Analysts Stocks

      Daily Update - Jan 18, 2023

      Selected highlights of the day

      By: Matthew Otto

      Microsoft

      Announced that it would be restructuring its operations, leading to a reduction of 10,000 positions. Most notifications occurred immediately and the move represents less than 5 percent of Microsoft’s total employee base. CEO Satya Nadella assured employees in his blog post that while some roles are being eliminated, others will still remain open as they reinforce strategic areas within their company.

      OTLY

      • John Baumgartner at Mizuho upgrade  Oatly Group from Neutral to Buy with a$6 target price, a mark of an optimistic outlook on 2023 – especially given that in 2022 their market value dropped dramatically from $8 to 2$ without warning leaving all analysts covering the stock  unprepared for the slump.

      Erik Woodring of Morgan Stanley

      Revised his stock recommendations for two technology companies, shifting from Overweight to Equal-Weight on IBM while raising Seagate rating from Equal-Weight to Overweight. In addition, Woodring adjusted the price targets of both stocks by decreasing IBMs target by $4 to $148 and increasing Seagate’s by $15 to $69 respectively.

       

      PayPal Holdings

      Received a double dose of unfavorable news.

      • Jefferies analyst Trevor Williams downgraded their rating to Hold and lowered the price target from $90 to $85,
      • SMBC Nikko’s Andrew Bauch dropped his rating from Neutral to Underperform with a stock forecast of $75.

       

      Starbucks and DoorDash are expanding it into four states across the US:

      Northern California, Texas, Georgia and Florida. The decision builds off of compliments that came with previous expansions in the Pacific Northwest as well as New York City—not to mention a pilot program launched in Atlanta, Houston and Sacramento proved worthwhile.

      • JP Morgan analyst John Ivankoe kept Starbucks with an Overweight while raising target price up from $100 to $114.
      • Morgan Stanley analyst John Glass maintained  Starbucks with a Equal-Weight and raised his price target from $96 to $100.

      Yesterday Jim Cramer recommended the stock so maybe investors should wait just a little bit before buying shares on this one.

      MCD

      John Glass and John Ivankoe of Morgan Stanley have covered McDonald’s stock successfully as it soared over the past decade, from $36 to nearly $250 per share.

      • Both Glass and Ivankoe maintained an Overweight rating with revised price targets at $305 (from $285) and $262 (from $250) respectively.

      mRNA-1345

      Moderna made an announcement yesterday as their experimental messenger RNA-based vaccine, known as mRNA-1345 showed promising results. The topline data revealed that the vaccine was 83.7% effective for adults aged 60 and above in preventing milder cases of RSV, with 82.4% effectiveness against more severe disease reported as well.

      • Chardan Capital’s Geulah Livshits kept her rating at Neutral while raising her stock forecast from $191 to $208. ,
      • SVB Leerink analyst Mani Foroohar maintained Moderna wit a Market Perform rating accompanied by an increased price target from $102 up to $111.