Tuesday's analyst calls: Eli Lilly gets price target increase, Nvidia a top pick
[ad_1]
(This is CNBC Pro’s live coverage of Tuesday’s analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) A pharma giant and Nvidia were in focus among early analyst calls on Tuesday. Berenberg increased its price target on Eli Lilly on the back of expected strong sales of its weight loss drug, Zepbound. Elsewhere, Citi reiterated Nvidia as a top pick on the back of optimism around artificial intelligence gains. On a more sour note, Citi downgraded Sunoco to neutral from buy as a deal to acquire NuStar Energy still hasn’t closed. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 6:43 a.m.: Investors should pick up shares of Sunrun, according to Evercore ISI and BofA Evercore ISI reiterated its outperform rating on Sunrun and maintained its $43 price target, implying shares could gain a whopping 277% over the next year. “RUN remains committed on executing a disciplined, margin focused strategy in order to drive meaningful cash generation. The company has quickly pushed into its storage first strategy as storage installations in the fourth quarter increased,” analyst James West wrote in a Monday note, adding that Sunrun is also benefiting from the market trending in the direction of higher storage offerings. He expects the company’s storage installations will “grow substantially in the coming quarters.” Sunrun’s customer base is one underappreciated aspect of the company, West pointed out. The company, which ended last year with about 933,000 customers and 781,000 subscribers, could gain more value through additional products and services, he said. Bank of America also reiterated its buy rating on the residential solar stock in a Monday note. The firm kept its $21 price target, saying shares are “ready to inflect” with hardware cost deflation and investment tax credit boosting growth. The battered-down stock—which is down 42% so far this year—declined 1.1% in premarket trading Tuesday. — Pia Singh 6:17 a.m.: Citi continues to favor Nvidia, maintains optimism on semi stocks Nvidia is one of Citi Research’s top semiconductor picks as the artificial intelligence market continues to grow, analyst Christopher Danely said in a Tuesday note. Danely’s $820 price target on the buy-rated blockbuster chipmaker suggests 3.6% potential upside for shares since Monday’s close. Although consensus estimates for semiconductors fell 17% during earnings season, that “likely doesn’t matter,” Danely said. He noted that valuation remains one of the biggest risks for semi stocks, however. “While demand is mixed, we remain bullish on the group and expect overall semi revenue growth of at least 11% YoY in 2024 given units declined a whopping 19% in 2023, the biggest decline since 2001,” Danely wrote. The analyst mentioned that companies focused on semiconductor equipment should grow on positive capex revisions and HBM, or high-bandwidth memory chips. The DRAM market should also improve, he said. Citi also named Micron Technology its top semiconductors pick and reiterated its buy rating on the stock, expecting continued upside for shares. — Pia Singh 5:56 a.m.: Goldman Sachs stock is at an ‘attractive entry point,’ Edward Jones says Edward Jones initiated coverage of Goldman Sachs with a buy rating. “With a premier investment-banking franchise, we believe that GS is well-positioned to benefit from a more favorable environment for capital-markets activity, particularly for mergers & acquisitions and equity initial public offerings,” analyst James Shanahan wrote in a Monday note. “The current share price represents an attractive entry point for long-term investors.” The firm added that it expects lower earnings volatility as Goldman shifts its focus away from consumer finance, notably its Marcus and GreenSky lending platform, and towards its asset and wealth management divisions. Goldman’s shares are up roughly 7.2% over the past year and 1.1% in 2024. — Pia Singh 5:38 a.m.: Citi downgrades Sunoco as NuStar Energy acquisition remains incomplete Sunoco appears to be overvalued since its share price run-up, according to Citi. Analyst Apiro Dounls downgraded the gas station owner to neutral from buy but kept his $65 price target, which implies shares could gain 6.4% over the next 12 months. The firm had previously upgraded the stock to buy after Sunoco announced in January that it would acquire pipeline operator NuStar Energy. “We continue to expect both of those merits to be realized; however, SUN has largely closed the valuation gap since the deal announcement. Investors largely accepted the accretion and synergy merits,” Doubles wrote in a Tuesday note. With the deal not yet closed and little incremental data, we’re downgrading to Neutral and see risk-reward as more balanced following outperformance.” Sunoco shares have gained more than 32% over the past year, and 1.1% since the start of the new year. The stock now trades in line with diversified peers, the analyst said. “With the deal not yet closed, we don’t expect SUN to be able to demonstrate success here for the next several quarters,” Doubles said. — Pia Singh 5:38 a.m.: Berenberg hikes Eli Lilly price target Eli Lilly has been on a tear this year, and Berenberg expects even more gains from here. Analyst Kerry Holford reiterated his buy rating on the stock and raised his price target to $850 from $680. The new forecast implies upside of 10% from Monday’s close. Holford cited prescription trends around the company’s weight loss drug Zepbound for the target increase. “Early prescription trends for Zepbound in obesity are encouraging,” the analyst said. “Our discussions with obesity experts confirm that patient demand for drug therapy remains high and support an appreciation of Zepbound’s superior clinical profile. We forecast Zepbound to achieve almost USD5bn sales in its first full year on market.” Shares have rallied 32% year to date, and they’re up 143% over the past 12 months. LLY YTD mountain LLY year to date — Fred Imbert
[ad_2]
