Warner Bros. Discovery Eyes Turnaround With Upcoming Disney+ Bundle and NBA Deal, Analysts Say

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

Keybanc analyst Brandon Nispel upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery Inc (NASDAQ:WBD) from Sector Weight to Overweight and a $11 price target. WBD reported fiscal first-quarter revenue of $9.96 billion, a 6.9% year-on-year decrease, according to Nispel. This was against a consensus of $10.25 billion. The total adjusted EBITDA of $2.10 billion, a 19.5% year-on-year decrease, fell short of the consensus of $2.18 billion. Nispel added that a $200 million content impairment for the Studios segment negatively impacted the results. However, free cash flow (FCF) of $390 million exceeded the consensus of $8.0 million, thanks to a strike that improved working capital and reduced capital spending. Nispel noted that the numbers have likely bottomed out. Regardless, a resolution to the NBA issue is expected to be positive. Direct-to-consumer (DTC) profitability, subscriber growth, and average revenue per user (ARPUs) are all expected to continue improving. According to Nispel, the stock is washed out and likely ready for […]

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CFRA Upholds Buy Rating On Shares Of Fiserv, Inc.

/ / Industrials /

FI’s Q1 earnings were strong and are being well received today, driven by 1) better-than-expected bottom line results (adj-EPS of $1.88 surpassed consensus by $0.09); 2) sustained Clover revenue uptick, up 30% Y/Y with VAS penetration of 20%; and 3) raised 2024 guidance for adj-EPS of $8.60-$8.75 and adj-operating margin expansion of at least 125 bps. Q1 adj-revenues came in at $4.54B (+7%, +20% organically), led by Merchant Solutions (+13%, +36% organically). Financial Solutions were a little softer (+2%, +5% organically), but we note key client wins should support demand for digital payment solutions. Our 12-month target price of $180 (unchanged), 18.1x our 2025 EPS estimate, is a slight premium to FI’s three-year average of 17.0x. We up our 2024 EPS view by $0.10 to $8.75 and keep 2025’s at $9.95. Our outlook remains positive given the opportunity we see in Merchant Solutions, specifically Clover, based on sustained annualized GPV

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CFRA Maintains Buy Recommendation On Shares Of Akamai Technologies, Inc.

/ / Technology /

We trim our target price to $103 from $132, on a P/E of 16x our NTM EPS view of $6.42, above its three-year historical average on rising momentum in its Security and Compute businesses. We cut our 2024 EPS view to $6.38 from $6.76 and drop our 2025 EPS forecast to $6.96 from $7.49. AKAM posted Q1 revenue of $987M, missing consensus by $2.18M, and non-GAAP EPS of $1.64 beat by $0.03. Security revenue accelerated 21% Y/Y (vs. 6.4% in Q1 2023), while Compute revenue increased 25% Y/Y. Compute registered strong momentum from rapid growth in customer count and uptake of new cloud computing solutions, up more than 4x on a year-over-year basis. Security saw continued strength with Zero Trust, its Guardicore segmentation solution, and Akamai API security. However, Content delivery was weaker than expected from slower traffic growth and cost optimization efforts with a large social media customer. We

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Robinhood Markets, Inc. (HOOD) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

/ / Financials /

Robinhood Markets (HOOD)Q1 2024 Earnings CallMay 08, 2024, 5:00 p.m. ET Contents: Prepared Remarks Questions and Answers Call Participants Prepared Remarks:   Operator Hello and welcome to Robinhood first quarter 2024 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speakers’ presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. [Operator instructions] I would now like to turn the call over to Chris Koegel, VP of corporate FP&A and investor relations. You may begin. Chris Koegel — Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Financial Planning and Analysis Thank you, Joanda, and thank you, everyone, for joining Robinhood’s Q1 earnings call. With us today are CEO and Co-Founder Vlad Tenev and CFO Jason Warnick. Before getting started, I want to remind you that today’s call will contain forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from our expectations, and we have no duty to provide updates unless legally required. Potential risk factors

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Alphabet’s Talks to Acquire HubSpot Advance

/ / Technology /

Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) is in advanced discussions to acquire HubSpot (HUBS), negotiating terms of a potential deal, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The companies are still in talks, with no final agreement reached yet, and there’s no assurance that a deal will materialize, sources told Bloomberg, adding that another potential buyer could also emerge. HubSpot, specializing in customer relationship management for smaller businesses, currently has a market value of $30 billion, the report said. Last month, Reuters reported that Google parent Alphabet had engaged in discussions with bankers regarding a potential offer for HubSpot.

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Airbnb Stock Plummets As JPMorgan Analyst Praises ‘Solid Q1, Stable Q2, Acceleration In Q3’

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

Shares of Airbnb Inc (NASDAQ:ABNB) declined by 7.69% to $147.75 in the premarket session on Thursday and continued to tank after the house-rental company reported first-quarter results. The results came amid an exciting earnings season. Here are some key analyst takeaways. JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth reiterated a Neutral rating, while raising the price target from $140 to $145. Goldman Sachs analyst Eric Sheridan maintained a Sell rating, while lifting the price target from $123 to $130. BMO Capital Markets analyst Brian Pitz reaffirmed a Market perform rating, while raising the price target from $135 to $151. Piper Sandler analyst Thomas Champion maintained a Neutral rating, while lifting the price target from $145 to $155. Wedbush analyst Scott Devitt reiterated a Neutral rating and price target of $160. JMP Securities analyst Nicholas Jones reaffirmed a Market Perform rating on the stock. KeyBanc analyst Justin Patterson maintained a Sector Weight rating on the stock.

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Apple Stock Has Room to Rise. Don’t ‘Underestimate’ the IPhone. — Barrons.com

/ / Technology /

By Angela Palumbo Apple stock has been regaining its footing after earnings, and Evercore ISI expects more gains, largely from the tech company’s most popular product. Analyst Amit Daryanani rates Apple at Outperform with a target of $220 for the price, which implies a gain of 20% from its closing level of $182.74 on Wednesday. The stock has dropped 4.7% this year but is up 5.6% over the past 12 months. Wall Street has been waiting to see how Apple will respond as other tech companies unveil initiatives linked to generative artificial intelligence, as well as whether it can improve its market share in China. Concern about both points has weighed on the stock, but Daryanani said in a note Thursday that “investors should not underestimate the ability of the iPhone to continue to deliver growth over the next five years.” The iPhone is by far the largest revenue generator

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CFRA Keeps Buy Opinion On Shares Of Airbnb, Inc

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

We cut our 12-month target price to $170 from $188, on an above-peer P/E of 32x our 2025 view. We lift our 2024 EPS view to $4.67 from $4.61 and cut 2025’s to $5.30 from $5.36. ABNB posted Q1 adj. EBITDA of $424M vs. $262M, beating the $326M consensus. Revenue rose 18%, underpinned by a 12% increase in GBV. Top-line strength was driven by a 10% rise in Nights/Experiences booked to $133M, reflecting sustained vigor in travel demand and the favorable timing of Easter. Revenue was further driven by higher take rates and steady supply growth of 17%. Geographically, performance was mixed, with NA and EMEA remaining stable, while Latin America and Asia Pacific exhibited strong bookings growth of 19% and 21%, respectively. Looking ahead, we anticipate a moderation in nights growth across the industry, but expect ABNB to gain market share through new offerings like Icons, Group Trips, and

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Uber on Course for Long-Term Growth Despite Recent Potholes, BofA Securities Says

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

Uber Technologies (UBER) topped Wall Street expectations on most measures when it reported its Q1 results earlier this week and the ride-hailing company is poised to to catch up and eventually surpass many of its peers over the next year and beyond, BofA Securities said Thursday in a research note. Uber took a 6% hit during Wednesday trading after reporting an unexpected Q1 net loss, but the BoA analysts hardly mentioned the earnings miss, instead focusing on metrics like bookings, revenue and free cash flow growth. By those measures, the company was rolling along well, they said, writing Thursday Uber shares are now “attractively valued.” BoA Securities also lowered its price target for Uber shares to $87 from $91 previously to reflect a small discount for the company to the so-called FANG stocks – Facebook (META); Amazon.com (AMZN); Netflix (NFLX) and Google (GOOG, GOOGL) – setting the pace for consumer-oriented

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Airbnb’s Revenue Growth Likely to Accelerate in Second Half, Wedbush Says

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

Airbnb’s (ABNB) revenue growth is likely to accelerate in the second half of this year, though higher marketing expenses are likely to affect profitability, Wedbush said in a note Thursday. The firm said a “modestly higher” marketing expense, which is one of the reasons behind the company’s lower-than-expected EBITDA guidance for Q2, is likely to persist through yearend. Airbnb’s Q2 revenue guidance of $2.68 billion to $2.74 billion is also seen as modestly below analyst estimates and implying slower-than-expected room night growth and slight margin compression, it said. “We think the room night guidance may ultimately prove conservative and note that bookings in [Q2] are likely back-half weighted and build through the quarter into the beginning of the peak summer travel season,” Wedbush said. According to Wedbush, the company is seeing bookings for stays in Q3 outpacing last year, resulting in a backlog that is expected to drive accelerating revenue

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Arm Holdings 4Q Revenue Jumps 47%, But Shipments Drop 10%

/ / Technology /

Arm Holdings is one of the most mentioned companies in the U.S. across all news items in the past 12 hours, according to Factiva data. The semiconductor and software design company on Wednesday posted a fiscal fourth-quarter net profit of $224 million, or 21 cents a share, with revenue jumping 47%, to $928 million. Analysts polled by FactSet had forecast sales of $865.9 million. Arm Holdings said chips reported as shipped declined to 7 billion. For the first quarter, revenue is expected to be $875 million to $925 million, exceeding analysts expectations of $866.4 million. It expects fiscal-year revenue of $3.8 billion to $4.1 billion, in line with analysts views. Shares are recently down 2%. Dow Jones & Co. owns Factiva.

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Apple’s iPhone Shipments to China Surge by 12% in March, UBS Says

/ / Technology /

Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone shipments to China increased by 12% in March, UBS Securities said in a note emailed Thursday. “On Apple’s most recent earnings call, one of the biggest surprises was the disclosure that iPhone revenue increased YoY in the March quarter despite data that suggested ‘sell-through’ was down high-teens for the quarter,” UBS said. UBS highlighted that Apple’s revenue recognition policies, recognizing revenue upon shipment, partially explain the “surprise” between shipment and sell-through data. In March, Apple shipments in China rose by 12% year-over-year, while sell-through declined by 13%. Additionally, Apple reduced iPhone channel inventory during the quarter, particularly in March. “In China, we estimate sell-through was a just few hundred thousand above sell-in, modestly reducing channel inventory in that market,” UBS added. UBS has a neutral rating on Apple with a 12-month price target of $190.

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