5 big analyst picks: Adobe raised to Buy ahead of Q3 earnings

By Davit Kirakosyan

Here is your Pro Recap of the biggest analyst picks you may have missed since yesterday: upgrades at Adobe, McDonald’s, First Solar, and Owens Corning , and initiation with Buy rating at Snowflake.

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Adobe earns an upgrade ahead of Q3 results

Adobe Systems (NASDAQ:ADBE) shares rose more than 1% pre-market today after Mizuho Securities upgraded the company to Buy from Neutral and raised its price target to $630.00 from $520.00 ahead of the Q3 results next Thursday.

”Our enterprise checks were generally healthy, and more interestingly indicative of a much better F4QE,” Mizuho mentioned. According to the firm, web traffic has significantly grown, leading to expectations of a rise in Q3 net new Digital Media ARR.

Beyond the quarterly report, the firm believes Adobe is well-positioned to capitalize on digital transformation with its highly comprehensive end-to-end offering. Furthermore, the firm sees signs of improving fundamentals across Digital Media and Digital Experience, along with growing confidence in GenAI as a significant growth driver.

Snowflake started with Buy at DA Davidson

DA Davidson initiated coverage on Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW) with a Buy rating and a $200.00 price target.

Even after cloud optimization efforts that plagued software companies this year, we view Snowflake in an advantageous position, as they maintain best-in-class growth rates and are positioned well as a cloud data company to benefit from increasing demand for artificial intelligence.

The firm also mentioned that while 2023 might be tough for software sales, Snowflake's current growth deceleration seems accounted for in its stock price, and they believe the company's implied guidance for Q4/24 is conservative.

McDonald’s earns an upgrade at Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo upgraded McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $310.00, as reported in real-time on InvestingPro.

The bank noted that while general QSR trends are decelerating, they anticipate McDonald's to “stand tall via innovation tailwinds, digital initiatives and flight to value”.

With share prices declining, Wells Fargo believes there's an opportunity to invest in a top-tier operator that has the potential for growth in both comps and margins. The firm also highlighted upcoming catalysts such as the ongoing Best Burger roll out, an expected increase in unit growth in fiscal 2024 and beyond, and the upcoming December Analyst Day.

Two more upgrades

Deutsche Bank upgraded First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) to Buy from Hold and raised its price target to $235.00 from $220.00. As a result, shares rose more than 2% pre-market today.

The bank walked away positively after the Analyst Day, noting that First Solar presented a solid 3-year plan with improving numbers and core margins. Despite challenges facing the solar industry, such as weak residential demand, equipment pricing, and high interest rates, the bank believes First Solar is relatively protected from those concerns.

Goldman Sachs upgraded Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) to Neutral from Sell and raised its price target to $150.00 from $113.00.

We have been impressed by Owens Corning's ability to drive incremental productivity and balance production across segments as demand moderates. Given this, along with our view that housing will remain strong, we are turning more positive.

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