(This is CNBC Pro’s live coverage of Monday’s analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) A chipmaker and an online brokerage were among the stocks being talked about by analysts to start the week. UBS gave its Nvidia earnings preview, in which it upped its full fiscal year earnings estimates. Meanwhile, Piper Sandler upgraded Robinhood to overweight from neutral. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 7:17 a.m.: HSBC opens coverage of GE Vernova at buy HSBC joined to bull camp on GE Vernova . Analyst Sean McLoughlin initiated coverage of the energy stock at a buy rating on Monday. McLoughlin’s $215 price target reflects the potential for shares to climb 20% from last week’s closing level. GE Vernova is “well placed in our view to benefit from secular tailwinds in the energy sector,” McLoughlin wrote to clients, also calling it a power equipment market leader that can see earnings growth. Demand for natural gas and U.S. onshore wind installations can both bode well for growth, McLoughlin said. The analyst also said an increased urgency for improved power grids can boost business. McLoughlin said the stock acts as a hedge against U.S. election outcomes, given its exposure to both low-carbon and gas-fired power segments. He also said investors should expect upcoming returns given GE Vernova’s “reliable cash backbone.” GE Vernova began trading as its own stock in April. It was formerly the energy arm of General Electric. — Alex Harring 6:58 a.m.: Mizuho cuts Micron price target Mizuho sees less room for Micron to run as the recent pullback in artificial intelligence names placed downward pressure on multiples. While keeping his outperform rating, Vijay Rakesh chopped $10 off his price target to $145. Still, Rakesh’s updated target suggests the stock can soar 55.8% from where it closed Friday. That would mark a change of course following a rough patch. Micron has tumbled more than 29% in the third quarter, part of what Rakesh noted was a broad rout for names tied to AI. With this drop, the stock is now up just around 9% on the year. Rakesh also kept his outperform ratings on Seagate Technology and Western Digital. — Alex Harring 6:45 a.m.: BofA upgrades Churchill Downs, citing double-digit growth Churchill Downs is a particularly smart idea within gaming, Bank of America said. Analyst Shaun Kelley upgraded the horse racing-focused stock to buy from neutral and lifted his price target by $10 to $155. Kelley’s refreshed target suggests shares can advance 16% over Friday’s closing price. “We see CHDN’s unique double-digit organic growth profile, upcoming Northern VA property … opening and scarcity value as compelling relative to broader Gaming and Consumer stocks,” Kelley told clients in a Monday note. Kelley said double-digital growth should be sustainable because of the Terre Haute casino’s strong opening in the second quarter and extra return on investments connected to capital expenditures at the Kentucky Derby. The Rose historical racing machine facility coming to Northern Virginia in the third quarter and another in Kentucky slated for 2025 also help. The analyst said investors should think about the stock within the context of high-growth consumer peers. That can make its valuation of 11.4 times 2025 EBITDA more palatable as a gaming stock. Shares added 1% in Monday premarket trading. The stock is down just about 1% in 2024. — Alex Harring 6:26 a.m.: Eli Lilly is a ‘unicorn’ with high growth and low beta, Deutsche Bank says Eli Lilly’s eye-catching earnings report last week has made shares hard to overlook for Deutsche Bank. Analyst James Shin upgraded the pharmaceutical stock to buy from hold and raised his price target by $300 to $1,025. Shin’s new target reflects 15% upside from last week’s close. “LLY’s 2Q24 big beat and raise in our view helped settled some nerves in a volatile macro backdrop,” he said in a Monday note. “We see LLY stock outperforming for its high growth outlook and low beta,” Shin added, while calling the stock a “low beta/high growth unicorn.” Eli Lilly far exceeded Wall Street expectations for the second quarter and upped its full-year guidance. This performance comes as sales of its popular Mounjaro and Zepbound drugs increase. Shares climbed more than 1% before the bell on Monday. The stock has surged around 53% in 2024. — Alex Harring 6:18 a.m.: Jefferies moves off sidelines on restaurant tech stock Par Technology is on the right track, according to Jefferies. Analyst Samad Samana upgraded the restaurant technology stock to buy from hold and hiked his price target by $15 to $60. Samana’s new target implies 18.1% upside. “With scale achieved and momentum behind it, we see better days ahead,” Samana told clients in a Sunday note. Par has also put itself in a place to see durable growth and is moving toward profitability, the analyst said. That’s due to moves like platform integration, acquisitions and the divestiture of the government business. Shares have added more than 16% in 2024, building on last year’s 67% jump. PAR YTD mountain PAR in 2024 — Alex Harring 6:01 a.m.: Goldman starts packaged food coverage Goldman Sachs named General Mills and Mondelez among its buy-rated packaged food stocks when beginning coverage of the sector. “We favor companies with lower exposure to private label risk as well as greater organic growth opportunities through a differentiated portfolio in alignment with key consumption trends,” analyst Leah Jordan wrote to clients in a Monday note. Jordan has a $76 price target on General Mills, which suggests shares can gain 10% over the next year. The stock’s current valuation doesn’t fully account for all the portfolio reshaping the Cheerios and Chex Mix parent has done in recent years, she said. Her $80 price target for Mondelez implies 14.7% upside. The Oreo maker should see above-average earnings growth, Jordan said, and the stock itself is a high-quality core holding. Elsewhere within this sector, Jordan placed Conagra Brands in the buy camp. She rated Hershey and Kraft Heinz as sells. — Alex Harring 5:50 a.m.: UBS lays out earnings expectations for Nvidia UBS is remaining bullish on Nvidia heading into the artificial intelligence giant’s earnings report. Analyst Timothy Arcuri reiterated his buy rating and $150 price target heading into earnings expected later this month. That price target reflects upside of 43.2% from where the semiconductor stock finished last week. While Arcuri kept his price target unchanged, the analyst lifted his forecast for 2025 earnings per share by 8 cents to $4.95. He said most investors appear to be caught up to that per-share earnings outlook. Arcuri said he expects Nvidia to post 68 cents in earnings per share on $29.9 billion in revenue for the fiscal second quarter. That’s above the Wall Street consensus of 64 cents and $28.6 billion. For the data center business specifically, his estimate of $26.3 billion is also above the Street’s $25 billion. If Arcuri is right, that would mark a 17% increase quarter over quarter. Nvidia shares have tumbled more than 15% in the third calendar quarter. But the megcap tech stock is still up more than 111% in 2024, underscoring its huge run earlier in the year. NVDA YTD mountain NVDA year to date — Alex Harring 5:50 a.m.: Piper Sandler upgrades Robinhood Investors should scoop up shares of Robinhood after their recent pullback, according to Piper Sandler. Analyst Patrick Moley upgraded the online brokerage to overweight from neutral. His price target of $23, up from $20, implies a gain of 28.3% over the next 12 months. Robinhood shares have been on fire this year, soaring more than 40%. To be sure, they are down nearly 28% from a 52-week high. HOOD YTD mountain HOOD year to date “We think this pullback presents an attractive entry point into an innovative, fast growing brokerage platform,” Morley wrote. “In the near term, we expect [net interest income] headwinds from future rate cuts to be largely offset by the second order effects of increased trading activity and margin loan growth. We also expect HOOD to benefit from the launch of a new web-based trading platform and the rollout of index options & futures trading later this year.” “Longer term, we expect HOOD to benefit from (1) continued growth in global retail & derivatives trading, (2) the generational wealth transfer from baby boomers to their children, (3) a strong position in crypto, and (4) international expansion, where HOOD is still in the early stages,” Morley added. — Fred Imbert
