By Davit Kirakosyan
Following Meta Platforms Inc's (NASDAQ:META) announced Q4 revenue beat, stricter cost controls this year, and a $40 billion share buyback, Wall Street analysts are sounding a more positive tone on the stock, with price targets being lifted and BofA Securities, Piper Sandler and Rosenblatt Securities upgrading the company's shares.
BofA upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and raised its price target to $200 from $160, noting that a big change in positioning can drive multiple expansions.
Piper Sandler upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral and raised its price target to $215.00 from $136.00.
Meanwhile, at Rosenblatt Securities, the stock was lifted to Buy from Neutral, with the firm's price target raised to $220 from $104.
Shares surged more than 28% intra-day today.
FedEx (NYSE:FDX) shares gained over 7% intra-day today after Citi and BofA upgraded the stock to Buy on the company’s job cut announcement.
Citi upgraded the company to Buy from Neutral and raised its price target to $240.00 from $190.00. At the core of the upgrade is the belief that FedEx is showing increasing signs of cost control following the problematic year of 2022.
BofA Securities upgraded the shares to Buy from Neutral and raised its price target to $233.00 from $204.00, estimating that the company’s actions could yield almost $60M in savings, helping it to potentially save $500M as part of its FY23-24 plan. All in all, the firm expects a $0.40 tailwind to quarterly EPS from yesterday’s actions.
Yesterday, the company announced that it plans to slash 10% of its top management jobs due to the "rapidly changing environment."
CFRA upgraded Estee Lauder (NYSE:EL) to Buy from Hold and raised its price target to $300.00 from $213.00.
Shares plunged more than 5% intra-day today after the beauty products maker said 2023 profit would fall further than it expected, citing volatility in travel retail.
While the company reported Q2 EPS of $1.54 on revenue of $4.62B came in better than the consensus of $1.29 on revenue of $4.58B, it expects Q3 net sales to decline 12-14%.
The company slashed its full-year outlook for EPS to $4.25-4.44 from the prior $5.01-5.21, significantly below the $5.12 consensus. Net sales are expected to drop 5-7%, better than the prior forecast for a decline of 6-8%.
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