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Benzinga examined the prospects for many of investors’ favorite stocks last week.
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Optimistic calls of the week included the iPhone maker and electric vehicle stocks.
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A semiconductor maker and a Chinese Internet giant were among the pessimistic options.
The last week of trading in a tumultuous year offered little compared to a Santa Claus rally, with the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones industrial average rising about 1% and the Nasdaq essentially stable during the week. In the full year, however, the Dow rose about 6%, the S&P 500 was more than 14% higher and the Nasdaq had a gain of more than 41%. Not bad for a year that saw a market collapse in March.
The year ended with the progress of a third COVID-19 vaccine, the continuing political dispute in Washington and signs of life in the film industry. In addition, the e-commerce colossus has succeeded with a new venture, the leader of electric vehicles is about to expand and the days of a high-end chip maker may be numbered.
The end of the year is also a time to look to the future, with market themes to watch and predictions about FAANG’s shares, cryptocurrencies and more.
For all these reasons, Benzinga continued to examine the prospects for many of the most popular stocks among investors. Here are some of the most optimistic and pessimistic posts from last week that are worth a new look.
Bulls
In “3 reasons why Gene Munster says Apple will outperform in 2021” by Jayson Derrick, see why this well-known technology expert and venture capitalist believes that some key catalysts will help drive Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) higher stocks this year and make it a high-performing FAANG piece.
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) could exceed internal and Wall Street expectations in the fourth quarter, despite some “bumps”. This is according to Shivdeep Dhaliwal “Tesla on the way to surpass its ambitious delivery target of 500,000 deliveries for 2020, says Wedbush.”
“Instant rallies on new high street price target: Why Goldman Sachs is up,” by Shanthi Rexaline, examines why one of the leading analysts believes that Snap Inc (NYSE: SNAP) Shares are expected to rise further and fourth quarter revenue is likely to be well above consensus expectations.
In “Why BofA is raising its nio price target before the January 9 event,” Wayne Duggan discusses what makes electric cars Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO) will likely make the announcement at their next event. See what should give investors many reasons for optimism this year.
“Why KeyBanc is increasing continental resources”, by Priya Nigam, focuses on why the oil and natural gas exploration and production company Continental Resources, Inc. (NYSE: CLR) is now well positioned and could reinstate its dividends this year.
For additional optimistic calls from last week, also take a look at the following:
In Shanthi Rexaline’s article “Intel Analyst: Challenges In 2021 Look ‘Substantial’,” see how an analyst expects the leading chip maker Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) to respond to pressure from activists to make big changes. What could be next for the tech giant?
“Alibaba shares tank even when the e-commerce giant raises its share buyback target to B”, by Aditya Raghunath, shows why to boost Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd (NYSE: BABA) The share buyback program in the face of Chinese authorities’ anti-competitive polls did not please investors.
“Pile of bears on Chris Katje’s FuboTV after a 330% increase in 2020” argues that bears are questioning the assessment and long-term prospects for FuboTV Inc (NYSE: FUBO), one of the hottest stocks in the streaming market last year. Were five consecutive days of double-digit earnings too much?
Electric vehicle manufacturer Nikola Corporation (NASDAQ: NKLA) faces “lack of scale in the first 18 months of truck sales”, according to “JPMorgan reduces Nikola’s price target, sees ‘execution risk associated with a tarnished brand'” by Priya Nigam.
For more casualties, be sure to check out these posts:
At the time of this writing, the author had no position in the aforementioned actions.
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