(This is CNBC Pro’s live coverage of Wednesday’s analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) United Airlines and Apple were among the stocks being talked about by analysts on Wednesday. Shares of United got an upgrade to buy at Jefferies, which sees upside of nearly 30% for the company. Bank of America, meanwhile, reiterated Apple as a top pick — citing potential upside from consumers upgrading to AI-enabled phones. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 6:06 a.m.: Citi upgrades Liberty Energy on the back of an improving outlook Shares of Liberty Energy are set to continue their upwards streak, according to Citi. Analyst Scott Gruber upgraded the energy stock to a buy rating from neutral, accompanying the move by lifting his price target to $32. The new price forecast, up from $24, corresponds to a potential 34% upside for the stock. Shares of Liberty Energy have rallied a whopping 32% year to date, but Gruber believes the stock could rise more on an improving outlook. “LBRT has been an outperformer within OFS over the past year as fears toward margin compression proved overblown,” the analyst wrote. Meanwhile, upside in the domestic frac market will come as the recent demand slump comes to an end. Gas activity could begin to recover in the latter part of 2024, although oil will likely still face a seasonal decline in the fourth quarter. Gruber also pointed to Liberty’s diversification into other business verticals as additional catalysts. “LBRT’s investment in efrac is creating separation from peers creating better stability to its base business. Moreover, their investment in mobile power and gas logistics is creating another growth stream, not just in oil and gas but with use cases extending beyond in an era of power scarcity,” he wrote, listing future potential customers as hospitals, miners and data centers, among others. — Lisa Kailai Han 5:50 a.m.: Morgan Stanley names SLB as a top stock pick Morgan Stanley named SLB as its top pick within the U.S. energy services and equipment space. The stock has pulled back nearly 11% this year, thereby creating a buying opportunity for investors, according to analyst Daniel Kutz. Kutz also highlighted SLB’s proposed acquisition of ChampionX as an additional catalyst, writing that the deal would create long-term value for the stock. The analyst also took the opportunity to reiterate his bullishness for the energy services and equipment industry. “For the first time in ~2yrs, we think the three major OFSE ‘analytical markets’ — NAm shale, global offshore, and int’l onshore — have a good chance of all being on the ‘right side’ of the cycle curve in the relatively near-future,” Kutz wrote. He added that service stocks are currently trading at a “steep discount” versus historical levels, which should normalize again in the near future. Morgan Stanley has an overweight rating on the stock and a price target of $65, which implies nearly 40% upside. — Lisa Kailai Han 5:41 a.m.: Jefferies upgrades United Airlines to a buy rating United Airlines is set to continue leading its peers, according to Jefferies. The investment bank upgraded the airline to buy from hold, lifting its price target to $65 from $54. The new target implies that United Airlines stock could rise 28% from their Tuesday closing price. As a catalyst, analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu pointed to United Airlines’ investments in its product offering. Through United Next , the airline carrier aims to introduce more than 800 aircrafts to its fleet. International margins, which are currently higher than domestic, should also help serve to boost the stock upwards. However, Kahyaoglu anticipates that this trend will flip around sometime this year. “UAL’s decision to retain its entire widebody fleet over the pandemic helped achieve record international profits in 2023 with significantly larger schedules than its peers and 2019 levels,” she wrote. “With international strength set to normalize some time in 2024, the domestic strategy with United Next comes into focus, with MAX-10 delays pausing the upgauging momentum.” As additional positives for the stock, Kahyaoglu cited a shareholder-friendly management team and increased free cash flow generation compared to this time last year. Shares of United Airlines are up 23% on the year. — Lisa Kailai Han 5:41 a.m.: Bank of America reiterates Apple as a top pick Apple shares could get a boost as consumers upgrade to AI-enabled phones, according to Bank of America. Analyst Wamsi Mohan reiterated his view that Apple is a top pick, maintaining his buy rating and price target of $230. That forecast implies upside of 21% over the next 12 months. “We view the upcoming AI enabled phones (IntelliPhones) to drive a multi-year upgrade cycle similar to the step function improvement driven by the introduction of smartphones,” Mohan said. “With an installed base of over 4bn smartphones, we see the opportunity for the next upgrade cycle to be once in a decade type of event.” Apple has lagged other major tech names this year, losing 1.3%. Nvidia, meanwhile, has soared 130%. AAPL YTD mountain AAPL year to date — Fred Imbert
