Citi starts coverage on Apple with Buy
Citi initiated coverage on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) with a Buy rating and a price target of $240.00.
While shares are up 46% YTD as the company is navigating the macro slowdown and inflationary pressure on consumer spending by consistently gaining share from Android phones, Citi expects approximately 30% further upside potential from current levels.
The firm believes the Street is underestimating continued gross margin expansion, driven by (1) the shift in iPhone sales towards higher-priced Pro/Pro Max models, leading to a higher blended average selling price, (2) anticipated further market share gains in China and India, (3) ongoing development of self-designed cellular chips to reduce costs, and (4) a higher-margin services sales mix.
NVIDIA upgraded to Outperform
Daiwa Securities upgraded NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) to Outperform from Neutral and raised its price target to $475.00 from $408.00.
Following its recent tech tour and checks, the firm has a higher level of confidence that NVIDIA’s commanding position for AI, and Generative AI, will be difficult to replicate near term by the competitors such as Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), and others.
2 more upgrades
Carnival (NYSE:CCL) shares rose more than 2% pre-market today after Jefferies upgraded the company to Buy from Hold and raised its price target to $25.00 from $9.00.
Deutsche Bank upgraded Frontline (NYSE:FRO) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $17.00 (from $19.00). Shares surged more than 3% pre-market today.
