Analysts Stocks

      Daily Update - Jan 25, 2023

      Selected highlights of the day

      By: Matthew Otto

      Microsoft

      Microsoft saw a 2% increase in revenue to reach $52.7 billion and adjusted earnings per share (EPS) exceeded consensus estimates by 3 cents, reaching $2.32 EPS. This success was consistent across all categories, particularly in gross margin which remained impressive at 66.8%. Additionally, Microsoft’s bottom line profit was boosted further through GAAP reporting, with an extra 12 cents per share contributed from their plan to reduce the workforce by 10,000 jobs, resulting in associated severance costs of $1.2 billion over the period alone.

      Microsoft also bought back $4.6 billion worth of stock and experienced a 7% increase in commercial bookings. The Intelligent Cloud segment was particularly successful, with revenue exceeding expectations by 18% and reaching the upper end of their guidance range, or an impressive 24% when adjusted for currency. Azure also exceeded expectations, experiencing 31% growth, or 38% when adjusted for currency, while total Microsoft Cloud revenues totaled $27.1 billion after adjusting to 29%.

      Looking ahead, Microsoft’s projected revenue has been estimated to fall within a range of $50.5 billion and $51.5 billion, which is significantly below analyst expectations of $52.4 billion.

       

      TXN

      On January 24, 2023 Texas Instruments exceeded analyst expectations by reporting earnings per share of $2.13 and revenue at  $4.67 billion for the December quarter– both beating Wall Street’s consensus estimates. While the company declined to specify items in an 11-cent benefit which contributed to their success, they did offer forecasts that ranged from $4.17-$4.53 billion; with a midpoint below analysts’ projections of 441 Billion for this coming quarter.

      • UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri is maintaining Texas Instruments with a Neutral rating and raising his price target from $165 to $190.
      • Cody Acree from Benchmark has issued a Buy rating and tweaked the price target from $189 to $203.
      • Tristan Gerra of Baird issued a Neutral rating while adjusting his price target from $160 to $180.
      • Mizuho’s Vijay Rakesh is keeping his rating on Texas Instruments at a Neutral along with an increase in the price target from $159 to $165.
      • Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore has an Underweight with raising his stock forecast from $152 to $166.
      • Cowen & Co’s Joshua Buchalter set a Market Perform coupled with a raise in his price target $160 to $175.
      • BMO Capital’s Ambrish Srivastava has maintained his Outperform rating and raised theprice target from $195 to $215.
      • Susquehanna’s Christopher Rolland has kept his Positive rating and increased the price objective from $195 to $205.

      AMZN

      • UBS analyst Lloyd Walmsley has also given Amazon.com a vote of confidence with a “Buy” rating, while slighting reducing the price target from $121 to $118.

      MRNA

      • Cowen’s analyst Tyler Van Buren has maintained Moderna with a Market Perform rating and increased his price target from $130 to $150.

      TSLA

      •  Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas keeps an Overweight rating as he lowers his price target from $250 to $220 .
      • JP Morgan’s Ryan Brinkman – winner of AnaChart’s 2022 Big Short Awards – maintains a Underweight position and reduces his forecast from 125 to 120. Data further shows that cars made after 2020 have seen prices declining by 23% since June this year with average costs now at around 58K dollars. Investors will be awaiting earnings results set for release Wednesday evening.

      Intuitive Surgical

      Reported its fourth-quarter results yesterday. While the company’s earnings slightly fell below Wall Street expectations and they placed fewer devices during the quarter than in 2021; revenue rose 7%. Additionally, procedures using their flagship Da Vinci system increased an impressive 18%, though COVID disruption had a negative impact on procedure volumes in China region specifically.

      • Mizuho analyst Anthony Petrone maintained a Neutral rating and lowered his price target to $240 from $245.
      • Citigroup analyst Joanne Wuensch maintained her Buy rating on Intuitive Surgical but dropped the price target from $318 to $305.
      • BTIG analyst Ryan Zimmerman also kept his Buy rating while decreased his price target to $316 from $279.
      • Morgan Stanley’s Cecilia Furlong provided an Equal-Weight recommendation and declined her price target to $265 from $290.
      • Truist Securities’ Richard Newitter retained a Buy rating yet lowered his stock forecast to $300 from $310.
      • Wells Fargo’s Larry Biegelsen despite maintaining an Overweight rating adjusted his new price objective from $305 to $289.