approximately 51.7% relative to the stock’s current share price of $102.18.   

Bullish Take: Huileng Tan, a Nobias 4-star rated author, said, “Alibaba's massive restructuring plan announced Tuesday is boosting hopes that China's crackdown on the tech sector is finally ending — and this sent shares of the e-commerce giant surging,”

Bearish Take: Josh Horwitz, a Nobias 4-star rated analyst, said, “The restructuring is among the biggest corporate moves by a major Chinese tech company in recent years, as the industry cowered under tighter regulatory oversight, causing deals to dry up and dampening risk appetite among businesses.”

Despite beating Wall Street’s expectations and posting full-year guidance which was in-line with previous expectations set by the company, 3 credible Wall Street analysts that Nobias tracks lowered their price targets for WBA shares.  

Nobias Insights: 44% of recent articles published by credible authors focused on WBA shares offer a “Bearish” bias.  2 out of the 4 credible Wall Street analysts who cover Walgreens believe shares are likely to fall in value. The average price target being applied to WBA by these credible analysts is $42.00, which implies upside potential of approximately 21.5% relative to the stock’s current share price of $34.58.  

Bullish Take: Marianne Wilson, a Nobias 4-star rated author, said, “Walgreens Boots reported second-quarter earnings and sales that beat estimates even amid a sharp volume decline in COVID vaccines and testing, and sales of COVID tests.”

Bearish Take: Spencer Kimbal, a Nobias 4-star rated author, said, “California will not renew a $54 million contract with Walgreens over the drugstore chain’s decision not to sell the abortion pill mifepristone in some states due to legal restrictions.”

Lululemon posted strong demand figures, highlighting double digit sales growth amongst key demographics, including its high margin direct-to-consumer segment.  Also, according to Placer.ai, LULU saw a 23.2% increase in year-over-year foot traffic during January, setting the stage for a strong 2023 in the face of inflationary headwinds.  

Nobias Insights: 75% of recent articles published by credible authors focused on LULU shares offer a “Bullish” bias.  4 out of the 5 credible Wall Street analysts who cover LULU believe shares are likely to fall in value. The average price target being applied to Lululemon by these credible analysts is $430.00, which implies upside potential of approximately 18.1% relative to the stock’s current share price of $364.19.

Bullish Take: Salman Ahmad, a Nobias 5-star rated author, said, “As stubbornly high prices for essential goods are forcing customers to cut down on discretionary purchases such as apparel, wealthy shoppers continue to spend on Lululemon’s tops, yoga pants, and shorts, bolstering both their online and in-store traffic both as a result of stubbornly high prices.”

Bearish Take: Julia Waldow, a Nobias 4-star rated author, highlighted the company’s Q4 inventory levels, stating, “Lululemon had $1.4 billion in product, a 50% increase from the same time a year ago.”

Accenture beat Wall Street's estimates during Q2, but lowered its full-year sales growth guidance.  However, the company announced that it was cutting 19,000 jobs, representing approximately 2.5% of its workforce, which has the potential to bolster profits.  Also, ACN announced its newest acquisition this week; a small artificial intelligence firm which expands the company’s growth pipeline.  

Nobias Insights: 61% of recent articles published by credible authors focused on Accenture shares offer a “Bullish” bias.  1 out of the 2 credible Wall Street analysts who cover ACN believe shares are likely to rise in value. The average price target being applied to Accenture by these credible analysts is $287.00, which implies upside potential of approximately 5.5% relative to the stock’s current share price of $272.00.  

Bullish Take: Shivandi Shinde, a Nobias 4-star rated author, said, “Flutura [ACN’s Q2 acquisition] will strengthen Accenture’s industrial AI services to increase the performance of industrial plants, refineries, and supply chains while also enabling clients to accomplish their net zero goals faster.”

Bearish Take: Reinhardt Krause, a Nobias 5-star rated author, said, “Accenture lowered its fiscal 2023 revenue growth outlook to a range of 8% to 10% in local currency, compared with 8% to 11% previously.”

GameStop posted a surprise profit during Q4, inspiring a short-squeeze rally late in the week.  As of the market close on Friday, 21.3% of GME’s float was made up on short interest and therefore, we saw an analyst predict that the short-squeeze rally may not be over.  

Nobias Insights: 70% of recent articles published by credible authors focused on GameStop shares offer a “Bearish” bias.  0 out of the 2 credible Wall Street analysts who cover GME believe shares are likely to rise in value. The average price target being applied to GameStop by these credible analysts is $15.65, which implies downside potential of approximately 34.7% relative to the stock’s current share price of $23.98.  

Bullish Take: Dan Berthiaume, a Nobias 4-star rated author, said, “GameStop Corp. posted its first quarterly profit in two years even as its sales slipped.”

Bearish Take: Bernard Zambonin, a Nobias 4-star rated author, said, “Long-time bear Michael Pachter of Wedbush wrote before the earnings announcement that he expected "long-term headwinds [to] include potential liquidity challenges and changing gamer preferences, with greater appetites for cloud, digital mobile, and subscription."’

Nike posted strong regional sales, with direct-to-consumer and wholesale initiatives working.  The company continued to work through its post-pandemic inventories during the quarter, which weighted on margins.  But, management is bullish moving forward, raising full-year sales guidance during the Q3 report.  

Nobias Insights: 70% of recent articles published by credible authors focused on Nike shares offer a “Bullish” bias.  4 out of the 6 credible Wall Street analysts who cover NKE believe shares are likely to rise in value. The average price target being applied to Nike by these credible analysts is $129.50, which implies upside potential of approximately 3.1% relative to the stock’s current share price of $125.61.  

Bullish Take: Shoshy Ciment, a Nobias 4-star rated author, said, “​​The athletic giant reported Q3 revenues of $12.4 billion, up 14% from the same time last year and ahead of expectations from analysts surveyed by Yahoo.”
Bearish Take: Ananya Mariam Rajesh, a Nobias 4-star rated author,said, “Nike's shares fell 2% in extended trading on Tuesday after the company said it expects 2023 gross margin to decline about 250 basis points, at the low end of its previous forecast range.”

Not only did Adobe beat Q1 consensus estimates, but the company posted bullish guidance for its current quarter and raised its full-year 2023 guidance above Wall Street’s consensus.  

Nobias Insights: 58% of recent articles published by credible authors focused on Adobe shares offer a “Bullish” bias.  However, after the stock’s nearly 10% rally this week, all three credible Wall Street analysts who cover ADBE believe shares are likely to fall in value. The average price target being applied to Adobe by these credible analysts is $352.00, which implies downside potential of approximately 1.7% relative to the stock’s current share price of $358.14.

Bullish Take: Patrick Seitz, a Nobias 4-star rated author, said, “For its fiscal 2023, Adobe projected adjusted earnings per share of $15.30 to $15.60. The midpoint of $15.45 topped Wall Street's goal of $15.29. Adobe's previous earnings outlook called for $15.15 to $15.45 a share.””

Bearish Take: Vladimir Dimitrov, a Nobias 4-star rated author, said, “Adobe was late in its efforts to develop cloud-based collaboration platforms and had to play catch-up in many of its verticals.”

First Republic is known for having a high net worth clientele, which has caused fears of a bank run (since FDIC insurance only covers the first $250,000.00 of deposits).  FRC has received $70 billion in funding this week from rival firms to help support its liquidity.  Yet, its shares fell by 32.80% on Friday as fears about its survival remained.  

Nobias Insights: 63% of recent articles published by credible authors focused on First Republic Bank shares offer a “Bullish” bias.  One credible Wall Street analyst covering FRC believes shares are likely to rise in value. The average price target being applied to FRC by this credible analyst is $131.00, which implies upside potential of approximately 470% relative to the stock’s current share price of $22.97%.  

Bullish Take: Bill Carcache of Wolfe Research, a 4-star Nobias rated analyst, said, “Wolfe Research analyst Bill Carcache lowered the firm's price target on First Republic to $131 from $133 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. 

Bearish Take: Harrison Miller, a Nobias 4-star rated author,  said, “S&P lowered FRC stock to a speculative-grade BB+ from its previous A- rating. Fitch gave First Republic a BB grade, down from A-, and put the bank on negative rating watch.”  

In an attempt to generate growth, Pfizer announced a $43 billion acquisition this week.  The company is attempting to buy Seagen, which is a powerhouse in the oncology industry.  Also, Pfizer recently received approval for its RSV vaccine, which has the potential to generate an estimated $10 billion in annual sales.  

Nobias Insights: 57 of recent articles published by credible authors focused on Pfizer shares offer a “Bullish” bias. Only two out of six credible Wall Street analysts who cover PFE believe shares are likely to rise in value. However, the average price target being applied to Pfizer by these credible analysts is $49.84, which implies upside potential of approximately 23.4% relative to the stock’s current share price of $40.37.

Bullish Take: Spencer Kimball, a Nobias 4-star rated author, said, “The Food and Drug Administration’s independent advisors on Tuesday recommended what would be the world’s first RSV vaccine, a shot from Pfizer for adults ages 60 and older, despite safety concerns after two trial participants developed a rare neurological disorder.”

Bearish Take: Ned Pagliarulo, a Nobias 4-star rated author,said, “Pfizer is under pressure to make up for declining revenue from its COVID vaccine and antiviral treatment, sales of which are forecast to drop significantly this year and stay lower in the future.”

JD.com beat Q4 estimates; however, the company provided full-year 2023 growth guidance which disappointed investors. The company’s sales growth trajectory has slowed from the 20% mark to the mid-single digits.  But, management did initiate a shareholder dividend for 2023, which could appease investors looking for more shareholder returns.  

Nobias Insights: 53% of recent articles published by credible authors focused on JD.com shares offer a “Neutral” bias.  There are zero credible Nobias analysts who track JD.com shares.  However 6 out of the last 6 articles published by credible authors have expressed “Bullish” sentiment towards shares throughout its recent sell-off.  

Bullish Take: Cavenagh Research, a Nobias 5-star rated author, said, “While I acknowledge investors' disappointment that JD's short-term outlook may be more challenging than anticipated, I maintain a positive outlook on the e-commerce giant's long-term potential. And reflecting on a competitive business model, paired with a cheap valuation, I reiterate a "Buy" recommendation.”

Bearish Take: Vidhi Choudhary, a Nobias 4-star rated author, said, “Consumer spending in the country has slowed after years of stringent restrictions meant to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic. While most of these restrictions lifted in December, that hasn’t yet translated to shoppers spending a lot more money. In turn, China reported just 3% economic growth in 2022 — one of the lowest numbers reported in decades.”