|
September 2017 |
Archives |
|
|
|
Friday, September 29, 2017, 10:04 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: Ultimate Software |
Ultimate Software (ULTI, $187.61) shares this morning are bouncing a bit following the recent pullback.
From the September 1 high of $201.96, the stock earlier this week dipped to a low of $181.59 (but held above the 52-week low of $180.29). The pullback had the effect of dragging the 50-day moving average (now at $198.17) below the 200-day moving average of $201.27.
There’s short-term resistance at $190.43. |
|
Friday, September 29, 2017, 9:48 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Citi Hikes NVIDIA Target to $210 |
Citi raises its NVIDIA (NVDA, $178.27) price target to $210 from $185 based on growth potential in artificial intelligence (AI).
The firm says Wall Street views NVIDIA as dominant in AI training, but an underdog in AI inferencing.
However, Citi believes the company is now targeting high-level edge inferencing opportunities involving smart cities, manufacturing and robotics end market.
For more on NVIDIA, see TechStock Radar--Sept. 28, 2017.
|
|
Thursday, September 28, 2017, 10:02 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Needham Reiterates NVIDIA Target |
Needham views the recent decline in NVIDIA (NVDA, $174.97) shares, partly due to concerns over the reported loss of the infotainment business with Tesla, as overdone.
The Tesla contribution to NVIDIA’s financial results will be minimal in any conceivable scenario, argues the firm.
Maintaining its NVDA price target at $200, Needham says it’s the ADAS business, not infotainment, that will generate significant revenue for the company going forward.
NVIDIA shares traded to a new all-time high of $191.20 on September 18.
For more on NVIDIA, see TechStock Radar--Sept. 21, 2017.
|
|
Thursday, September 28, 2017, 9:50 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Amazon Expands in Connected Home |
JMP Securities reiterates its Amazon (AMZN, $951) price target of $1,125, saying the company yesterday significantly broadened its connected home presence with the announcement of new Alexa products—including the Echo Plus (priced at $150), Echo Spot ($130) and revamped lower-cost Echo ($100).
The firm believes expanded capabilities and reduced prices (second-generation Echoes are now 44% cheaper) should lead to greater adoption. |
|
Wednesday, September 27, 2017, 10:41 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Citi Boosts Arista Target to $215 |
Citi lifts its Arista Networks (ANET, $186.32) price target to $215 from $180, saying the company has better positioned itself to go after enterprise customers in the hybrid cloud networking space with its new Any Cloud software platform.
Any Cloud, available in Q4, simplifies the integration and management of hybrid clouds across private cloud datacenters and public cloud providers. The new virtualized offering, vEOS Router, combined with CloudVision and new Cloud Tracer functionality, provides consistent operations and security in multi-cloud environments.
Citi is bullish on Arista’s routing products, saying the segment represents a greater than $3-billion annual opportunity through 2020.
|
|
Wednesday, September 27, 2017, 10:12 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
HubSpot Jumps 9% on Raised Guidance |
HubSpot (HUBS, $78.75) last night raised its Q3 guidance. For the current quarter, the company, a provider of cloud-based marketing solutions, now expects revenue of $95.9 million to $96.9 million, above the previous guidance range of $92.8 million to $93.8 million.
On the news, BofA/Merrill raises its HubSpot price target to $92 from $88.
Shares of HubSpot this morning are surging more than 9%. Earlier, the stock hit a new all-time high of $79.15.
HubSpot is a core holding in the Tech-Stock Prospector Small-Cap Portfolio, added in July 2016, when the shares were trading at $42.52.
|
|
Tuesday, September 26, 2017, 10:07 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
JMP Remains Upbeat on Akamai |
JMP Securities believes investor sentiment on Akamai Technologies (AKAM, $48.17) has gotten too negative. OTT and security are promising growth drivers that are currently under-appreciated.
The firm thinks widespread OTT adoption is nearer than investors think, pointing to Disney’s recent BAMTech deal and the upcoming ESPN OTT launch. Akamai’s media business would benefit from an uptick in OTT.
JMP maintains its AKAM target of $64. |
|
Tuesday, September 26, 2017, 9:42 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Credit Suisse Sees Upside for Microsoft |
Credit Suisse thinks investors should begin to value Microsoft (MSFT, $73.71) on a cash flow multiple now that an increasing percentage of the business is shifting to recurring sources of revenue.
While Microsoft shares currently trade at a discounted cash flow multiple to legacy/on-prem software peers, the firm believes a premium multiple to the peer group is warranted given the company’s prospects for accelerating revenue growth and better cash flow visibility over the next few years.
Credit Suisse reiterates its MSFT price target of $84. |
|
Monday, September 25, 2017, 10:02 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
BofA/Merrill Ups FireEye Target to $21 |
BofA/Merrill raises its FireEye (FEYE, $16.86) price target to $21 from $18, saying it sees significant upside to consensus estimates because of new network hardware than can help drive a customer refresh cycle and higher average deal sizes. At the same time, the firm thinks lower-cost cloud-based solutions can drive mid-market share gains.
For more on FireEye, see TechStock Radar—Sept 7, 2017. |
|
Monday, September 25, 2017, 9:47 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Baird Lifts Nutanix Target |
Baird lifts its Nutanix (NTNX, $24.42) price target to $31 from $28 based on its incrementally more positive view of management’s recent shift in tone with respect to accelerating software-only sales.
The firm believes Nutanix is one of the best-positioned vendors to take advantage of the hyperconverged and hybrid cloud opportunities.
For more on Nutanix, see TechStock Radar—Sept 22, 2017. |
|
Monday, September 25, 2017, 9:39 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Citi: Tempered Demand for iPhone 8 |
Citi maintains its Apple (AAPL, $149.85) price target of $170, but expects volatility in the shares as consensus estimates calibrate to a lower than expected September quarter given slightly more tempered demand for the iPhone 8 ahead of the iPhone X launch on November 3. |
|
Friday, September 22, 2017, 10:16 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Maxim Remains Bullish on Nutanix |
Maxim reiterates its Nutanix (NTNX, $24.30) price target of $41, calling the company’s new Calm multi-cloud management software a highly differentiated feature within the stack.
The firm sees Calm as a new growth driver that opens up a wider addressable market for Nutanix.
For more on Nutanix, see TechStock Radar—August 17, 2017. |
|
Friday, September 22, 2017, 10:02 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Waiting for the Apple iPhone X |
Citi thinks customers are likely waiting for the Apple (AAPL, $150.99) iPhone X, which is leading to shorter lines and quicker ship times for the iPhone 8 compared to prior launches. The firm doesn’t think this is surprising, as consumers want to check out the upcoming X before making a final purchase decision. Citi maintains its price target of $170.
|
|
Thursday, September 21, 2017, 10:40 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
BofA/Merrill Sees Upside for NVIDIA |
BofA/Merrill earlier this week raised its NVIDIA (NVDA, $177.64) price target to $210 from $185 based on acceleration in datacenter CapEx, the ramping Volta business and a large upgrade opportunity for premium-priced gaming cards.
Today, the firm reiterates its ‘Buy’ rating on NVIDIA following news reports that Tesla (TSLA) is going to work with AMD (AMD) to improve self-driving car chips. The firm sees limited material impact to NVIDIA, as Tesla accounts for less than 1% of total sales.
NVIDIA has a much bigger opportunity with other automakers (such as Toyota and Audi), argues BofA/Merrill.
NVIDIA shares today are down more than 4%.
|
|
Thursday, September 21, 2017, 10:05 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Northland Bullish on Paycom |
Northland starts Paycom (PAYC, $74.50) at ‘Outperform’ with a price target of $85 based on the company’s ability to continue to add share in the $19-billion addressable market.
Paycom continues to build barriers to entry within the SMB/mid-market segment of the HCM market, says Northland. Sales force buildout and product portfolio expansion will be key growth drivers.
The firm points out that Paycom today controls just 2% of the market.
For more on Paycom, see TechStock Radar--Sept. 13, 2017.
|
|
Thursday, September 21, 2017, 9:44 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
JMP Remains Bullish on CyberArk |
JMP Securities reiterates its CyberArk Software (CYBR, $42.37) price target of $53, saying the stock is a favorite name in security, especially after the post-earnings pullback.
The firm’s recent checks give it confidence that demand is there for the company’s solutions. Also, JMP believes CyberArk management has addressed the sales execution issues.
CyberArk shares hit a new 52-week low of $39.34 on August 30. |
|
Wednesday, September 20, 2017, 10:31 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Morgan Stanley Upgrades Arista |
Morgan Stanley upgrades Arista Networks (ANET, $185.08) to ‘Overweight’ and raises its price target to $210 from $125 based on expectations for a meaningful contribution from 400G products in 2019, which is more than a year ahead of previous assumptions.
Also, the firm says Arista has achieved additional share gains in 100G thanks to a sustained time-to-market advantage resulting from its software development efforts.
Arista shares this morning hit a new all-time high at $187.72. |
|
Wednesday, September 20, 2017, 10:17 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Buckingham Sets EA Target at $143 |
Buckingham Research initiates Electronic Arts (EA, $121.14) at ‘Buy’ with a price target of $143, saying the company is one of the main beneficiaries of the videogame industry’s shift to digital distribution and in-game content delivery. The firm expects better revenue predictability and higher margins.
For EA, Buckingham sees some specific catalysts—including potential upside for revenue/earnings revisions and P/E multiple expansion as the company builds its IP portfolio.
For more on Electronic Arts, see TechStock Radar--August 21, 2017.
|
|
Tuesday, September 19, 2017, 10:12 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: Intel |
Intel (INTC, $37.24) shares have been acting well, sporting an RSI of 72.6.
The next resistance level to watch is $37.50 from late April. The 50-day moving average of $35.33 is approaching the 200-day moving average at $35.40 for a potential upside crossover.
The 52-week high of $38.45 was reached on January 27. |
|
Tuesday, September 19, 2017, 10:04 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Morgan Stanley Boosts Apple Target |
Morgan Stanley raises its Apple (AAPL, $158.88) price target to $194 from $182, saying a high loyalty level for the aspirational brand could actually boost demand for the iPhone even with the innovation-led price increases. |
|
Monday, September 18, 2017, 10:25 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Chart Watch: HubSpot |
HubSpot (HUBS, $74.75) shares this morning pushed above short-term resistance at $74.16. The next resistance to watch is $76.10 from July.
The all-time high of $78.50 was reached in early June.
The 50-day moving average is trending upward from $71.20. |
|
Monday, September 18, 2017, 10:18 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Summit Redstone Bullish on ServiceNow |
Summit Redstone starts coverage of ServiceNow (NOW, $117.08) at ‘Buy’ with a price target of $135, calling the company the “undisputed market leader” in cloud IT service management.
ServiceNow’s 2020 revenue goal of $4 billion looks achievable thanks to the company’s expanded TAM, competitive moat and increasing penetration of the Global 2000, says the firm.
ServiceNow is a long-term holding in the Tech-Stock Prospector Vulture Portfolio, added in August 2014, when the shares were trading at $55. |
|
Friday, September 15, 2017, 11:12 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Cantor Ups Snap Target to $17 |
Cantor Fitzgerald lifts its Snap (SNAP, $15.02) price target to $17 from $15 based on the argument that the company’s 30 minutes per day of user engagement and monetization potential are under-appreciated by investors.
The firm says Snap’s monetization per minute has significant upside potential, aided by the secular rise of mobile video as well as differentiated shows debuting on the platform. |
|
Friday, September 15, 2017, 11:02 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Evercore ISI Boosts NVIDIA PT to $250 |
Evercore ISI raises its NVIDIA (NVDA, $178.67) price target to $250 from $180, saying the company is building out the industry standard for AI.
The firm’s bullishness, ramped up after a meeting with NVIDIA management, is based on the company’s first-mover advantage, unified GPU architecture and system-level approach.
Evercore ISI now sees a clear path to $10 a share in earnings power over the next three to five years, driven by growth opportunities for AI in the datacenter and automotive sectors. |
|
Thursday, September 14, 2017, 10:14 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Morgan Stanley Sees Upside for Prime |
Morgan Stanley expects the Whole Foods acquisition to drive faster Amazon (AMZN, $995) Prime subscription growth. The firm estimates that roughly 5 million Whole Foods households are not currently Prime members. With Prime-only pricing and other special offers, Morgan Stanley thinks Amazon can convert half of those shoppers over to its service. The firm maintains its Amazon price target of $1,150. |
|
Thursday, September 14, 2017, 10:01 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Barclays Upgrades VMware |
Barclays upgrades VMware (VMW, $110.86) to ‘Overweight’ and raises its price target to $130 from $109, saying the stock looks undervalued now that the negative thesis of the company losing market share as workloads move to the public cloud no longer seems valid. The firm expects VMware to continue to benefit from workload growth.
For more on VMware, see TechStock Radar—September 5, 2017. |
|
Wednesday, September 13, 2017, 11:02 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Barclays Lifts Paycom Target to $82 |
Barclays raises its Paycom (PAYC, $75.02) price target to $82 from $74, saying the company is seeing healthy customer additions, which should continue to drive revenue and margins.
Paycom shares on September 1 hit a new all-time high of $75.57.
For more on Paycom, see TechStock Radar—August 3, 2017. |
|
Wednesday, September 13, 2017, 10:52 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
JP Morgan Still Sees Upside for Apple |
JP Morgan reiterates its Apple (AAPL, $158.15) price target of $176, saying it continues to expect better replacement demand into 2018 than consensus estimates imply.
The firm thinks yesterday’s product launch event was generally in line with expectations, with the only exception being a bit of a push-out for iPhone X availability. |
|
Wednesday, September 13, 2017, 10:45 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Loop Capital Bullish on Amazon |
Loop Capital starts Amazon (AMZN, $985) at ‘Buy’ with a price target of $1,200. The firm expects many years of robust growth from Amazon’s Prime membership program and AWS cloud computing platform. Loop also calls out signs of improving free cash flow generation. |
|
Tuesday, September 12, 2017, 3:18 PM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Apple Debuts iPhone X |
Apple (AAPL, $160.12) debuts the 10th anniversary iPhone X. The new handset features an edge-to-edge 5.8-inch super retina OLED display, Face ID (3D-sensing facial recognition technology to unlock the phone) and no physical “home” button.
Pre-orders start October 27 for shipment beginning on November 3. The starting price is $999 for the 64GB version. |
|
Tuesday, September 12, 2017, 9:10 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
T. Rowe Price Lifts Okta Stake |
T. Rowe Price yesterday disclosed a 10.3% stake in Okta (OKTA, $30.19—TSP Watch List), provider of a cloud-based identity management platform. The firm now owns 1.38 million shares, up from 806,573 shares held as of the end of June.
That moves T. Rowe Price into the #2 investor position, behind #1 Glynn Capital Management’s position of 2.011 million shares. The next largest holders: Blackrock (1.196 million shares), Fidelity (1.014 million shares) and Gilder Gagnon Howe (1.011 million shares). |
|
Friday, September 8, 2017, 10:35 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
3 Equifax Breach Beneficiaries |
Macquarie sees three main beneficiaries of the big Equifax data breach:
*Proofpoint (PFPT, $93.93)—e-mail security
*Symantec (SYMC, $31.55)—consumer identity theft services
*Imperva (IMPV, $45)—Web application security solutions |
|
Friday, September 8, 2017, 10:22 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
A New All-Time High for Proofpoint |
Shares of Proofpoint (PFPT, $94.18) this morning hit a new all-time high at $96.99 after the provider of cybersecurity solutions at its analyst day yesterday lifted its three-year revenue target.
The new 2020 top-line guidance range of $1.025 billion to $1.1 billion compares favorably to the previous guide of $950 million to $1.05 billion.
Proofpoint is a long-term holding in the Tech-Stock Prospector Small-Cap Portfolio, added in September 2013, when the stock was trading at $27.91. |
|
Thursday, September 7, 2017, 11:12 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Davidson Sets Amazon Target at $1,300 |
DA Davidson starts Amazon (AMZN, $979) at ‘Buy’ with a price target of $1,300, saying the company is poised to take even more market share in the retail sector following the completion of the Whole Foods acquisition. The firm sees continued retail expansion and the AWS cloud unit as two key growth drivers going forward. |
|
Thursday, September 7, 2017, 10:05 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Morgan Stanley Upgrades FireEye |
Morgan Stanley upgrades FireEye (FEYE, $15.86) to ‘Overweight’ and raises its price target to $19 from $13 based on the firm’s customer survey that suggests the adoption potential for the company’s new Helix security platform is significantly higher than the market assumes.
Launched last November, Helix unifies network, endpoint and third-party product visibility.
The firm says it’s also encouraged by positive spending indications from customers across the FireEye subscription base.
FireEye shares this morning are up more than 7%.
|
|
Wednesday, September 6, 2017, 11:51 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Imperial Capital Upgrades Palo Alto |
Imperial Capital upgrades Palo Alto Networks (PANW, $143.93) to ‘Outperform’ and raises its price target to $165 from $137, citing strong progress on the sales force reorganization and increased adoption of the company’s newer products and subscription services.
The firm believes the refresh of older appliances from successively larger customer cohorts along with international expansion due to broadening vendor awareness could lead to potential revenue upside. |
|
Wednesday, September 6, 2017, 10:23 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
MoffettNathanson Positive on Saleforce |
MoffettNathanson starts coverage of Salesforce (CRM, $95.39) at ‘Buy’ with a price target of $125 based on a forecast of above-consensus organic annual revenue and billings growth of 20%+ for the next three to five years.
The firm’s bullish outlook is based on Salesforce’s large deal momentum, traction in key verticals and strength in commerce. |
|
Tuesday, September 5, 2017, 10:30 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Baird Remains Bullish on Apple |
Baird reiterates its Apple (AAPL, $163.94) price target of $172, citing its recent market research pointing to a continued strong ecosystem.
The iPhone keeps the platform in its leadership position, while newer offerings (Watch and AirPods) build momentum within their respective categories, says the firm. |
|
Tuesday, September 5, 2017, 9:58 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
OpCo Boosts VMware Target to $120 |
OpCo raises its VMware (VMW, $107.37) price target to $120 from $110 based on evidence suggesting the company’s hybrid cloud strategy is resonating with customers.
With increasing adoption of newer solutions, the firm believes customers are likely to continue to increase their spending with VMware.
For more on VMware, see TechStock Radar—August 28, 2017. |
|
Friday, September 1, 2017, 10:25 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
JP Morgan Upgrades Palo Alto Networks |
JP Morgan upgrades Palo Alto Networks (PANW, $146.14) to ‘Overweight’ and lifts its price target to $182 from $140, saying FQ4 results indicate that the company’s sales execution issues that hindered its performance in the first half of FY’17 are now predominantly in the past. The firm points out growing traction for Palo Alto’s refreshed product line. |
|
Friday, September 1, 2017, 10:10 AM — by Rob DeFrancesco, TechStock Radar |
Palo Alto Networks Jumps 10% |
A solid demand environment and improved sales productivity helped drive upside for security solutions vendor Palo Alto Networks (PANW, $146.67) in the July quarter.
Revenue rose 27% to $509.1 million, beating the consensus estimate of $487.3 million. EPS of 92 cents topped the consensus by 13 cents.
In FQ4, recurring services revenue of $296.8 million (58% of total revenue) advanced 42%. Billings growth accelerated to 17% from 12% in the previous quarter.
For FQ1 (Oct.), Palo Alto sees revenue of $482 million to $492 million, vs. the consensus of $486.5 million.
Palo Alto shares this morning are up more than 10% on heavy volume.
Palo Alto Networks is a core security holding in the Tech-Stock Prospector Vulture Portfolio, added in June 2013, when the stock was trading at $39.42.
|