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(This is Tech Zone Daily Pro’s live coverage of Monday’s analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) Toys and chipmakers were in focus among Monday’s biggest analyst calls. JPMorgan downgraded Mattel to neutral, citing a weaker-than-expected boost from the “Barbie” movie. Elsewhere, Goldman Sachs reiterated a buy rating on Nvidia and raised its price target on the high-flying semiconductor maker. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 5:49 a.m.: Cigna can top earnings estimates, says Cantor Fitzgerald Cigna has serious potential to see upside to earnings, Cantor Fitzgerald said. Analyst Sarah James upgraded the insurer to overweight from neutral and hiked her price target o $372 from $334. James’ new target level implies an upside of 14.9%. The analyst pointed specifically to Evernorth, Cigna’s health services business, as having upside to both revenue in 2024 as well as adjusted operating income in the two following years. “We see CI as positioned with one of the larger 2025/2026 earnings estimate upside potential driven by Evernorth, as well as one of the lowest-risk exposures to the current uncertainty in Medicare and the potential of entering an insurance underwriting cycle,” James wrote to clients over the weekend. Elsewhere, James said the insurer has a biosimilar pipeline has tailwinds, while regulatory risks for Cigna are largely behind it. She also called the stock a “safe place to hide in an underwriting cycle,” noting just 16% of revenue is at risk following the closing of its Medicare sales unit. RBC Capital Markets analyst Ben Hendrix also upgraded the stock to outperform from sector perform. Hendrix increased his target by $27 to $354, now reflecting an increase of 9.3%. Hendrix said the company has “strong” commercial positioning, while noting that buybacks provide good visibility into earnings per share. Shares have advanced more than 8% in 2024, making up ground after bucking the prior year’s market rally with a drop of more than 9%. — Alex Harring 5:42 a.m.: Barbie movie boost to Mattel stock was ‘unexpectedly short,’ JPMorgan warns The “Barbie” boost wasn’t so fantastic after all for Mattel , according to JPMorgan. Analyst Christopher Horvers downgraded the toymaker’s stock to neutral from overweight, citing in part a smaller tailwind from the blockbuster Warner Bros. Discovery movie “Barbie” than anticipated. Horvers also cut $5 from his price target to $19, implying he thinks the stock will shed just 0.1% over the next year instead of climbing. “We believe Barbie provided a significant boost to results in mid-to-late 2023 (concentrated in 3Q),” he wrote in a Monday note to clients. “But the duration proved unexpectedly short and the lap creates difficult comparisons plus a significant wall of worry for investors.” “Barbie” was the talk of the summer , with a huge impact in both in the box office and broader consumer spending . The movie based on Mattel’s iconic doll quickly became a cultural sensation, driving moviegoers to theatres in hot pink and clinching the first-ever cinematic and box office achievement award at the Golden Globes. In addition to the bump to purchasing being shorter than hoped for, Horvers listed other reasons for caution around the stock: Weak 2023 holiday sales within the toy industry, creating a lower base to build on in the new year. Data indicating toymakers will face continued challenges winning wallet share as trends normalize post-Covid. A shorter holiday calendar in 2024. Rising freight costs, which can pressure gross margins. Mattel shares are up less than 1% in the new year. The stock underperformed in 2023, gaining just under 6%. — Alex Harring 5:42 a.m.: Goldman hikes Nvidia price target Things continue to look up for Nvidia , according to Goldman Sachs. The bank raised its price target on the chipmaker to $800 from $625, implying upside of nearly 21% from Friday’s close. Goldman also reiterated its buy rating on the stock. “Consistent with recent years and quarters, we expect Nvidia’s FY4Q (January) results and FY1Q (April) outlook in its core Data Center segment to illustrate the ongoing wallet share shift from general-purpose compute (i.e. CPU) in favor of accelerated computing (i.e. GPU),” analyst Toshiya Hari wrote. “Notably, we are encouraged by various data points from the broader eco-system that point to sustained strength in demand for accelerated computing, including: 1) Early evidence of AI monetization at the likes of Microsoft … 2) constructive commentary on AI-related capital spending by the hyperscalers.” Nvidia is slated to report earnings later this month. Shares are off to a strong start for the year, soaring 33.6%. In 2023, they led the S & P 500 higher with a gain of more than 200%. NVDA YTD mountain NVDA year to date — Fred Imbert
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