Thursday's analyst calls: Snowflake downgrade, Jefferies sees mining stock surging more than 45%

Published Thu, Feb 29 20245:54 AM ESTUpdated Thu, Feb 29 20248:59 AM EST

(This is CNBC Pro's live coverage of Thursday's analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) A cloud stock and two gold miners were in focus Thursday among early analyst calls. Morgan Stanley downgraded Snowflake following the company's earnings announcement. Elsewhere, Jefferies upgraded Barrick Gold and Newmont Mining to buy from hold, calling for major gains ahead for both miners. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 8:21 a.m.: Bank of America double upgrades Okta, sees 55% upside ahead Bank of America double upgraded Okta Thursday to buy from underperform, a day after the identity management company reported a top and bottom line beat for the fourth quarter. The bank also boosted its price target to $135 from $64, suggesting nearly 55% upside from Wednesday's close. Okta's first-quarter and full-year guidance also exceeded expectations. However, the guidance calls for 10% revenue growth, compared to the 22% in 2024, because of ongoing macro pressure and possible continuing impacts from the data breach the company reported in November, analyst Madeline Brooks wrote in a note to clients. Yet, the breach didn't have a negative impact on Okta's pipeline or close rates and the pipeline is stronger heading into 2025, she noted. "While prior concerns around new customer growth, saturation among the existing customer base, and ongoing execution issues kept us at Underperform, we believe these headwinds have lessened and view FY25 guidance as overly conservative, which could drive upwards estimate revisions throughout the year and warrant positive rerating of the stock, prompting our upgrade," she said. Shares of Okta popped 24% in premarket trading. — Michelle Fox 7:44 a.m.: Deutsche Bank upgrades Korean e-commerce stock Coupang to buy Positive momentum is building up for Coupang , according to Deutsche Bank. Analyst Peter Milliken upgraded shares of the South Korean e-commerce company to a buy rating from hold. He accompanied this move with a price target lift to $21 from $18.50, implying that shares could rise 12% from here. Coupang stock has already added 12.7% this year. As one catalyst for the rating change, Milliken cited the firm's performance acceleration — which Coupang could sustain going forward. "Users have been attracted by the 10% discount on Eats, by Coupang Play being Korea's most downloaded app in both 2022 and 2023, and by the stimulation to product commerce and membership that has followed. Every cohort group grew at 15%+," he wrote. "Such momentum will be hard to maintain, given that Coupang reaches fairly deeply into Korea now, but management expects growth to hold at around 20% this year, and margins should keep improving with its scale." Additionally, the company has taken measures to step up its profitability in product commerce and gain traction in new business areas, the analyst added. He underscored Coupang's strong net revenue growth and online retail sales as additional positives. — Lisa Kailai Han 7:38 a.m.: This misunderstood virtual healthcare stock can rally more than 45%, Cantor Fitzgerald says Investors aren't correctly evaluating Teladoc , according to Cantor Fitzgerald. Analyst Sarah James initiated coverage of the telehealth stock at an overweight rating with a $22 price target. James' target implies shares can rally 45.8% over the next year from Wednesday's closing price. "We believe the current valuation does not fully appreciate Teladoc's transition to an EBITDA growth story with peer-high FCFY," she wrote to clients. Teladoc climbed almost 1% in premarket trading following the upgrade. James said Teladoc is becoming a margin-expansion story rather than a top-line growth story. However, she said the valuation of 7.3 times its 2025 enterprise value-to-EBITDA ratio doesn't carry the premium typically seen among service companies with relatively strong cash flow and earnings quality. The stock trades at an approximately 49% discount in virtual healthcare when looking at the same ratio across the sector, James added. The analyst also called a recent sell-off "overdone" and said shares are now even more attractive. Indeed, Teladoc shares have dropped nearly 30% since 2024 began. TDOC YTD mountain TDOC year to date — Alex Harring 7:23 a.m.: Barclays raises price target on General Electric Barclays thinks investors are already benefiting from the forthcoming spinoff of energy segment Vernova, with the split being reflected in General Electric's current stock price. The bank reiterated an overweight rating on GE and raised its price target to $181 per share from $153. Barclays' forecast implies more than 16% upside moving forward from Wednesday's close. The company plans to split off its energy sector to trade as GE Vernova in the second-quarter of 2024. "We think Vernova is very under-valued by investors, in light of where peers such as Vestas are trading," analyst Julian Mitchell said. Aerospace, Renewable Energy, and Power Grid offer superior growth prospects in 2024." — Brian Evans 7:14 a.m.: Telsey Advisory Group downgrades Figs over looming demand headwinds Telsey Advisory Group is cautioning that Figs' fourth-quarter earnings beat was thanks to a lower costs throughout the period that won't persist moving forward. The firm downgraded the apparel stock to market perform from outperform and lowered its price target to $6 per share from $11. Telsey's forecast equates to less than 1% downside ahead from Wednesday's $6.03 close. "We continue to believe that FIGS can benefit from its DTC positioning as the largest platform in the healthcare space that can expand in under-penetrated markets as well as drive growth through its TEAM business," chief executive Dana Telsey said. "However, some execution issues in a challenging macro-operating environment have impacted growth." Figs stock has slipped more than 13% from the start of 2024. — Brian Evans 6:55 a.m.: TD Cowen downgrades Macy's TD Cowen said changes, including mass store closures and growth in its luxury segment, will take time to meaningfully contribute to the upside outlook for Macy's. The firm downgraded the department store stock to market perform from outperform on Thursday, and lowered its price target to $20 per share from $23. TD's forecast implies nearly 9% upside from Wednesday's $18.41 close. "We like changes ahead including 150 Macy's closures, store growth across luxury (+30 Bluemercury & +15 Bloomies) and small format (+30), and private label and inventory agility execution," analyst Oliver Chen. "However, material changes will take time, and several risks could limit near-term upside: flattish comp guidance despite a resilient consumer, credit card losses, and the need for younger customer relevance." Macy's unveiled these changes earlier this week, when it reported another quarter of declining sales . Year to date, the stock has pulled back more than 8%. — Brian Evans 6:38 a.m.: Bank of America raises C3.ai price target after fiscal third-quarter results, but says concerns remain Bank of America is noting concern over C3.ai's growth outlook following the company's fiscal third-quarter results. The firm reiterated an underperform rating on the artificial intelligence stock but raised its price target to $20 per share from $18. BofA's forecast implies more than 33% downside from Wednesday's $29.69 close. C3.ai surpassed Wall Street estimates on the top and bottom line in the third-quarter but issued disappointing full-year adjusted operating income and trimmed its revenue range. "[W]e do not believe the premium priced into shares is justified, even accounting for potential generative AI tailwinds," analyst Brad Sills said. Shares have ticked up more than 3% from the start of the year. In the premarket, they rose nearly 18%. AI 1D mountain AI surges — Brian Evans 6:22 a.m.: Morgan Stanley upgrades AutoNation Morgan Stanley thinks AutoNation may be able to successfully navigate a still complicated but improving overhang for the broader autos sector. The firm upgraded AutoNation to equal weight from underweight and raised its price target on the car retailer to $140 per share from $117. Morgan Stanley's forecast implies about 2% downside from Wednesday's $144.42 close. "We remain optimistic about the management of CEO Mike Manley and his ability to navigate the organization through macro uncertainty," analyst Adam Jonas said. "Following 4Q earnings, the new vehicle market continues to demonstrate resilience with new car pricing holding up higher for longer, even setting ASP (Average Selling Price) highs despite higher interest rates, recovering inventory and rising incentives," he added. AutoNation has slipped nearly 4% from the start of the year. AN YTD mountain AN in 2024 — Brian Evans 6:13 a.m.: Analysts are sticking by Salesforce stock after fourth-quarter earnings beat While Salesforce's revenue guidance came in lower than expected, analysts are largely standing by the cloud software company. Salesforce reported a beat on fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue. It also announced a dividend of 40 cents per share payable as of April 11. However, the company also said it sees single-digit revenue growth for fiscal 2025. The disappointing forward guidance is reflective of softness in its professional services segment as well as a weaker buying environment, according to financial chief Amy Weaver. Despite the mixed report, Goldman Sachs reiterated a buy rating on Salesforce stock a $345 per share price target, or about 15% upside moving forward. "We believe that Salesforce remains poised to be one of the most strategic application software companies in the $1tn+ TAM cloud industry and is on a path to $50bn in revenue," analyst Kash Rangan said. "The pandemic has transformed how companies initiate, build and harness customer relationships digitally, making for steady demand in core products." Bank of America also kept its buy rating on the stock and raised its price target to $360 from $350, equating to about 20% upside ahead. "We continue to believe that 30%+ FCF [free cash flow] growth is possible in each of the next 3 years, and that Salesforce is emerging as the next quality GARP [growth at a reasonable price] stock," Bank of America's Brad Sills said. UBS reiterated a neutral rating alongside its $310 per share price target on Salesforce, or more than 3% upside ahead. The firm struck a somewhat cautious tone toward Saleforce's weak forward guidance, but noted that "it's just a modest negative given Salesforce's explanation and (we believe) conservative outlook." — Brian Evans 5:54 a.m.: Morgan Stanley downgrades Snowflake following fourth quarter results Morgan Stanley thinks Snowflake's mixed fourth-quarter results coupled with the departure of chief executive Frank Slootman is ample reason to move to the sidelines. The bank downgraded the cloud stock to equal weight from overweight and lowered its price target to $175 per share from $230. Morgan Stanley's forecast equates to nearly 24% downside from Wednesday's close. Shares pulled back more than 22% in premarket trading on Thursday. SNOW 1D mountain SNOW drops Analyst Keith Weiss pointed out that revenue for the fourth quarter grew at a slightly slower-than-expected pace. He also noted that "A sharper than anticipated deceleration implied in the FY25 guide and CEO departure likely spikes investor concerns around competition and positioning for Generative AI." The company issued a lower-than-expected first-quarter product revenue forecast on Wednesday, estimating a range of $745 million to $750 million. Analysts polled by StreetAccount forecast $759 million. Product revenue growth of 33% year over year in the fourth-quarter was also below Wall Street estimates. — Brian Evans 5:54 a.m.: Jefferies upgrades mining stocks Newmont and Barrick Gold It's time to load up on shares of beaten-down gold miners Newmont and Barrick Gold , according to Jefferies. Analyst Matthew Murphy upgraded both stocks to buy from hold. He also raised his price targets on Newmont to $38 from $34, implying upside of 27.2%. His Barrick target of $21, up from $15, points to a 46% surge over the next 12 months. Murphy noted there's a disconnect between what Barrick has accomplished in the past five years and its stock price. In that time, shares are up 13%, while gold prices have soared 55%. In that time, he said the company's debt has fallen from about $4 billion to $600 million. Still, "Part of the challenge is the reliability of the portfolio is still not there. The one segment which has been more or less solid has been Africa (and Middle East, AME). The sooner the rest of the portfolio can run like Africa, the better," Murphy said. To be sure, he noted that the company "stands a good chance of reversing the upward pressure on unit costs with the help of its high quality asset portfolio. This will help reverse recent price weakness and restore value." As for Newmont, Jefferies thinks the acquisition of Newcrest, announced in November, can "create value" for shareholders. "We see asset disposals and cost improvements as likely to reverse share price weakness as the market recognizes the strength of the asset portfolio." Both stocks have struggled year to date, losing more than 20% each. Gold, meanwhile, is down just 1.5%. — Fred Imbert