Anika Begay
(This is Vscek Pro’s live coverage of Friday’s analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Refresh every 20-30 minutes to see the latest posts.) An outdoor container maker and a salad chain were among the stocks being talked about by analysts Friday. Bank of America upgraded Yeti Holdings to a buy. Meanwhile, Wall Street analysts reacted to Sweetgreen’s latest quarterly numbers, with Goldman Sachs forecasting a more than 50% upside. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times are ET. 5:49 a.m.: Nvidia can rally 25%, Mizuho says Mizuho raised its price target on Nvidia with earnings on the horizon. Chief Executive Officer Vijay Rakesh raised his target on the AI darling to $132 from $127.50, now implying a 25.8% upside from Thursday’s close. Rakesh maintained his outperform rating. Rakesh said the company’s earnings report on August 28 should be the next big catalyst for the stock and other AI-related names. He said Nvidia “continues to lead the charge” and is the “winner” in the AI graphics processing unit space. More specifically, he said the focus could shift from the B100 and B200 graphics processing units to the GB200 and NVL 36/72. Rakesh added that there could be a “strategic” shift to the air-cooled B200A/210A models, which he called a “win-win” when it comes to both performance and power. Rakesh’s call comes amid a recent rough patch for the stock after a monster rally. Nvidia has slipped 15% since the start of the third quarter, but the stock is still up a whopping 112% in 2024. NVDA YTD mountain NVDA year to date Shares added more than 2% before the bell on Friday. — Alex Harring 5:44 a.m.: Wall Street analysts react to Sweetgreen earnings Shares of Sweetgreen jumped more than 23% in premarket trading on Friday after beating revenue expectations. The salad chain reported $185 million in revenue in the second quarter, above the consensus estimate of $181 million from analysts polled by LSEG. Sweetgreen also said it expects between $670 million and $680 million for the full year at stake, a range that includes analysts’ forecast of $674 million. But Sweetgreen lost 13 cents a share, 3 cents more than analysts expected. For some on Wall Street, Friday’s premarket rally reflects the big upside they see ahead for the stock. Here’s what some analysts had to say after the report: Goldman Sachs’ Christine Cho (buy, $40 target, 52.4% upside): “We expect a solid 2Q [same-store sales growth] as a testament to the company’s successful TAM expansion through new market entry and product innovation (e.g., protein dishes and recently launched caramelized garlic steak) that we expect to support MSD SSSG, 15-20% unit growth and 30% restaurant-level earnings CAGR over the next three years.” JPMorgan’s Rahul Krotthapalli (overweight, $38 target price, 44.8% upside): “Sweetgreen’s 2Q24 results continue to inspire confidence in the momentum the brand has built since late last year, as the company repeated its beat-and-raise performance with stellar top-line performance (9% SSS vs. 5.5% JPMe), which translated into equally strong store margin (22.5% vs. 21.4% JPMe) and EBITDA performance ($12.4 million vs. 8.9 million million (JPMe). This reaffirms the position as the company steadily rebuilds its credibility after a challenging post-covid/post-IPO period.” UBS’s Dennis Geiger (Buy, $37 target price, 41% upside): “Q2 results showed strong SSS and traffic, solid margin expansion, and encouraging progress on Infinite Kitchen’s (IK) plans that support a compelling long-term growth outlook. We are particularly encouraged by the positive traffic as initiatives in menu innovation and marketing accelerated trends in Q2 despite industry pressures. … We believe leading store development and plans for kitchen automation, menu innovation and loyalty should support sss and EBITDA growth over the next several years and drive further upside for the stock.” — Alex Harring 5:44 a.m.: Bank of America Upgrades Yeti to Buy After a solid earnings report, investors should consider adding Yeti to their portfolios, according to Bank of America. Analyst Alexander Perry upgraded the outdoor products and containers maker to buy from neutral. His $55 price target, up from $46, implies a 27.5% upside. The rating change comes a day after Yeti reported second-quarter results that beat analysts’ expectations. Shares rose more than 16% on Thursday. “We raise our C24 EPS to $2.65 (from $2.60) and see potential 2H upside drivers including: (1) new deal NFL licensing for YETI hard coolers and tumblers; (2) support from AMZN Prime Day in Q3; & (3) strong new product support, including the Roadie 15, which is more affordable than other YETI hard coolers, and with YETI’s expansion into cookware with YETI pans coming this month,” Perry wrote. YTD, shares are down 16%. YETI YTD YETI Mountain in 2024 — Fred Imbert
