Investing.com -- Here is your Pro Recap of the top takeaways from Wall Street analysts for the past week.
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Monday- US Markets Closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Apple
What happened? On Tuesday, Jefferies downgraded Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) to Underperform with a $200.75 price target.
*TLDR: Jefferies downgrades Apple on weak iPhone sales. AI outlook and growth targets missed.
What’s the full story? Jefferies lowers forecasts due to weak iPhone sales and the general consumer electronics market, citing a reduced outlook for iPhone 17/18 due to slower AI uptake and commercialization.
Jefferies expects Apple to miss its revenue growth guidance of 5% for the first quarter of fiscal year 2025 and to guide to only low single-digit revenue growth in the second quarter, also below consensus.
The AI outlook remains subdued, with industry checks suggesting delays in Apple's advanced packaging roadmap for iPhone as another negative sign. Jefferies' new price target implies a 13% downside, leading to this downgrade.
Ford
What happened? On Wednesday, Barclays (LON:BARC) downgraded Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) to Equal-weight with an $11 price target.
*TLDR: Barclays downgrades Ford due to 2025 headwinds. Uncertain cost improvement paths expected.
What’s the full story? Barclays analysts acknowledge Ford's ongoing transformation efforts, but anticipate significant volume headwinds in 2025, driven by inventory destocking and modest price normalization, which may negatively impact earnings estimates.
While cost reduction has potential, with opportunities to narrow the cost gap compared to competitors, Barclays highlights the uncertainty surrounding the path to cost improvement. The Tier 1 desk's 2025 EPS estimate of $1.44 falls below Bloomberg's consensus of $1.63, reflecting their cautious outlook on Ford's earnings profile.
Veeva Systems
What happened? On Thursday, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) double downgraded Veeva Systems Inc (NYSE:VEEV) (NYSE:VEEV) to Sell with a $261 price target.
*TLDR: Goldman views Veeva as entrenched but faces competition and slow recovery. Veeva's underperformance expected relative to other coverage.
What’s the full story? Goldman continues to view Veeva as deeply entrenched in its core Life Sciences customer base, with significant cross-selling potential over the next decade. However, the global investment bank identifies several medium-term risks to Veeva’s 2030 targets. These include competition from Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in the Commercial sector, which is expected to be a persistent headwind, and a slow fundamental recovery in the Life Sciences vertical, likely to impact customer expansion and renewal deals.
Additionally, Veeva’s maturing product portfolio may pose challenges for newer product cycles to drive substantial growth.
Goldman projects that Veeva will underperform relative to other coverage over the next 12 months, despite limited absolute downside risk given its free cash flow support and multiple quarters of underperformance. The bank is more cautious on medium-term fundamentals, and its revised price target implies a 13% downside risk compared to an average 11% upside for its Buy and Neutral-rated names.
Twilio
What happened? On Friday, Baird upgraded Twilio Inc (NYSE:TWLO) to Outperform with a $160 price target.
*TLDR: Baird bullish on TWLO's revenue and valuation. Profitability, gains, and capital returns expected to rise.
What’s the full story? Thursday, Baird attended TWLO's investor day, buoyed by a pre-released Q4 upside and broad-based strength. The brokerage emerged more confident in TWLO's capacity to sustain double-digit revenue growth, anticipating further upside to guidance and estimates.
Acknowledging recent gains they had been cautious to chase, Baird now expects a potential beat-and-raise pattern to drive shares higher, especially with improving profitability, cash flow, and capital returns. Valuation is still deemed reasonable, particularly given possible upside scenarios.