Analysts Stocks

      Daily Update - Jan 26, 2023

      Selected highlights of the day

      By: Matthew Otto

      ServiceNow

      Kicked off their quarter with a bang – posting revenue of over $1.94 billion, representing a 20% (25.5% adjusted for currency) year-over-year increase and exceeding expectations on both the subscription side ($1.86B/27%, respectively) as well as across earnings per share results. The company also closed out strong by hitting its projected growth target in terms of current remaining performance obligations – up 22%, or 25.5% accounting for currency fluctuations to hit nearly $7 billion at the end of Q3.

      ServiceNow is expecting a quarter of growth: subscription revenue will be between 22 and 25.5% higher than expected, totaling $1.99 to 2 billion! For the year 2023 they predict even more promising results – subscription revenues upwards of $8‍.8 billions with operating margins reaching 26%. CEO McDermott attributes this success to digital transformation initiatives that allow customers “to do more with less.”

      • Rob Owens of Piper Sandler raised his target price from $500 to $525 while maintaining an Overweight rating.
      • David Hynes of Canaccord Genuity bumped his price target up from $460 to $485 with a Buy recommendation.
      • Cowen & Co J Derrick Wood had an Outperform rating and moved his price target from $520 to $530.
      • Oppenheimer analyst Ray McDonough upped his price target from $450 to  $500 with an Outperform rating.
      • JP Morgan Mark Murphy upgraded his price target from $485 to $ 500.
      • Wells Fargo Michael Turrin set his price target from $550 to $575.
      • Barclays Raimo Lenschow lowered his stock forecast from $496 to $495.
      • BMO Capital Keith Bachmann had an Outperform rating.
      • Peter Weed of Bernstein lowered his price target from $641 to $586.

      PFE

      • UBS analyst Colin Bristow downgraded Pfizer’ stock from Buy to Neutral and lowered the price target by $8 to $47. His reasoning? A decrease in the Covid franchise estimates and an underdeveloped pipeline too early in its development stage.

      Tesla

      Reported fourth-quarter earnings that surpassed expectations with a record $3.9 billion in operating profit driven by sales of $24.3 billion and EPS of $1.19 — outpacing the expected numbers for both at around 1/$13 and 4/.2b respectively . Despite free cash flow coming up short from analysts’ predictions ($1.$4B vs 2/7B), Tesla is confident about continued success going into 2023 targeting to produce 1./8 million units – above analyst projections for 19m vehicles produced this year. Earlier this year, Tesla made a bold move that sent shockwaves through the automotive industry. Strikingly lowering its prices by up to 20%, it showed how it could leverage cost-efficiencies over other electric vehicle makers – potentially positioning itself as leader of the pack in global EV manufacturing.

      • Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives set his target price from $175 to $200 and maintaining his Outperform rating.
      • Cowen & Co.’s Jeffrey Osborne upgraded his stock forecast to $140 from $122 with a Market Perform.
      • Wells Fargo’s Colin Langan increased his price target from $130 up to $150 along with an Equal-Weight ranting.
      • Wolfe Research Rod Lache revised his to $185 from $160 and keeping his Outperform.
      • B of A Securities John Murphy upped his price target from $130 to $155 with a Neutral rating.
      • Citigroup Itay Michaeli adjusted his stock forecast upwards from $137 to $146.

       

      Seagate Technology

      Boasted strong financial results for their fiscal second quarter of 2023, reporting total revenue of $1.89 billion and a cash dividend to shareholders at the tune of $0.70 per share – representing an increase from last year’s pay-out. Not only did Seagate reduce debt by over 200 million dollars but they also reported positive free cash flow; generating 251 million in operating income and 172 million overall as well as issuing 206 million ordinary shares issued by its close.

      • Northland Capital Markets’ Gus Richard revised his target price from $70 up to $74 and reaffirmed an Outperform rating.
      • Cowen’s Krish Sankar updated his price target from $65 to  $72 while keeping an Outperform rating.
      • Wells Fargo’s Aaron Rakers increased his price target from $55 to $65 while maintaining Equal-Weight rating.
      • Credit Suisse Shannon Cross raised her stock forecast from $65 to $69 with holding a Neutral rating.
      • Barclays analyst Tom O’Malley improved his price target from $70 to $75 while reiterating an Overweight rating.
      • Rosenblatt Securities Kevin Cassidy achieving lifted his price target to $75 from $60.
      • UBS Analyst Timothy Arcuri raised his price target from $55 to $65 while maintaining its neutral rating.

       

      Las Vegas Sands

      Had a stellar fourth quarter as net revenue rose 11% to $1.12 billion, despite the losses attributable to the company increasing from $123 million in 2020 up to $169 million this time around. Chairman and CEO Robert Goldstein remains optimistic that travel restrictions will ease off in 2021, allowing for increased tourism spending – something which was reflected within their success at Marina Bay Sands resort & casino where mass gaming and retail revenues soared during the period.

      • Citi’s George Choi and Stifel’s Steven Wieczynski raising their price targets to $76 and $66 respectively.
      • CBRE John DeCree bumped his price target from $47 to a $68.
      • JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff upgraded his price target from $55 to $68 while maintaining an Overweight rating.
      • Credit Suisse’s Benjamin Chaiken upped his price target to $62 with an Outperform rating.
      • Wells Fargo analyst Daniel Politzer maintained a $65 price target and an Overweight rating.
      • Barclays’ Brandt Montour set a price target of $64 with an Overweight rating.
      • BofA Securities Shaun Kelly closed out at Neutral but raised his projection all the way up to $62.

      NDAQ

      • Oppenheimer’s Owen Lau revised his Nasdaq price target from $71 to $66 while maintaining an Outperform rating.
      • Jeffries Andrew Bond moved down from $84 to $82 .
      • Deutsche Bank analyst Brian Bedell lowered his stock forecast from $72 to $60 with a Hold rating.

       

      Lam Research

      Is experiencing a steep decline in chip demand that has led to the unfortunate decision to reduce their workforce by 7%, or 1,300 employees continuing the trend of cutting work force.

      • Goldman Sachs Toshiya Hari has a Buy rating and increased his target price from $434 to $495.
      • Wells Fargo’s Joseph Quatrochi maintained an Equal-Weight rating while increasing his target price from $410 to $470.
      • Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh kept a Buy rating with a price target increased to $525 up from $500.