(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 outdoor container maker and a salad chain were among the stocks being talked about by analysts on Friday. Bank of America upgraded Yeti Holdings to a buy. Meanwhile, Wall Street analysts reacted to Sweetgreen’s latest quarterly figures, with Goldman Sachs calling for more than 50% upside. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 6:36 a.m.: Analysts applaud Eli Lilly earnings Morgan Stanley named Eli Lilly a top pick after the pharmaceutical giant’s strong earnings report. In addition to the best-idea distinction, analyst Terence Flynn upped his price target to $1,106 from $1,083 and reiterated his overweight rating. Flynn’s new target reflects upside potential of 30.8% from Thursday’s close. Eli Lilly far exceeded expectations for the second quarter and significantly raised its full-year revenue outlook. This performance is tied in part to growing sales of diabetes drug Mounjaro and weight-loss injection Zepbound. Shares rose 9.5% on Thursday following the report. “We believe LLY offers the most attractive opportunity in our coverage for upside to consensus estimates, despite the stock’s outperformance,” Flynn said. “LLY continues to have the strongest growth profile within our coverage universe.” Meanwhile, Bank of America analyst Alexandria Hammond reiterated her buy rating while hiking her price target by $150 to $1,150. That now implies the stock can rally about 36%. Hammond pointed to the success of the two drugs and said more broadly that Eli Lilly’s competitive moats around diabetes and weight loss remain wide. Shares rose more than 1% in Friday premarket trading following the calls. Eli Lilly stock has surged 45% in 2024. â Alex Harring 6:17 a.m.: Morgan Stanley says this biopharmaceutical stock can soar more than 80% Morgan Stanley turned bullish on Third Harmonic Bio and sees major upside following its earnings report. Analyst Michael Ulz upgraded the biopharmaceutical stock to overweight from equal weight and raised his price target by $8 to $20. Ulz’s new target suggests shares can surge 84.2% over the next year from Thursday’s close. With the Thursday earnings report, Ulz focused on the positive update for THB355, Third Harmonic’s oral WT-KIT inhibitor. Ulz raised his probability of success for the product to 28% from 23%. In fact, the moves come “given rapid progress of THB355 and increasing visibility to key de-risking data early next year,” he said. “Our PT increase is driven by an increase in our probably of success for THB355 in CSU.” He said data for the first phase of trials are now expected in the first quarter of 2025, more specific than prior expectations of sometime in the first half. The analyst also pointed to a recent drawdown in shares as offering a good time to buy in. Shares have fallen more than 16% in the third quarter, leaving the stock down 1% on the year. â Alex Harring 5:49 a.m.: Nvidia can rally 25%, Mizuho says Mizuho upped its price target on Nvidia with earnings on the horizon. Managing Director Vijay Rakesh hiked his target on the artificial intelligence darling to $132 from $127.50, now implying a 25.8% upside from Thursday’s close. Rakesh kept his outperform rating. Rakesh said the company’s Aug, 28 earnings report should be the next major catalyst for the stock and other AI-related names. He said Nvidia “continues to lead the charge” and is the “winner” within the graphics processing unit space of AI. More specifically, he said the focus may shift from the B100 and B200 graphic processing units to GB200 and NVL 36/72. Rakesh added there could be a “strategic” shift to 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 shares after a monster rally. Nvidia has slipped 15% since the third quarter began, but the stock is still higher by a whopping 112% in 2024. NVDA YTD mountain NVDA year to date Shares added more than 2% before the bell on Friday. â Alex Harring 5:44 a.m.: Wall Street analysts react to Sweetgreen earnings Sweetgreen shares soared more than 23% in Friday premarket trading after beating expectations for revenue. The salad chain posted $185 million in second-quarter revenue, above the consensus estimate of $181 million from analysts polled by LSEG. Sweetgreen also said to expect between $670 million and $680 million in the full-year on the line, a range that includes the analyst forecast of $674 million. But Sweetgreen lost 13 cents per share, 3 cents wider than analysts anticipated. For some on Wall Street, Friday’s premarket pop is reflective of the big upside they see ahead for the stock. Here’s what some analysts had to say following the report: Goldman Sachs’ Christine Cho (buy, $40 price target, 52.4% upside): “We view solid 2Q [same-store sales growth] as a testament to the company’s successful TAM expansion through entry into new markets and product innovation (i.e., protein plates and recently launched caramelized garlic steak) which we expect to support MSD SSSG, 15-20% unit growth, and a 30% restaurant-level profit CAGR over the next three years.” JPMorgan’s Rahul Krotthapalli (overweight, $38 price target, 44.8% upside) : “Sweetgreen 2Q24 results continue to inspire confidence in the momentum the brand has been building since late last year as the company repeated its beat & raise performance with stellar top-line (9% SSS vs 5.5% JPMe) performance, which translated into equally robust store margin (22.5% vs 21.4% JPMe) and Ebitda ($12.4m vs $8.9m JPMe) performance. This reaffirms the standing as the company steadily rebuilds credibility after a tough post-covid/post-IPO period.” UBS’ Dennis Geiger (buy, $37 price target, 41% upside): “2Q results highlighted strong sss & traffic, solid margin expansion, and encouraging progress on Infinite Kitchen (IK) plans which support a compelling long-term growth outlook. We’re particularly encouraged by positive traffic as initiatives across menu innovation and marketing accelerated trends through 2Q despite industry pressures. … We believe leading store development and plans across kitchen automation, menu innovation and loyalty should support sss & EBITDA growth over the coming yrs and drive further share upside.” â Alex Harring 5:44 a.m.: Bank of America upgrades Yeti to buy After a strong earnings report, investors should consider gaining adding Yeti to their portfolios, according to Bank of America. Analyst Alexander Perry upgraded the outdoor products and container maker to buy from neutral. His price target of $55, up from $46, implies upside of 27.5%. The rating change comes a day after Yeti reported second-quarter results that beat analyst expectations. Shares rallied more than 16% on Thursday. “We raise our C24 EPS to $2.65 (from $2.60) and see drivers of potential 2H upside including: (1) new licensing deal with the NFL for drinkware and hard coolers; (2) support from AMZN prime day in 3Q; & (3) strong new product contribution including the Roadie 15 which is more price accessible vs. other YETI hard coolers and with the expansion into cookware with YETI skillets launching this month,” Perry wrote. Year to date, shares are down j16%. YETI YTD mountain YETI in 2024 â Fred Imbert
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