Investing Club: What we're watching Wednesday — Linde's good sign, PayPal updates, social media headwinds

Published Wed, Mar 9 20228:45 AM ESTUpdated Wed, Mar 9 20229:08 AM EST

Jeff Marks, director of portfolio analysis for the Investing Club, is filling in for Jim Cramer on the newsletter this morning. What we're looking at March 9, 2022 Stock futures pointing strongly higher this morning as oil slides. PayPal (PYPL) downgraded at Bank of America to hold, calls this year a transition year and says ARPU (average revenue per user) story will be complicated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict ... direct revenue exposure to Russia and Ukraine is about 0.5%. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley reiterates its overweight rating and remains positive on the company's long-term growth, though they acknowledge patience is required. Susquehanna increased price targets on oilfield services companies across the board after hosting a mini-conference with 8 prominent OFS companies … they have not been this constructive about their outlooks in years, according to the analyst. Chevron (CVX) price target increased to $183 from $148 at Barclays. Linde (LIN) CEO Sanjiv Lamba bought roughly $1 million worth of stock Tuesday, according to an SEC filing. Great sign because the stock has been hit hard by rising nat gas prices in Europe. Dollar Tree (DLTR) upgraded to buy from hold at Piper Sandler. Emerson Electric (EMR) upgraded to buy from hold at Oppenheimer. Cowen trims estimates across digital advertising platforms — Alphabet (GOOGL), Meta Platforms (FB), Snap (SNAP), Twitter (TWTR) to account for Russia-Ukraine impact. Analyst says engagement will be higher but the offset is lower monetization. PepsiCo (PEP) price target lowered to $170 by Wells Fargo, says guidance looks too high. More brands join Russia Boycott : Pepsico, Coca-Cola (KO), McDonald's (MCD) and Starbucks (SBUX) said Tuesday they are suspending business in Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. XPO Logistics (XPO) breaking up again, this time separating its less-than-truckload and tech-enabled brokered transportation business …Value creator and XPO CEO Brad Jacobs continues to do great work for shareholders … Deutsche Bank says the move creates at least $13 per share of value Wedbush upgrades Netflix (NFLX) to hold from sell. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long CVX, GOOGL, FB, LIN, PYPL. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

A man points at a computer screen showing stock information.

Regis Duvignau | Reuters