(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.) Friday’s analyst calls included widespread reaction to Apple’s big buyback announcement along with some upgrades to Arista and Union Pacific. Wall Street reaction to the Apple announcement was mostly positive, with Morgan Stanley saying “it’s hard not to be bullish” after the iPhone giant’s earnings call Thursday. Elsewhere, Jefferies lifted its target on Arista, admitting that its long-held “hold” call on the stock was wrong. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 6:12 a.m.: Wall Street reacts to Apple earnings Apple’s buyback announcement has caught the eye of Wall Street analysts. The technology giant announced its largest-ever share repurchase of $110 billion. That helped investors overlook the fact that iPhone sales slid 10% from the same quarter a year prior. Apple shares jumped nearly 6% in Friday premarket trading. Here’s what some of the biggest investment banks’ analysts told clients following the report: JPMorgan’s Samik Chatterjee (overweight, raised price target to $225 from $210, 30% upside): “The confluence of better-than-feared results in relation to F2Q (March-end) revenue and guidance for stronger than expected revenue growth in F3Q (June-end) are setting up a strong launch pad for the company in relation to results in FY24 as focus turns to the impending AI smartphone upgrade cycle in the coming years.” Morgan Stanley’s Erik Woodring (overweight, raised price target to $216 from $210, 24.8% upside): “Apple guided to an above-Street June Q, alleviated concerns about China iPhone, reached an all-time Services rev & GM record, authorized its largest incremental buyback in history, & hinted at Gen AI announcements to come in weeks. It’s hard not to be more bullish after that.” Goldman Sachs’ Michael Ng (buy, unchanged price target of $226, 30.6% upside): “F2Q24 provides demonstrable momentum across AAPL’s key categories and clears the way to a catalyst-rich NTM including increased clarity in AAPL’s generative AI initiatives (e.g., WWDC), new products (Let Loose event, iPhone launch), and ongoing Services momentum. We believe that the durability of AAPL’s installed base is underappreciated, and AAPL should improve revenue per user by increasing hardware units per iPhone user, Product price/mix, and Services attach & monetization as AAPL invests in its ecosystem.” — Alex Harring 6:08 a.m.: Jefferies upgrades Arista amid ‘extraordinary’ cloud capital expenditures Jefferies has turned bullish on Arista Networks as customers shell out for the cloud. Analyst George Notter upgraded the cloud networking stock to buy from hold and hiked his price target by $80 to $320. Notter’s new target implies 22.2% upside from Thursday’s close. Notter called capital-expenditure strength tied to the cloud “extraordinary,” while pointing to Arista as a “prime AI beneficiary.” On top of these optimistic views, the analyst said concerns about Nvidia as a competitor winning market share in the ethernet space have been “overblown.” “Now, it feels like the rush to deploy GPU-based infrastructure – including Ethernet-based infrastructure – will be lasting,” Notter said. “Moreover, it swamps concerns about spending choppiness or excess inventory among these customers.” Notter admitted the upgrade was a “mea culpa,” as he was previously concerned by customer concentration in Microsoft and Meta. “We’ve been carrying a Hold rating on Arista for a long time – of course, it’s been the wrong call,” he said. Arista shares rose about 2% in Friday’s premarket trading. The stock has climbed more than 11% this year. — Alex Harring 6:03 a.m.: Buy underperforming Union Pacific, Stifel says Stifel has moved off the sidelines on struggling Union Pacific shares, citing a “sweating-the-assets” mindset that can be good for business. Analyst Benjamin Nolan upgraded the railroad stock to buy from hold and increased his price target by $19 to $267. Nolan’s new target price implies the stock can advance 12.3% from Thursday’s close. Essentially, Nolan said the “sweating the assets” strategy involves driving increased productivity from owned business and pushing for higher prices, while cutting any unnecessary costs. He said service should still be key, but volume growth should be aided by the higher-margin industrial business rather than through attempting to win market share in lower-cost freight. “We are taking up our pricing assumptions and, consequently, our OR assumptions, which in turn drive higher EPS,” he said. “While still not as cheap as we would like, there is enough upside to justify upgrading.” Nolan’s upgrade offers a bright spot amid a tough period for Union Pacific. Shares have bucked the broader market’s climb and have actually slipped more than 3% in 2024. — Alex Harring — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
