Monday's analyst calls: Wall Street reacts to Boeing 737 Max 9 grounding, Morgan Stanley likes home improvement stocks
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(This is CNBC Pro’s live coverage of Monday’s analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) Analysts on Monday were buzzing about Boeing on Monday. Many on the Street reacted to U.S. regulators grounding more than 170 Boeing 737 Max 9 jets after a section of of the plane blew out during an Alaska Airlines flights. Boeing shares fell sharply in the premarket on the news. On a more positive note Morgan Stanley raised its price target on home improvement giants Home Depot and Lowe’s. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. 5:54 a.m. ET: Here’s what analysts are saying after Boeing’s 737 Max 9 grounding Analysts on Wall Street reacted to Boeing’s most recent 737 Max 9 issue in which section of of the plane blew out during an Alaska Airlines flight and led to the grounding of more than 170 planes, with some seeing more headwinds ahead for the embattled airplane maker. “What the temporary grounding of certain 737 MAX 9 aircraft highlights to us is that ramping-up production of the Boeing 737 MAX amidst a mounting list of quality issues may be more challenging than what the market expects,” Morgan Stanley analyst Kristine Liwag said. The firm is equal-weighted on Boeing stock with a $255 price target, which implies about 2.4% upside. “Balancing quality vs. quantity has been difficult for Boeing and will likely continue to be difficult,” Liwag added. Goldman Sachs is sticking with a buy rating on Boeing stock alongside a $280 per share price target, or about 12% upside moving forward, although analyst Noah Poponak noted potential issues stemming from a slowdown in production. “Any quality control issues introduce risk to the production and delivery cadence; but there is also a scenario where this is isolated and has limited impact beyond the near-term,” Poponak said. On the other hand, Barclays on Sunday viewed the event and the ensuing move by the Federal Aviation Administration to ground a tranche of 737 Max 9’s as “quite immaterial at this stage,” while analyst Julian Mitchell said production and delivery wasn’t guaranteed to be afflicted. Barclays”Assuming the window / door issue affects only the MAX 9 variant, the FAA directive only affects 171 aircraft worldwide,” Mitchell said. “There are around 215 MAX 9s in service globally. If the 8-200 version is also affected, then this comprises another 137 aircraft in service globally.” Citi analyst Jason Gursky also maintained a buy rating and a price target of $315, implying upside of 26.5%. “This likely limits BA’s financial exposure to an immaterial amount in the context of longer-term targets. Further, we do not expect this issue to impact other variants of the 737, as the -9 is the only one supporting a configuration that allows for a plugged door,” he said. “The stock is likely pressured on Monday given the uncertainty of the root cause, but we remain Buy-rated on the long-term outlook for [free cash flow].” Boeing shares were down 8.5% in the premarket. BA 1D mountain BA falls — Brian Evans 5:54 a.m. ET: Morgan Stanley hikes Home Depot and Lowe’s price targets Morgan Stanley sees a rebound in the home improvement industry this year and thinks Home Depot and Lowe’s will capitalize from it. The bank raised its price target on Home Depot to $375 from $335. It also lifted its Lowe’s forecast to $240 from $230. The revised targets imply upside of 9.3% for Home Depot and 13% for Lowe’s. “We expect Home Improvement industry growth to be tempered over the next two years but to also outperform consensus estimates for further declines in ’24,” analyst Simeon Gutman wrote. “We believe that 2024 will mark the return to more typical market dynamics. … This gives us confidence that our Trend Demand model should return to its typical prediction accuracy in ’24 and beyond.” Home Depot and Lowe’s rose 9.7% and 11.7%, respectively, in 2023, lagging the S & P 500. — Fred Imbert
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