(This is CNBC Pro’s live coverage of Friday’s analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) An e-commerce giant and a snack maker were among the stocks being talked about by analysts. Evercore ISI raised its price target on Amazon to $240, implying more than 25% upside ahead. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley downgraded PepsiCo to equal weight. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 8:10 a.m.: Bank of America lifts price target on T-Mobile, cites ‘industry-leading growth’ Bank of America sees more upside in store for shares of T-Mobile on the heels of the cellular company’s capital markets day. “Appearances by Open AI CEO, Sam Altman, and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang highlighted important new AI partnerships,” wrote analyst David Barden. “Following the event, we remain confident TMUS will maintain industry-leading growth.” The firm lifted its target to $220 from $195 a share, citing its leading growth position in the sector. The adjusted target reflects 10% upside from Thursday’s close. Shares are up more than 24% year to date. “Gas in the tank for growth from network, service, and AI,” Barden said. — Samantha Subin 7:57 a.m.: Mizuho lowers price targets for Applied Materials and Lam Research Some key headwinds pertaining to wafer fab equipment (WFE) spending could hurt shares of Applied Materials and Lam Research , according to Mizuho. The investment firm cut the price targets of both names, with Applied Materials seeing a $20 decrease to $225 and Lam Research seeing a $100 decrease to $950. That still implies more than 14% upside for Applied Materials and around 19% upside for Lam Research from Thursday’s close. Analyst Vijay Rakesh cited sensitivity to WFE spending as a risk for the names. He believes challenges with Intel’s cuts to its capital expenditures as well as potential HBM/DDR5 restrictions in China could create a WFE headwind specifically. Alongside the target cuts, he maintained its outperform ratings for both. For Applied Materials, Rakesh still sees outperformance due to share gains in edge transitions. And for Lam Research, he cited outperformance due to share gains in etch for its foundry/logic segment. In 2024, shares of Applied Materials have jumped more than 21%, while Lam Research shares have been marginally higher at nearly 1%. — Sean Conlon 7:44 a.m.: Focus for Nio shifts from demand to execution, Morgan Stanley says The cost of Nio’s Onvo L60 was a “positive surprise,” according to Morgan Stanley. Now, the focus is on if the electric vehicle maker can execute. “NIO’s share price should react positively to the superior price-performance of L60,” analyst Tim Hsiao told clients. “However, with demand seemingly less of a doubt now, timely demand fulfillment would in turn become the key concern – likely a good problem to have.” Hsiao also pointed to the stock’s outperformance in September, which he said reflects improving expectations for order intake. Notably, the stock is up more than 33% month to date. “Thus, further meaningful re-rating would take quality execution in ramping up production and ensuring positive consumer experience amid the order jam, which is crucial to prove NIO is structurally on the rise,” he said. Hsiao has an overweight rating. His $6.10 price target implies shares, which have tumbled more 40% in 2024, can rise about 13% from Thursday’s close. — Alex Harring 7:39 a.m.: Evercore ISI upgrades Darden Restaurants to outperform after earnings Evercore ISI thinks Darden Restaurants can make a turnaround in its sales story. Analyst David Palmer upgraded Darden to outperform from in line and upped his price target by $40 to $205. That implies the restaurant operator’s shares could gain nearly 19%. This year, the stock is up about 4.9%. “Our upgrade is based on growing confidence on incremental sales drivers at Olive Garden (45% of sales) … We believe the company will continue to focus on profitable sales growth allowing EBITDA margin to improve over the next 12 months supported by benign commodity inflation and labor productivity,” Palmer said in a Friday note. The analyst added that Darden is “now going on the offensive” with more price point advertising, limited time officers and menu news starting in the second half of the year. The company also has opportunity with Uber Eats as a delivery option, he said, as Darden is piloting the service at Olive Garden this year with full rollout in early fiscal year 2026. Darden on Thursday reported weaker-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue, as the company’s sales weakened at Olive Garden and its other restaurants. — Pia Singh 7:31 a.m.: Citi sees 24% upside for Capital One Citi analyst Keith Horowitz initiated coverage of Capital One with a buy rating, saying in a note to clients that the firm’s proposal to combine with Discover could create upside for the stock. “Our bull case is the current valuation significantly discounts the longer term [return on tangible common equity] outlook and we believe it is possible that the catalyst to unlock this may be the Discover acquisition,” Horowitz said in a note to clients. Capital One’s internal technology is another positive for the stock, according to Citi. “There is little debate among the investment community that Capital One is a leader on technology; rather the debate for the stock is when do investors see a payoff from the high level of tech investment in the form of higher returns,” the note said. Horowitz set a price target of $190 per share for Capital One, which is 24% above where the stock closed Thursday. — Jesse Pound 7 a.m.: FedEx could slide more than 30% as ‘structural challenges’ are here to stay, Morgan Stanley says Morgan Stanley analyst Ravi Shanker downgraded FedEx to underweight from equal weight after the shipping company’s earnings came in below expectations. He also lowered his 12-month price target by $15 to $200, which now suggests shares can slide about 33.4%. The firm’s biggest concern is FedEx’s revenue: Shanker said he continues to see long-term, structural challenges in FedEx’s parcel business in terms of volume, price and mix from secular changes in e-commerce supply chains and competition. “We remain skeptical about dramatically raising pricing on customers who are already trading down or disintermediating parcel carriers from their commerce supply chains,” Shanker said in a note to clients. “In addition, the USPS contract will end September 29th which is likely to leave a large revenue (and operating leverage) hole next quarter (potentially up to $1 bn annual run rate in our estimate).” This year, FedEx shares are up more than 18.5%. — Pia Singh 6:33 a.m.: E-commerce stock MercadoLibre has more than 18% upside, according to Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is bullish on Argentine e-commerce firm MercadoLibre . The firm lifted its 12-month price target to $2,500 from $2,175, suggesting 18.5% upside from Thursday’s close. Shares are up more than 34% this year. “MELI is trading near historical highs, but we still see upside drivers — highlighting 4 across GMV, ads, credit, and Argentina,” analyst Andrew Ruben said. “A diversified base of profit drivers helps hedge against risk factors including international competition and macro volatility.” MELI YTD mountain MELI year to date Ruben reiterated his overweight rating but removed his ‘top pick’ designation on MercadoLibre’s stock. The company has greater revenue and earnings scale, and correspondingly lower multiples, he said in the Thursday note. According to the analyst, the company could see accelerated market share gains, particularly within the Brazilian digital commerce market. Mercado’s advertising revenue could also see growth as it develops an early-stage, off-platform advertising business, he said. — Pia Singh 6:09 a.m.: Morgan Stanley downgrades ASML, sees ‘balancing risk/reward’ for the semi stock Semiconductor manufacturing company ASML has new risks investors may not be able to overlook, according to Morgan Stanley. Analyst Lee Simpson downgraded the Netherlands-based company to equal weight from overweight. This year, ASML shares are up 9.4%, but the stock has slid 19% this quarter after its third-quarter outlook fell short of the consensus guidance. The Dutch government has also indicated it could expand export controls on ASML chipmaking equipment. “We see a balancing risk/reward as indicative of late cycle share price dynamics,” Simpson said in a Friday note. “The risks of a slowdown in expectations could be looming – it could be that investors may have to wrestle with weakness not just with DRAM but also with Intel (especially in foundry) and the growing concern that China semis capacity overspend will slow as we look to 2026.” To be sure, the analyst said his investment thesis supports that ASML’s “2025 recovery sees a sizeable jump in earnings year on year.” He anticipates growing order momentum and better tool utilization to drive the stock’s upside this year. — Pia Singh 5:49 a.m.: Evercore ISI hikes Amazon price target Evercore ISI is betting big on Amazon’s streaming service. Analyst Mark Mahaney reiterated his outperform rating and raised his price target from $225 to $240, which implies 26.4% upside. The stock is up nearly 25% year to date. Mahaney also said the e-commerce giant remains the firm’s leading large cap long pick. AMZN YTD mountain AMZN year to date “We focus on Amazon’s ramped up focus and opportunity with Prime Video,” Mahaney said in a note to clients. “Amazon has ramped up its content on Prime Video (e.g. more NFL games including a WildCard Playoff game, 66 regular season NBA games in ’25, and, especially, the 2024 PPA World Championships). And monetizing that content via advertising has become a higher priority.” According to Mahaney, Amazon Prime Video will generate between $3 billion and $5.9 billion in total sales next year, potentially driving an acceleration in Amazon’s total ad revenue growth next year. The analyst noted that Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said during the company’s second-quarter earnings call that its advertising revenue was at a $50 billion run rate, and that the company was “at the beginning of what’s possible in our video advertising.” — Pia Singh 5:49 a.m.: Morgan Stanley downgrades PepsiCo Don’t expect PepsiCo shares to make much headway going forward, according to Morgan Stanley. Analyst Dara Mohsenian downgraded the snacks and beverage giant to equal weight from overweight. His price target of $185 implies upside of just 6% from Thursday’s close. He cited “lingering [organic sales growth] risk and building EPS risk from US topline softness, driven by both muted category growth, as well as PEP market share losses, with little signs of a pickup post recent greater spending/promotion.” “We upgraded the stock to Overweight back in March at what we thought was a good entry point, expecting OSG would inflect in H2 as Pepsi cycled easier comparisons, Quaker recall issues dissipated, and PEP’s pricing power would reemerge on a relative basis vs HPC peers,” Mohsenian said. “However, that fundamental call was wrong.” PepsiCo shares are up just 2% in 2024, lagging the broader market. PEP YTD mountain PEP year to date — Fred Imbert
