Analysts Stocks

      Daily Update - February 1, 2023

      Selected highlights of the day

      By: Matthew Otto

      NXP Semiconductors

      Forecasted a strong first-quarter performance, with earnings anticipated to land between $2.82 and $3.22 per share on revenue of roughly $2.9 – 3.1 billion USD; exceeding analysts’ expectations by quite the margin! The company is heavily reliant upon its auto industry clientele for income (over 50%) which certainly paid off during last quarter’s spectacular 17% rise in automotive chip sales compared to Q4.

       

      • Stifel’s Tore Svanberg lifted his outlook from $160 to $168 while keeping the rating at Hold.
      • Susquehanna analyst Christopher Rolland increased the target to $170 yet retained Neutral rating.
      • Cowen’s Matthew Ramsay set an Outperform rating and new price target of $210.
      • Chris Caso over at Credit Suisse shifted his stock forecast by to $205 from $195 with staying in his Neutral recommendation.
      • Truist Securities’ William Stein upgraded to 210$ from $209 with a Buy rating.
      • BMO Capital Ambrish Srivastava set a $180 price target and a Market Perform rating.
      • Needham Rajvindra Gill kept a $235 price target and a Buy rating
      • Citigroup’s Christopher Danely adjusted into a $180 price target.

       

      UPS

      Has set itself up for long-term growth with a dividend raise and buyback program. However, CEO Carol Tomé suggested that the outlook into 2023 isn’t as optimistic – projecting only modest gains in terms of revenue ($97 to $99 billion) and operating margin (12.8 – 13.6%), lower than its current year’s results.

      • Oppenheimer’s Scott Schneeberger increased his target from $196 to $199 with an Outperform rating.
      • BMO Capital analyst Fadi Chamoun bumped the stock forecast up to $185.
      • Credit Suisse’s Ariel Rosa retained an Outperform rating and a $206 price target.
      • Raymond James Patrick Brown lowered his price target from $210 to $207 while maintaining a strong buy rating.
      • Keybanc Todd Fowler maintaining Overweight while upping his stock forecast from $200 to $215.

       

      Taysha Gene Therapies

      Provided an update on their TSHA-120 program, which is aimed towards treating Giant Axonal Neuropathy – a rare disease. After meeting with the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA), additional clarity has been gained for this treatment plan; pinpointing MFM32 as the primary endpoint in order to support their application of Biologics License Application (BLA) submission. With new management teams implemented by Taysha, operations and business reviews are now underway providing positive strides into 2023 timelines where they hope to dose initial patients suffering from Rett Syndrome later next year.

      • Canaccord Genuity analyst Whitney Ijem has a Buy rating while lowering his price target from $17 down to $13.
      • Chardan Capital’s Geulah Livshits dropped herown price target from $16 to $6 while keeping up a Buy rating.
      • Truist Securities analyst Joon Lee lowered his prediction from $15 to $4 in addition to maintaining his buy rating
      • Cantor Fitzgerald’s Kristen Kluska stuck to her Overweight rating but similarly adjusted the prices targets downwards from $24 to $13 .
      • Jefferies’ Eun Yang lowered his stock forecast from $14 to $1.50 along with reduced rating from Sell to Hold.

      PFE

      Dr. Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, announced the company’s plan to distribute its COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty commercially across America in late 2023 for a significantly increased price compared to previous agreements with the government. Anticipating usage beyond April 1st in mainland China where Paxlovid is currently covered by healthcare insurance plans, he revealed that no revenue from this specific region has been factored into their forecast but expressed optimism regarding potential introduction on private markets within the country going forward.

      •  Terence Flynn of Morgan Stanley cutting his price target from $53 to $45 and maintaining an Equal-Weight rating.
      • Louise Chen at Cantor Fitzgerald boosted her outlook  to an Overweight and a price target from $75.
      • Trung Huynh of Credit Suisse maintained Outperform rating and a price target of $50.
      • BMO Capital’s Evan David Seigerman stuck with Outperform and a $53.
      • Barclays’ Carter Gould held steady on an Equal-Weight ranking lowered his stock forecast from $49 to $44.
      • Atlantic Equities Steve Chesney stayed with a Neutral rating and lowered his rating from $50 to $46.
      • SVB Leerink’s Dave Risinger remained at Market Perform and lowered his price target from $49 to $48.

       

      Electronic Arts

      Revealed lower-than-expected bookings of $2.34 billion in the December quarter – lagging behind Wall Street’s consensus of $2.48 billion, per FactSet data. For their current fiscal outlook, EA set an adjusted revenue forecast between $1.68 and 1$.78 billion – substantially below analyst expectations at its midpoint range ($2.$23billion). In a call with Barron’s media outlet, CFO Chris Suh pinpointed six weeks delay on Star Wars Jedi Survivor as main perpetrator for diminished growth; additionally underscoring softer demand from “more challenging” market environment for games like Apex Legends content alongside other new releases.

      • Wells Fargo Brian Fitzgerald lowered his price target from $150 to $120 with an Equal-Weight rating.
      • Cowen & Co Doug Creutz reduced his price target from$158 to $136  while keeping an Outperform.
      • Barclays Mario Lu dropped his price target from$143 to $132 with staying at EqualWeight rating.
      • Wedbush Securities Nick McKay cut his target to $139 from $164 while maintaining an outperform rating.
      • Baird’s Colin Sebastian reduced his to $125 but still maintained an Outperform rating.
      • Raymond James analyst Andrew Marok revised his estimate of EA stock from $150 to $135 with an Outperform rating.
      • Credit Suisse Stephen Ju adjusted his stock forecast downward from $154 to $132 while retaining its Overweight rating.
      • Keybanc’s Tyler Parker kept an overweight and a $138 price target after dropping from 155.

       

      Stryker

      Reports that fourth quarter 2022 experiences success, with reported net sales increasing by 10.7% to $5.2 billion and organic net sales rising 13.2%. Operating income margin hit 15.6%, while adjusted operating income margin contracted 70 bps to 26.6%, pushing down reported EPS 15% to $1..47 but boosting adjusted EPS up over 10% at a healthy rate of 3$.00 – providing an exciting prelude for the company’s 2023 outlook.

      • Morgan Stanley’s Drew Ranieri assigned an Equal-Weight rating with the target raised to $280 from $260.
      • Wells Fargo analyst Larry Biegelsenlifted his price target $285 with an Outperform rating.
      • Baird analyst Jeff Johnson upgraded his ratings to Outperform while increasing the prices targets to $287.
      • Loop Capital’s Jason Wittes set a $290 price target and a Buy rating.
      • RBC Capital’s Shagun Singh kept his recommendation of Outperforming\
      • BTIG’s Ryan Zimmerman rated a Buy
      • Truist Securities Richard Newitter set a Hold ranking and heightened his forecasts from $258 to to $275.