(Here’s CNBC Pro’s live coverage of Friday’s analyst call and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to see the latest posts.) Cybersecurity companies and industrial stocks were among the names analysts talked about Friday. DA Davidson initiated Palo Alto Networks with a buy rating. Meanwhile, Jefferies increased its price target on Ingersoll Rand. Check out the latest calls and chats below. All times are ET. 6:53 am: Oppenheimer moves from the sidelines on Nike, forecasts a 25% rally Oppenheimer turns bullish on Nike after a rough period. Analyst Brian Nagel upgraded the athletic apparel maker’s stock to outperform and reclaimed the stock as his top mega-cap pick. Nagel also raised his price target by $10 to $120, which now suggests the stock has a 25.6% upside. Nagel’s upgrade comes after he said the company has been struggling with external and internal hiccups that hurt sales growth and profit expansion. But he said Nike is now on a better path, forcing him to take a more constructive view that has a medium to long-term outlook. “Challenges remain for NKE,” he wrote in a Friday note to clients. “That said, we are increasingly of the opinion that multiple stock trades and closer financial expectations for NKE are now widely ‘underestimated’ and are ready to retreat slowly, as an effort by senior leaders to refocus on product innovation and brand building continues. ” Shares advanced more than 1% before the bell on Friday. The stock is down about 12% in 2024, putting it on track for a third straight year of losses. – Alex Harring 06:48: Align shares can soar more than 35% in the rally, Piper Sandler predicts that Align Technology can bounce big, but it has less room to open than previously believed, according to Piper Sandler. Analyst Jason Bednar maintained his overweight rating on the dental health stock while lowering his price target by $45 to $330. However, Bednar’s price target suggests the stock could rise about 36% over the next year. “Barring a surprise in our data next month, it looks like ALGN stock will be ahead of macroeconomic developments until management reports 2Q results in late July,” Bednar wrote in a Friday note to clients. “But we think the current fear combined with 2Q results that are just in line with the Street could help shape the start of a relief rally.” Bednar said orthodontic data appears to have stabilized in recent months. While they haven’t made predictions for second-quarter results, analysts said an in-line quarter with a repeat full-year outlook should be enough to send the stock up. That would be welcome news for the stock, which has fallen more than 11% so far in 2024. – Alex Harring 6:24 am: Analysts stand behind Pure Storage after the conference Pure Storage is still worth snapping up out of the company’s internal data management conference , according to Guggenheim. Analyst Howard Ma reiterated his buy rating on the data storage stock. His $72 price target suggests the stock could add 9.2% over the next 12 months. “Although no financial targets were discussed (as expected), the product strategy and proof points outlined by senior management give us increased confidence in Pure’s long-term opportunities,” Ma told clients in a Friday note. Ma pointed to management’s comments about the new Pure Fusion virtualization technology as “one of the biggest innovations in the storage industry in decades.” The company also appears close to announcing major advances in the hyperscaler design space, he said. With all of this, he said the company could accelerate again in the near term to see 20% or higher in terms of growth and free cash flow margins. “We believe that Pure’s software prowess has the potential to become the leading storage supplier for hyperscalers and the preferred architecture for AI workloads, two opportunities that we have said are potentially in the billions,” he said. Also, Evercore ISI’s Amit Daryanani reiterated his outperform rating after the meeting. Daryanani’s $75 price target indicates upside of 13.7%. “We think that PSTG is well positioned to support double-digit top-line growth over the past year with multiple growth drivers,” he said in a note Thursday. — Alex Harring 5:56 am: Jefferies raises price target for Ingersoll Rand The outlook for Ingersoll Rand looks brighter after recent acquisitions, according to Jefferies. Analyst Stephen Volkmann reaffirmed his buy rating on the industrial stock and raised his price target to $110 from $105. The new target shows an increase of 18%. Ingersoll Rand closed its acquisition of ILC Dover, a $2.3 billion deal, earlier this month. “When the market has factored in the cyclical recovery and margin increase from integration synergies, we see additional margin increase and significant capital deployment opportunities that are not yet in the numbers,” the analyst wrote. “Margin upside is driven by 1) greater integration project funnel, 2) increased mix into aftermarket and higher margin businesses, and 3) continued long-term lean/productivity initiatives,” he added. Shares of Ingersoll Rand have risen more than 20% year to date. – Fred Imbert 5:56 am: DA Davidson unveils Palo Alto coverage as DA Davidson buys Palo Alto Networks names as best idea, citing three cybersecurity platforms Analyst Rudy Kessinger initiated coverage with a buy rating and named the stock to the company’s top picks list. Kessinger’s $380 price target represents a 22.2% upside from Thursday’s close. Kessinger said one of the main reasons for optimism is that the company is firing on three cylinders when it comes to cybersecurity, while competitors focus on just one. He also mentioned the total addressable market of Palo Alto as a minimum, while noting that it could grow from $104 billion last year to $210 billion in 2028. Kessinger said that Palo Alto already holds only about 7% of the total addressable market, far of 20% or more seen by other information technology category leaders. “PANW has the best cybersecurity technology in Network Security/SASE, Cloud Security, & Operations Security/Endpoint Security, which no other cybersecurity vendor can say,” Kessinger wrote in a Thursday note to clients. “While there is room for greater integration within each platform & between each platform, PANW still allows greater vendor consolidation than any other pure play cybersecurity vendor in the market.” Palo Alto shares are up 5.5% this year. While the stock has underperformed the broader market in 2024, its gains are up from the more than 110% seen in the previous year. PANW YTD mountain PANW year to date — Alex Harring
Palo Alto Networks to pop more than 20%, Nike gets an upgrade
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