Cisco  got rating upgrades from several analysts in recent times, as many companies are expected to ask employees to get back to offices after last year’s pandemic-related remote working directives.

Shares of the technology behemoth were boosted to outperform from peer perform at Wolfe Research, with the latter citing strong IT spending that's expected to be a tailwind to Cisco estimates through 2022.Wolfe raised its price target to $63 a share from $48. 

Goldman Sachs also recently noted that employees' return to offices (following last year’s COVID-19 pandemic-induced remote working environment) would lead to better IT spending – something that should benefit Cisco amid a replacement cycle for older technology. 

In early March, JPMorgan also boosted the outlook on the stock, citing a recovery in enterprise spending. 

 

Bristol-Myers Squibb  got  approval for Opdivo as a treatment for gastric cancer from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Opdivo as an injection combined with chemotherapy to treat patients with advanced or metastatic gastric cancer, gastroesophageal junction cancer, and esophageal adenocarcinoma.FDA’s approval is based on a Phase 3 trial.

As demonstrated in the … trial, Opdivo is the first and only immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy to deliver superior overall survival versus chemotherapy alone in first-line metastatic gastric cancer, gastroesophageal junction cancer, and esophageal adenocarcinoma,”said Adam Lenkowsky, general manager of oncology at the company.

Earlier this week, Truist boosted rating on the pharmaceutical company’s shares to buy from hold, citing optimism about its drug pipeline.

Editas Medicine  shares got a sell rating  from Goldman Sachs as the latter initiated coverage on the stock.

Goldman Sachs analysts set a price target of $20 a share, a Wall Street low, on the biotech shares.According to the analysts, the risk-reward dynamic was skewed negatively for the company.

Goldman analyst Madhu Kumar mentioned in a note that initial results from Editas’ experimental Crispr gene editing product EDIT-11 in a rare eye disease may not lead to adequate productive editing to meaningfully improve patients' vision.

Retail giant Walmart is investing in self-driving vehicle firm Cruise, as part of a new $2.75 billion funding round.

General Motors is the majority owner in Cruise.

Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner said the company is impressed with Cruise’s “differentiated business model, unique technology and unmatched driverless testing.”

Walmart has partnerships with six self-driving vehicle companies, including Cruise, Ford Motor and Alphabet-owned Waymo.

The first investment round in Cruise announced in January was $2 billion, and it  included Microsoft, GM, which acquired Cruise in 2016, and other institutional investors.The additional investment includes Walmart and other institutional investors, according to the company.

On Thursday, Delta Airlines reported quarterly loss that was steeper than analysts’ anticipated.

The airline reported an adjusted loss of -$3.55 for the first quarter, versus -$3.17 a share loss expected by analysts polled by Refinitiv.

Revenue of $4.15 billion, however came in higher than the  $3.91 billion expected by analysts.

The company expects to break even in June, with rebound in travel following COVID19-induced slump.It said that domestic leisure bookings recovered to about 85% of 2019 levels; but international and business travel remain affected.

For its second quarter, Delta predicts that revenue will be 50% to 55% lower than the same period of 2019, on scheduled capacity that’s a third lower than two years ago.

Nashville Mayor John Cooper announced that Oracle would fund a $1.2 billion campus in his city.  According to the Mayor’s office, the campus will generate about $8.8 million annually in local sales and use taxes.

The computer technology company’s campus is expected to bring 2,500 jobs to the city by the end of 2027 and 8,500 by the end of 2031.The investment potentially includes $175 million in public infrastructure. 

The mayor revealed that Oracle will pay upfront all the infrastructure costs.

Oracle has requested a public hearing to seek approval of an economic impact plan with the Metro Industrial Development Board.

 

 

Booking Holdings  shares got a rating boost to buy from hold by Jefferies analysts, on optimism about pent-up demand.

Analyst Brent Thill also raised his share price target on the online travel booking  company's shares to $2,800 from $2,300.The analyst mentioned in a research note that there is increasing signs of pent-up demand and consumer interest in travel.

While Thill is wary of pandemic uncertainties and 85-90% of revenues coming from markets where lockdowns are still in place, he is optimistic that these headwinds  will get mitigated by 2H21 as the rest of the world catches up with the U.S. on vaccination levels and global travel springs back.

 

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automaker General Motors  is facing a probe from U.S. regulators into  complaints the air bags on thousands of GM vehicles may not inflate in a crash.

The Office of Defects Investigation has received 15 consumer complaints of alleged air-bag-system malfunctions.Nine of those complaints mention the illumination of an airbag-malfunction indicator during the crash.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the inquiry covers nearly 750,000 Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC SUVs and pickup trucks from the 2020 and 2021 model years.

In December, GM recalled nearly 840,000 vehicles for suspension problems or due to the possibility of the front seat belts on the vehicles failing. 

Gilbert also raised his price target to $74 a share from $66. 

“We launched on U.S. major [pharmaceuticals] in October with an overall bullish view on the group, but we started with a hold rating on BMY pending greater visibility on key late-stage pipeline assets,” Gilbert wrote in a commentary.Since then, BMY has received regulatory approval for Abecma (ide-cel) and Breyanzi (liso-cel), and announced positive top-line Phase 3 results for deucravacitinib (TYK2 inhibitor) and relatlimab (LAG-3 inhibitor), Gilbert mentioned.

Gilbert cited pipeline progress coupled with results from detailed pipeline analysis as factors behind the rating boost.

Salesforce.com announced that it  is planning to reopen its San Francisco headquarters in May along with its offices in Palo Alto and Irvine, Calif.

The cloud company’s  tower in San Francisco has 61 floors and 1.4 million square feet of office space.In the first stage, which is limited to the U.S. and only in areas that have a company-assigned coronavirus risk rating that’s flat or decreasing, fully vaccinated employees can volunteer to join groups of up to 100 people who can work on certain floors; the company will require employees to take Covid tests twice a week.

Amazon  launched a new private-label food and snack brand, named Aplenty.

The brand is expected to offer hundreds of products, including mini cookies, pita chips, crackers, condiments, frozen foods, and baking needs.The products will be available to by online as well as in-store at Amazon Fresh.

Amazon told Winsight Grocery Business that Aplenty “is on a relentless pursuit of deliciousness.”  The company also mentioned that it made its products under the “highest standards with recipes rooted in quality ingredients to deliver great taste without artificial flavors, synthetic colors or high fructose corn syrup,” while adding that products are “rigorously taste-tested” and come with a money-back guarantee.

The device would would have other smart-home functions, including music player, gaming, video streaming and Apple’s Siri digital assistant.

Apple discontinued its HomePod smart speaker in March.Apple may be planning a new “high-end speaker with a touchscreen” to compete with Google Nest and Amazon Echo smart speakers, according to Bloomberg.

 

The auction led to  yield of 1.68% , compared to March 10 yield of 1.523%.

Investors bid $2.36 for every $1 on offer from the Treasury, auction data showed.Foreign buyers, the data took down just under 60% of the sale.

The breakeven rate between five-year Treasury bonds and five-year inflation protected securities was 2.48% this week, down from the 2008 high of 2.5% it touched last month.

Plug Power  got an equal-weight rating from Morgan Stanley analysts who resumed coverage of the company on Monday.

Analyst Stephen Byrd says that the hydrogen fuel cell producer’s stock price already reflects a substantial part of the expected rapid growth ahead of the company. Byrd mentioned the company’s product advantages, strong balance sheet, and strategic partnerships as factors that position the company well for the transition to a hydrogen economy.

Byrd has a $35 price target on Plug Power   shares, thereby implying multiples of 18 times 2023 enterprise value/sales and 0.6 times EV/sales growth. 

"Even after modeling in double-digit revenue growth through 2050 and significant margin expansion, our discounted cash flow analysis results in a modest 8% upside from current levels," Byrd said.

 

 

Diamond jewelry retail company Signet Jewelers boosted its revenue outlook for the first quarter to between $1.57 billion and $1.6 billion, from its prior estimate of $1.42 billion to $1.46 billion.

Signet said that it has experienced stronger than expected conversion and average ticket values in the first quarter.

For the full year, Signet expects to generate revenue between $6 billion and $6.14 billion, a higher range compared to its prior outlook of $5.85 billion to $6 billion.

According to Signet, its revenue is likely benefitting from combination of “traction from strategic initiatives as well as tailwinds from stimulus, tax refunds and consumer enthusiasm on the heels of vaccine rollouts".

Last month, Signet reported adjusted earnings of $4.15 per share, which exceeded the FactSet analyst consensus of $3.54 per share.Sales rose +1.5% year-over-year to $2.2 billion, ahead of the FactSet consensus of $2.1 billion. 

 

 

Online dating services company Match Group’s  shares got a rating boost from BTIG, citing valuation. Match is the owner of popular dating sites like Tinder, Match.com, and OkCupid.

BTIG analyst Jake Fuller raised his rating on Match to buy from neutral.He also sees upside to second-half 2021 and 2022-2025 numbers due to re-opening tailwinds, new products, the Hyperconnect acquisition and emerging brand/live streaming opportunities.

"The pandemic depressed Tinder ARPU [average revenue per user]," but a rebounding economy will help, the analyst added.

The analyst mentioned parallels between Apple's   "Think Differently" campaign and Tesla's power and storage goals.

"Consumers rave about the in-car software of Tesla and the ease of connectivity," Dorsheimer said."

According to Dorsheimer, as Tesla’s solar and energy storage products supply constraints are removed, “consumers will be able to become more entrenched in its electrification ecosystem.

Microsoft has agreed to acquire computer technology firm Nuance Communications  in a $20 billion all-cash deal.

Microsoft will pay $56 a share for Nuance, a 23% premium to its Friday closing price.It would be Microsoft's second-largest deal on record, after its $26 billion deal for Linkedin in 2016. 

"Nuance provides the AI layer at the healthcare point of delivery and is a pioneer in the real-world application of enterprise AI," said CEO Satya Nadella.

DeBlase hiked her price target to $244 from $222 per share.

According to DeBlase, despite Honeywell's solid metrics and other factors, the stock has been the worst performer in the multi-industry, electrical equipment and machinery (MI/EE) group year-to-date, after only showing average performance in 2020.DeBlase  views this as a “rare opportunity” to upgrade rating on the stock, particularly as the bank now expects 5% and 10% upside to consensus EPS forecasts for 2021 and 2022, among the most attractive in the MI/EE group.