The analyst cited the following factors behind his optimism for JNJ’s attractiveness in 2020: “(1) multiple regulatory actions aimed at controlling pharmaceutical pricing are more reflected, (2) pharma growth like accelerates in 2020, which historically has lifted the multiple and (3) the portfolio is now more balanced with consumer stabilizing and medical devices and diagnostics coming off six consecutive quarters of momentum improvement." Major growth drivers include the cooling off of pharma headwinds, strong performances by franchises such as Stelara and Darzalex, and pipeline drivers such as Tremfya and Spravato – according to Lewis.

According to analysts at Jefferies, Activision Blizzard is on track to experience a substantial boost in earnings, amid consumers’ growing engagement in  playing games on their smartphones. Jefferies analysts Alex Giaimo and Ken Rumph indicated that Activision's mobile gaming division is set to become a $1 billion business by 2023, adding 25 cents of incremental revenue. A survey commissioned by Jefferies reveals that 90% (of the 1,000 smartphone owners polled) play games on their phones, while 41% reported the time spent on mobile games had increased over the past year. Activision’s 'CoD Mobile' (Call of Duty) already garnered 100 million downloads, or four to five times annual console/PC sales, the analysts wrote.According to the Jefferies analysts, 'CoD Mobile' alone will contribute $300 million in gross bookings and 7 cents a share in earnings in 2020.  

  The analysts reiterated its buy rating on Nvidia, with a price target of $255, representing an upside of more than 12%. According to the Jefferies analysts, Nvidia has continued strength in data center business and gaming business .Training and inferencing solutions for conversational AI applications, and the adoption of RTX GPUs by game titles were cited by the analysts  as major drivers of growth. The analysts also mentioned that Nvidia is benefitting from the development over the past decade of the ecosystem with GPU processors, CUDA software stack, and domain-specific application libraries.

While that might have assuaged trade war fears, certain elements of the apparent truce still remain unclear for now. Thanks to the phase one agreement, China held off tariffs that were scheduled for Sunday on US goods.The US also withdrew from its prior plan of slapping 15% tariffs on $160 billion worth of Chinese imports by Sunday.  Reuters reported that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told reporters that China would buy at least $16 billion more agricultural goods in each of the next two years,  adding to the 2017 baseline of $24 billion.

Revenue, however, fell behind estimates. The software and technology company’s non-GAAP net income for the quarter came in at $3 billion, or 90 cents a share – higher than the 89 cents a share that analyst polled by FactSet had estimated. Revenue of $9.61 billion came in lower than analysts’ expectation of $9.65 billion. Oracle CEO Safra Catz  mentioned strengths  in Fusion and NetSuite cloud applications businesses with Fusion [Enterprise Resource Planning] revenues growing 37% and NetSuite ERP revenues growing 29%.According to Catz, ERP segment of its cloud applications business has enabled Oracle to deliver a “double-digit EPS growth rate year after year”; he is sanguine that the company will deliver similar results again this year. For the coming quarter, analysts are expecting net income of $3.2 billion, or 97 cents a share, on sales of $9.8 billion.

The figure is also higher than the year-ago quarter’s $1.83. Revenue climbed +21% to $2.99 billion, also surpassing estimates of $2.97 billion. For the fiscal first quarter, Adobe expects non-GAAP earnings to come in at $2.23 a share – in line with the FactSet-derived consensus estimate.It predicts  the year's revenue to be $13.15 billion, close to the consensus estimate of $13.16 billion.  John Murphy, executive vice president and CFO, indicated that the company is bullish about opportunities and ability to continue to deliver strong top- and bottom-line growth.

General Electric got a price target hike and rating upgrade from UBS analysts, who are optimistic about the conglomerate’s ongoing turnaround under CEO Larry Culp. UBS analyst Markus Mittermaier raised his rating on GE shares to "buy" from "hold", citing the group's balance sheet improvements that he expects would  bolster cash flows in the coming year.Culp has targeted asset sales of around $38 billion to take care of both the company's longer-term debt profile and its underfunded pension liabilities.

The figure is  also lower than the year-ago quarter’s 30 cents a share. Revenue increased +6.1% year-over-year to $299.4 million, beating Wall Street estimates of $296 million.Entertainment revenue was $174 million, exceeding estimates of $173 million. CEO Brian Jenkins indicated that the company’s strong new store performance, progress in advancing near-term priorities, and sustainable shareholder value are some of the key strengths. Looking ahead, Dave and Busters boosted the mid range of its full year 2019 adjusted EBITDA to $277.5 million for the year, up from a previous forecast of $277 million.

 A major boost came from the launch of Stitch Fix's two new "direct buy" offerings  (Shop Your Looks and Shop New Colors) that supported inventory clearance and leveraged group expenses.   For the fiscal second quarter, Stitch Fix is expecting net revenues in the range of $447 million to $455 million, and a client growth rate similar to that in the first quarter.The company has projected adjusted earnings to grow to between $10 million and $15 million. Looking into the full-fiscal year 2020, the company expects net revenue in the range of $1.9 billion to $1.93 billion (which implies a +22.5% growth rate at the higher end of the forecast range).

GameStop shares slumped by double digits during after-hours trading Tuesday, after the company reported bottom-line that  missed analysts' expectations. For the quarter ended Nov. 2,  the video game retail company’s net loss came in at  -$1.02 a share, narrower than the year-ago quarter’s loss of -$4.78.Adjusted loss  from continuing operations was -49 cents a share, compared with earnings of 49 cents a year earlier.  Analysts were expecting earnings of 11 cents a share . GameStop’s revenue declined -26% to $1.44 billion, missing analysts’ estimate of $1.62 billion. For the full-year, the company projects  adjusted earnings of 10 to 20 cents a share, which is  below the Street’s expectation of $1.21 a share. CEO George Sherman mentioned that the company is on track to achieve its $200 million annualized operating-profit improvement goal by 2021.  

Netflix Inc. shares fell Tuesday, after analysts at Needham & Company lowered their rating on the stock. Needham analyst Laura Martin cut her rating on the video streaming company’s shares to "underperform", from "hold".Martin indicated that heated competition in the online streaming industry could cause Netflix to lose as many as 4 million of its 60.6 million U.S. subscribers next year in its premium pricing tier of between $9 and $16 per month.  According to Martin, Netflix would likely have to offer lower-priced options, alongside its premium tier, in order to compete better with other streaming platforms like those from Walt Disney Co, Viacom, Comcast and Apple - all of which offer a net price bracket of between $5 and $7 per month.   

The EPS was, however, down -32% from the year-ago quarter.  Revenue fell -3.1% year-over-year to $2.38 billion, but exceeded analysts’ estimate of $2.19 billion. Contracts were up +18% in units and 12% in dollars, for the fourth quarter. Chairman and Chief Executive Douglas Yearley Jr. emphasized that October housing starts were the strongest since July 2007, while the supply of homes on the market "remains constrained."   He also hinted at tailwinds from healthy consumer confidence and interest rates, and low unemployment rate. For the first fiscal quarter, Toll Brothers projects deliveries of 1,650 to 1,850 homes, with an average price in the range of $800,000 to $820,000.

France’s pharmaceutical company Sanofi will buy biotech company Synthorx. Sanofi will pay  $68 cash a share, or $2.5 billion for the acquisition.Synthorx  is focused on treating cancer and autoimmune disorders. The deal, expected to close in the first quarter next year, is expected to boost Sanofi’s immuno-oncology portfolio, as indicated by the company. In a separate announcement,  Sanofi revealed  that its Sanofi Pasteur global vaccines unit entered a $226 million collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to increase the company’s domestic pandemic influenza vaccine production capabilities at its Swiftwater, Pa., plant.

Merck & Co. will acquire oncology specialist ArQule in a $2.7 billion deal. Merck said it will pay $20 for each  ArQule share, which would be a premium of more than 100%  to the stock's closing price of $9.66 Friday on the Nasdaq. ArQule specializes in research and development of targeted therapeutics for treatment of cancers and rare diseases. The merger would allow  Merck access to ArQule’s experimental treatment ARQ 531, a precision medicine that customizes treatment to a patient’s genetic profile.  

Chewy Inc. shares declined during pre-market trading Tuesday - after reporting wider-than-expected losses the previous day, and ahead of the expiry of early investors’  lock-up period. On Monday, the online retailer of pet food and other pet-related products reported  third quarter loss of -20 cents per share –which was wider than anticipated. However, total sales increased +40% from the same period last year to $1.23 billion.It projects adjusted operating profit margin improvement of between 4.4% and 4.6%. In June, Chewy went public, finishing its first day of trading at $34.99 per share , +59% above its IPO price.

Both Page and Brin will remain on the company board, though. According to several analysts, Pichai's new role is unlikely to have a  major impact in the near term,  since investors already know the executive’s achievements at search engine Google well and largely expect  business to continue as usual. But at the same time,  the shuffle could be indicative of positive changes at Alphabet. Ever since Pichai stepped in as  Google CEO in August 2015, shares of Alphabet have gained around +100%  -well exceeding the S&P’s gain of +60% in the same period. Pichai worked at Applied Materials and McKinsey before joining Google in 2004.

DocuSign reported a narrower-than-expected  fiscal-third-quarter loss . For the three months ended Oct. 31, the e-signature solutions company reported a net loss of -26 cents a share, compared to FactSet- polled analysts' expectation of  -31 cents loss a share.Analysts' expected $240.4 million (according to FactSet survey). For the full year, DocuSign expects its revenue to range between $962 million to $966 million.

Ulta Beauty’s third-quarter earnings surpassed expectations,  on the back of sales of celebrity-led product lines. The beauty/skincare retail company reported earnings of $2.25 a share for the latest quarter, compared to $2.13 expected by analysts polled by Refinitiv. Revenue increased to $1.68 billion from $1.56 billion a year ago, but was slightly below analyst estimate of $1.69 billion. Same-store sales growth came in line with analysts’ expected +3.2%. The company has cited celebrity cosmetics-brands like those from Kylie Jenner and YouTuber James Charles for boosting demand at its stores. For the full-year, Ulta narrowed its earnings guidance to a range of $11.93 to $12.03 per share- from its prior forecast of $11.86 to $12.06 per share.

Big Lots  reported a fiscal-third-quarter loss narrower than anticipated, as the company continued to emphasize on cost-cutting and restructuring. For the three months ended November 2, the retail company incurred an adjusted loss of -18 cents a share, compared to the -20 cents loss expected by analysts polled by FactSet.In the year-ago quarter, the loss was -12 cents a share. The results include an after-tax gain of $136.6 million, or $3.49 a share, from the sale of the company's distribution center in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., as well as after-tax expense of $2.6 million, or 7 cents a share, associated with the company's strategic business revamp. Big Lots’ sales for the quarter increased +1.6% to $1.17 billion, in line with the $1.2 billion expected by analysts. Same-store sales decreased -0.1%, compared to the company’s guidance of flattish growth.  For the fourth-quarter, Big Lots has projected earnings of $2.40 to $2.55 a share, and expects a slight incre

The year-over-year wage growth rate came in at + 3.1%, above analysts’ forecasts of +3%. The latest jobs reports potentially spells hope amid uncertainties related to US-China trade relations, slowing business fixed investment and weakening manufacturing output of recent times. Manufacturing sector added 54,000 positions in November, out of which 41,000 were in auto manufacturing.General Motors workers, who came back from their October strike, helped in boosting job gains. U.S.