Apple, Alibaba, Amazon, and More: Analysts Are Loving These Five Stocks on Thursday

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is 0.8% in the green today as some buyers likely bought due to notes from RBC Capital analyst Amit Daryanani, who bumped up his Apple price target to $125 per share from $120. One reason for the hike is that RBC Capital’s survey of over 6,000 customers showed that consumers are favoring the larger iPhone model more and more. Daryanani thinks the shift could be positive enough to allow Apple’s combined average selling price for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus to beat the Street’s expectations. In addition, the survey showed a stronger preference for ancillary services and products, which again could help Apple beat Wall Street estimates. Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 56% in the second quarter, to over 15.2 million shares at the end of June.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) hit a 52-week high on Thursday after analysts at UBS raised their price target on the stock to $124 from $107. The analysts like Alibaba’s increasing focus on Cloud/Media and think Alibaba has a long runway of growth in terms of potential e-commerce rate raising and increasing brand advertising monetization. The smart money was more optimistic on Alibaba in the second quarter, as the number of funds in our system with holdings in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) rose by two to 69 by the end of June.

Like Alibaba, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has also surged to a 52-week high on the back of positive analyst commentary, this time from analysts at Argus, who raised their rating on Jeff Bezos’ firm to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’. The analysts think the market isn’t giving full credit to Amazon’s growth, which is unparalleled for an e-commerce company of Amazon’s size. For long-term investors, Argus thinks Amazon shares should be bought on weakness and accumulated, as current levels offer attractive entry points. 145 funds that we track were bullish on Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) as of the most recent 13F reporting period, up by 12 funds from the previous reporting period.

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