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June 2017 |
Archives |
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Friday, June 30, 2017, 10:44 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: NVIDIA |
NVIDIA (NVDA, $145.37) shares continue to drift lower. Traders are keeping an eye on the June low of $142.11. The 50-day moving average is trending upward from $134.08.
The all-time high of $168.50 was reached on June 9. |
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Friday, June 30, 2017, 10:18 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
RBC Capital: Online Shoppers Like Amazon |
RBC Capital reiterates its Amazon (AMZN, $975) price target of $1,100 based on positive results of a survey of 2,000 U.S. online shoppers. Fully 93% of respondents selected Amazon as their favorite online shopping site. Users cited selection and convenience as two key reasons why they go with Amazon. |
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Thursday, June 29, 2017, 11:22 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: Shopify |
Shares of Shopify (SHOP, $84.56) this morning are off more than 5%, taking out the 50-day moving average of $88.08 to the downside. There is short-term support at $81.55 and $81.
The stock on June 9 hit an all-time high of $100.80. The 2016 closing price was $42.87. |
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Thursday, June 29, 2017, 10:53 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
OpCo Bullish on Monolithic Power |
OpCo thinks investors still underestimate the growth acceleration potential at Monolithic Power Systems (MPWR, $97.96) even though the stock is up sharply over the past few years.
The firm sees the potential for $1 billion in annual revenue during the next three to five years, calling out four pillars of growth for the chipmaker: high-end notebook, server, game consoles and auto. OpCo says each vertical represents $100 million in incremental revenue potential over the next three years.
For 2017, the consensus revenue estimate of $455.7 million represents growth of 17.3%.
In the June 2016 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector (TSP #172), we said Monolithic Power was an attractive M&A candidate thanks to the company’s high-margin power management business. At the time, the stock was trading at just under $69.
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Wednesday, June 28, 2017, 12:35 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Piper Jaffray Positive on Proofpoint |
Piper Jaffray remains upbeat on Proofpoint (PFPT, $87.19), saying the company remains a top pick in security. The firm believes Proofpoint is well positioned to capitalize on increasing breach activity. |
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Wednesday, June 28, 2017, 10:05 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
OpCo Bullish on Check Point |
OpCo is positive on Check Point Software (CHKP, $111.70) following a round of late-quarter partner checks that indicate the company is on track to at least meet consensus estimates. Customers continue to show strong interest in Check Point’s security solutions. The firm maintains its price target of $128. |
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Tuesday, June 27, 2017, 10:31 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Credit Suisse Remains Bullish on Nutanix |
Credit Suisse remains upbeat on Nutanix (NTNX, $19.39), saying its revenue estimates could be conservative, citing a strong market for cloud computing services and the company’s solid business model/effective sales mechanism. The firm reiterates its price target of $38.
While admitting that Nutanix operates in a “noisy competitive” environment for hyperconverged solutions, Credit Suisse says the company is a leader in the space.
“With a significant TAM of $32 billion, we believe Nutanix’s sustainable advantage remains in its software, which enables scalability and simplicity,” says Credit Suisse. |
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Tuesday, June 27, 2017, 10:19 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
SunTrust Sets Salesforce PT at $110 |
SunTrust starts Salesforce (CRM, $87.96) at ‘Buy’ with a price target of $110, calling the stock a core holding for large-cap investors. The company provides direct exposure to secular growth associated with cloud software.
The firm believes Salesforce can sustain 20%+ revenue growth thanks to an expansive product set, with management remaining disciplined in driving operating leverage.
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Monday, June 26, 2017, 10:12 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Morgan Stanley Downgrades GrubHub |
Morgan Stanley downgrades GrubHub (GRUB, $45.21) to ‘Equal Weight’ and lowers its price target to $43 from $47 based on emerging competitive threats in food delivery (from Amazon Restaurants, UberEATS and Yelp Eat24).
The firm is concerned that these newer competitors will eat into GrubHub’s longer-term profitability and cash flow.
Shares of GrubHub this morning are off more than 5% on the downgrade. On Friday, the stock hit a new 52-week high at $47.84. |
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Monday, June 26, 2017, 10:07 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Pacific Crest Lifts Ultimate PT to $255 |
Pacific Crest raises its Ultimate Software (ULTI, $223.50) price target to $255 from $240, saying the company’s UltiPro Learning product exceeds its expectations and could benefit from expanding demand for learning experience platforms. |
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Friday, June 23, 2017, 12:06 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: Nutanix |
Nutanix (NTNX, $19.32) shares last week bounced off of the 50-day moving average of $17.12 and are now approaching short-term resistance at $19.34, with additional resistance at $19.80 and $20.90. The RSI is rising from 62.4.
For more on Nutanix, see TechStock Radar—May 2 & May 22, 2017. |
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Friday, June 23, 2017, 10:19 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Piper Jaffray Ups EA Target to $128 |
Piper Jaffray raises its Electronic Arts (EA, $112.30) price target to $128 from $119 based on improving revenue visibility and potential continued margin expansion.
The firm believes EA’s fiscal 2018 (March) guidance (revenue of $5.1 billion) looks overly conservative.
In FY’17, EA’s digital net sales accounted for 61% of total net sales.
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Thursday, June 22, 2017, 10:35 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: Tableau |
After dipping to a low of $57.25 on June 12, Tableau Software (DATA, $65.48) shares have rebounded, pushing through short-term resistance at $64.89. The 52-week high stands at $66.86. |
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Thursday, June 22, 2017, 10:10 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Cleveland Research: Microsoft a 'Buy' |
Cleveland Research starts Microsoft (MSFT, $69.74) at ‘Buy’ with a price target of $80, citing potential consensus EPS upside of 4% to 5% from market share gains at Azure and Dynamics as well as improvements in the Office 365 mix. The firm looks for larger deal sizes in Microsoft’s cloud business to drive deferred revenue growth.
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Wednesday, June 21, 2017, 10:25 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
BofA/Merrill Downgrades Intel |
BofA/Merrill downgrades Intel (INTC, $34.26) to ‘Neutral’ and trims its price target to $38 from $42, saying increased competition (from AMD and NVIDIA) could limit the chipmaker’s ASP expansion, which has been a key source of growth. |
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Wednesday, June 21, 2017, 10:09 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: Zendesk |
After pushing above the 50-day moving average of $27.33 on Monday, Zendesk (ZEN, $28.16) shares, recovering from a dip to $24.49 on May 22, have taken out short-term resistance at $27.90. The May 4 high stands at $30.24. |
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Tuesday, June 20, 2017, 10:41 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: Twilio |
Twilio (TWLO, $28.47) shares have rebounded 25% from the May 8 low of $22.80 and retaken their 50-day moving average at $27.08.
The stock is now within the large gap on the price chart from early May, which extends up to $32.75.
The 200-day moving average is declining from $34.64. |
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Tuesday, June 20, 2017, 10:32 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Pacific Crest Upgrades Marvell |
Pacific Crest upgrades Marvell Technology (MRVL, $17.81) to ‘Overweight’ with a price target of $22, saying recent supply-chain checks were incrementally more positive.
The firm believes revenue growth over the next year will be driven in part by solid sales momentum into datacenter customers and pricing power on switches.
Marvell shares this morning hit a new 52-week high at $18.18.
For more on Marvell, see the June 2017 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector (TSP #184). |
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Monday, June 19, 2017, 10:18 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Morgan Stanley Ups Microsoft Target |
Morgan Stanley lifts its Microsoft (MSFT, $70.53) price target to $80 from $72, saying the company’s secular positioning is strengthening, with earnings growth poised to move higher.
The fiscal 2018 (June) consensus EPS estimate of $3.32 indicates growth of 9.5%, acceleration from this fiscal year’s expected growth rate of 8.6%. |
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Monday, June 19, 2017, 10:07 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Maxim Lifts Apple Target to $180 |
Maxim raises its Apple (AAPL, $145.66) price target to $180 from $171 based on an increased iPhone unit forecast. The firm’s recent survey indicates significant pent-up demand for the iPhone in China. |
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Friday, June 16, 2017, 10:52 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Amazon Buying Whole Foods |
In a bold move to take on grocery retailers at the physical store level, Amazon (AMZN, $996.60) this morning announces the $13.7-billion acquisition of Whole Foods Market (WF, $41.96) for $42 a share in cash.
Amazon will use its Whole Foods investment to blur the lines between online and offline food shopping.
Amazon stock this morning is up more than 3% on the news, while Whole Foods is advancing nearly 27%. |
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Friday, June 16, 2017, 10:27 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Cowen Bullish on Rapid7 |
Cowen thinks investors are not fully appreciating the growth rate at Rapid7 (RPD, $16.93), a provider of a cloud-based security analytics solutions. The firm reiterates its price target of $22.
Rapid7 has significantly enhanced its Insight data analytics platform, which is driving higher levels of new customer acquisition, better cross-selling activity and stronger lifetime customer value, says Cowen.
In Q1, Rapid7’s revenue rose 30% to $45.2 million.
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Thursday, June 15, 2017, 10:26 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Nomura Ups Amazon Target |
Nomura Instinet raises its Amazon (AMZN, $952.88) price target to $1,100 from $975 after assigning higher forward valuations to the company’s cloud and North American e-commerce business units. |
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Thursday, June 15, 2017, 10:20 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Canaccord Downgrades Alphabet |
Canaccord downgrades Alphabet (GOOGL, $944) to ‘Hold’ based on valuation. The firm maintains its price target of $1,000. |
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Thursday, June 15, 2017, 10:12 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Barclays Cautious on Next iPhone Cycle |
Barclays remains cautious about the upcoming Apple (AAPL, $143.51) iPhone cycle, saying unit growth might not be as strong as expected because of stagnation in the premium smartphone market (ASPs of $700+).
In the higher-growth midrange segment (ASPs of $300 to $699), Apple is losing share to rivals (especially in China), says the firm.
Barclays maintains its price target of $123. |
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Wednesday, June 14, 2017, 10:36 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: Apple |
While Apple (AAPL, $145.53) shares have rebounded a bit from Monday’s low of $142.51, they remain below the 50-day moving average, which is starting to flatten out at $148.38.
The 200-day moving average continues to trend upward from $126.81. |
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Wednesday, June 14, 2017, 10:27 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Goldman Boosts NVIDIA Target |
Goldman Sachs boosts its NVIDIA (NVDA, $150.95) price target to $171 from $165 to reflect an increase in revenue/EPS estimates. The firm now has a higher sales forecast for Nintendo’s new Switch gaming console, and raises assumptions for NVIDIA’s gross margin in the auto segment. |
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Tuesday, June 13, 2017, 10:32 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
OpCo Ups Check Point PT to $128 |
OpCo lifts its Check Point Software (CHKP, $110.57) price target to $128 from $117, calling the company’s model “unique and highly profitable.”
The firm believes solid momentum in the business (Q1 software blades subscription revenue rose 27%; deferred revenue was up 20% to $1.06 billion) can continue to expand valuation levels. |
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Tuesday, June 13, 2017, 10:25 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Goldman Sachs Downgrades Shopify |
Goldman Sachs downgrades Shopify (SHOP, $87.98) to ‘Neutral’ with a price target of $96. The firm says the risk/reward is balanced with the shares having more than doubled since its upgrade in early October.
Shopify stock hit an all-time high of $100.80 on June 5. |
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Monday, June 12, 2017, 11:16 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
A New Low for Snap |
Snap (SNAP, $18.08) shares this morning fell to a new post-IPO low of $17.56.
The post-IPO high of $29.44 was reached on March 3, the stock's second trading session after the offering. |
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Friday, June 9, 2017, 10:22 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
BofA/Merrill Hikes NVIDIA PT to $185 |
BofA/Merrill raises its NVIDIA (NVDA, $164.32) price target to $185 from $155 based on strong growth potential in the gaming and datacenter segments.
The firm calls out rapidly increasing interest/momentum in eSports leagues, healthy demand for new gaming products as well as strong pricing for the company’s GeForce gaming card.
BofA/Merrill also says NVIDIA shares are under-owned by large investors, citing 17% ownership by large-cap active U.S. managers, vs. 25% to 39% ownership for large-cap semiconductor companies in general. |
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Friday, June 9, 2017, 10:11 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Cloudera Shares Stumble |
Shares of Cloudera (CLDR, $20.20), provider of an enterprise data management platform, this morning are down 12% after the company’s fiscal Q1 (April) billings growth came in below expectations. Earlier, the stock traded to a low of $19.20.
However, revenue rose 41% to $79.6 million, beating the consensus estimate of $75.8 million. Subscription revenue of $64.7 million advanced 59%.
For FQ2, Cloudera sees revenue of $85 million to $88 million (growth of 32% to 33%), vs. the consensus of $83.8 million. |
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Thursday, June 8, 2017, 10:22 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Snap Slips |
After rallying off of the post-Q1 earnings low of $17.59 from May 11, Snap (SNAP, $18.48) shares are again getting hit by sellers. The RSI is falling from 36.7.
The latest rebound peaked on May 25 at $21.94, above the 50-day moving average of $21.09. |
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Thursday, June 8, 2017, 10:12 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
UBS Lifts NVIDIA PT to $168 |
UBS raises its NVIDIA (NVDA, $152.46) price target to $168 from $148, saying it has increased confidence in GPU sales into the auto sector.
In the latest quarter, NVIDIA’s auto-related revenue rose 24% to $140 million.
The firm raises its estimates to reflect higher penetration in electric cars, and sees a TAM of $8 billion for autonomous vehicles. |
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Wednesday, June 7, 2017, 10:11 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Susquehanna Bullish on Imperva |
Susquehanna starts Imperva (IMPV, $51.10) at ‘Positive’ with a price target of $60, saying the company’s recurring subscription revenue far outpaces traditional product revenue and leads to increased visibility & predictability.
The firm views Imperva as a best-of-breed vendor in both the on-prem and cloud Web application firewall (WAF) markets, and expects Incapsula to be a key driver of growth going forward. |
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Tuesday, June 6, 2017, 10:16 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
JP Morgan Lowers Snap PT to $18 |
JP Morgan trims its Snap (SNAP, $20.35) price target to $18 from $20, citing reduced expectations for Q2 DAU growth (due to increased competition from Instagram) and Q3 revenue (tough comp going up against non-recurring Olympics & political revenue from the year-ago quarter).
The firm looks for Q2 DAU adds of 8 million, down from its previous forecast of +10 million.
For Q3, the firm now sees revenue of $266.4 million, well below its previous forecast of $331.6 million. The consensus is $285.8 million. |
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Tuesday, June 6, 2017, 10:14 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
BofA/Merrill Turns Positive on Yelp |
BofA/Merrill upgrades Yelp (YELP, $30.02 ) to ‘Buy’ with a price target of $37, saying consensus estimates can still be met despite the Q2 top-line guide down. The firm sees improved execution and quarterly net account adds.
The 2017 consensus revenue estimate of $855.8 million (guidance is $850 million to $865 million) indicates growth of 20%.
Yelp shares have rebounded a bit off of the May 10 low of $26.93. |
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Friday, June 2, 2017, 10:02 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: Zendesk |
After rebounding off of the May 22 low of $24.49, shares of Zendesk (ZEN, $27.22) have retaken the 200-day moving average of $26.42 and are now attempting to get above the 50-day moving average at $27.37. There’s short-term resistance at $27.55. |
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Friday, June 2, 2017, 9:34 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
BofA/Merrill Hikes Workday PT to $118 |
BofA/Merrill raises its Workday (WDAY, $100.88) price target to $118 from $114 following last night’s strong fiscal Q1 (April) results (revenue +38%), citing success with add-on modules and solid growth in subscription revenue. The firm believes guidance is conservative given the new enterprise sales organization in North America. |
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Thursday, June 1, 2017, 10:34 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Cowen Boosts Palo Alto Target |
Cowen lifts its Palo Alto Networks (PANW, $137.25) price target to $165 from $150, saying the company’s progress on the sales reorganization is encouraging. The firm points out that new customer acquisition in FQ3 of 2,000+ was the second strongest in company history. |
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Thursday, June 1, 2017, 10:23 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Palo Alto Networks Shares Surge 16% |
There’s a relief rally taking place today in shares of Palo Alto Networks (PANW, $138.42), powered by last night’s FQ3 results. Currently up 16%, the stock earlier traded to a high of $139.95. The 200-day moving at $134.81 has been taken out.
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