(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.) Dell Technologies and Lionsgate Studios were among the stocks being talked about by analysts on Friday. Analysts on Wall Street reacted to Dell’s latest quarterly results — which sent the stock tumbling. However, some maintained a positive outlook on the company. Citi, meanwhile, initiated Lionsgate Studios with a buy rating. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 6:43 a.m.: Casino company Wynn upgraded to buy Wynn Resorts has been oversold in 2024, according to Seaport Research Partners. The firm upgraded shares to buy from neutral. Its $116 price target indicates around 25% upside for the stock. The stock is up just over 1% year to date. Analyst Vitaly Umansky believes the stock’s weak performance is “unwarranted,” citing strong first-quarter results in Macau and resilience in the Las Vegas market. “At current its current valuation level, WYNN is a compelling buy over the next few quarters as Macau continues to ramp up (even in the face of a stagnating Las Vegas that is well anticipated already),” Umansky wrote in a Thursday note. — Hakyung Kim 6:10 a.m.: Wolfe Research upgrades Fifth Third Bank Regional bank Fifth Third is “a ‘steady Eddie’ performer,” according to Wolfe Research. The firm upgraded Fifth Third to outperform from peer perform. It reiterated its $43 price target on shares, which indicates 17% upside potential from Thursday’s close. “FITB is a stable operator that we expect will block and tackle its way to generating the greatest alpha in our regional banks coverage over the next 12 months,” analyst Bill Carrache wrote in a Friday note. Carrache cited upside momentum factors include stronger loan growth, healthy reserves, buyback capacity and notable operating efficiency. Shares gained 1.3% Friday before the bell. The stock is up around 7% in 2024, slightly lagging behind the S & P 500’s 10% rise. — Hakyung Kim 5:59 a.m.: Wall Street remains bullish on Dell Dell tumbled 15% premarket after the company posted in-line fiscal first-quarter results and warned of margin pressures. Despite the muted results, major investment firms on Wall Street are staying optimistic on the stock. “Margins will come; AI is a long game,” Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan wrote in a note. The analyst reiterated his buy rating, noting that AI adoption is still in the early stages. Dell has a “continued strong pipeline and momentum around AI servers, where we think DELL will be able to capture higher AI margins over time,” Mohan said. He kept his $180 price target on shares, indicating just 5.9% upside from Thursday’s close. DELL 1D mountain DELL falls Goldman Sachs analyst Michael Ng is also encouraged by Dell’s AI server demand and shipments. Infrastructure service group margins, which hit a record low in the previous quarter, are also expected to improve throughout the rest of the year, he noted. Ng reiterated his buy rating. His $160 price target indicates nearly 6% downside from where shares closed on Thursday, however. Morgan Stanley, meanwhile, said “Near-term expectations got ahead of themselves, but we’re confidently buying the dip as our FY26 EPS increases to $10.34 given building AI ecosystem momentum.” Analyst Erik Woodring believes the weak ISG margins were mostly due to pricing competition and underperformance in the Storage segment, which he believes can be corrected.” “What stood out to us positively, and is more impactful to our Overweight thesis, is that AI server momentum continues to build, with April qtr rev rec better than we expected, orders higher than expected, backlog and pipeline combined in the $12B+ range exiting the quarter (greater than our FY25 AI server revenue forecast), margins flat to improving, and mgmt hinting that CSP demand for AI servers should grow Y/Y in FY26,” he said in a Friday note. Woodring reiterated his overweight rating on shares. He notched up his price target by $3 to $155. — Hakyung Kim 5:59 a.m.: Citi says Lionsgate Studios is a buy Lionsgate Studios’ struggles have created a big buying opportunity for investors, according to Citi. The bank initiated coverage of the TV and movie studio with a buy rating. Its price target of $14 implies upside of more than 73% from Thursday’s close. The company was spun off from Lionsgate Entertainment earlier in May, and effectively separates the Starz network from the studio. Since then, Lionsgate Studios has dropped about 20%. However, Citi analyst Jason Bazinet has high hopes for the stock. “LION has a long, successful track record as a pure play content company. We believe the firm’s recent decision to spin-off Starz (which should be complete by year-end CY24) may lead to multiple expansion,” he said. “From ’08 to ’13, segment profits were sporadic. Since ’14, however, LION has generated enough revenue to offset expenses (ex-corporate G & A) every year including COVID and the ’23 Hollywood strikes. This success is underpinned by consistent execution, a tilt toward lower risk TV Production investments and a large, growing library,” he added. — Fred Imbert
