4 big analyst picks: BofA now bullish on EV maker XPeng, propelling shares higher

Here is your Pro Recap of the biggest analyst picks you may have missed since Friday: upgrades at XPeng, Lumentum, Strategic Education, and Cogent Communications.

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XPeng surges on BofA’s upgrade

China-based EV maker XPeng (NYSE:XPEV) shares were up more than 6% pre-market today after BofA Securities upped the company to Buy from Neutral and raised its price target to $22.00 from $16.30, as reported in real-time on InvestingPro.

The analyst said it expects the company "to turn a profit in 2025E vs. a net loss in our previous forecast," in part citing the company's cooperation with Volkswagen (OTC:VWAGY) Volkswagen (ETR:VOWG_p), which it says endorses the company's autonomous driving capabilities "and likely enhances its supply-chain management."

BofA also wrote that it sees "an improving product mix and a stronger cost control" boosting XPeng's gross profit margin over the next couple years, and that it expects the company to "improve its sales volume growth" due to its new model pipeline from the second half of this year through 2025.

The premarket surge more than takes back its Friday losses, when shares fell more than 4% on a worse-than-expected Q2 gross margin. Shares were recently changing hands at $14.98 in premarket trading.

Lumentum upgraded to Buy following Q4

Rosenblatt upgraded Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $62.00 after the company’s reported better-than-expected Q4 results last week, while guidance missed expectations.

The firm highlighted Lumentum's dominant role as the primary producer of laser chips for Datacom transceivers. This dominance extends beyond initial assessments, encompassing Coherent's (NYSE:COHR) transceivers as well, due to the customer preference for diversification in key component suppliers. According to Rosenblatt, the surge in demand for 800G Datacom transceivers, driven by the influence of AI, is projected to remain robust over several years.

"The company's Datacom revenues are expected to grow sequentially from here. Telecom is in the deepest part of the inventory correction in 2HCY23, but should strongly recover in 1HCY24."

Two more upgrades

Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) shares rose more than 3% on Friday after BofA Securities upgraded the company to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $90.00 (from $99.00).

The upgrade was based on the potential for EPS to outperform expectations. The bank raised its EPS estimates for 2023 and 2024 by 6.5% and 5.5% respectively.

"We think shares look attractive after a 25% pullback (since mid-April) despite enrollment exceeding plan and favorable macro tailwinds (including peak labor participation rates)."

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) shares rose more than 1% pre-market today after Goldman Sachs upgraded the company to Neutral from Sell and raised its price target to $64.00 from $43.00.

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