In this article, we will discuss the 10 stocks whose price targets were recently raised by analysts. If you want to see more such stocks on the list, go directly to Wall Street Analysts See Upside Potential for 10 Stocks with Rising Price Targets.
05. Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)
Upside Potential: 15%
As of January 16, financial institution Citi has revised its evaluation of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), a key player in the telecommunications industry. Citi has upgraded its rating on Verizon from Hold to Buy and concurrently raised the price target from $42 to $45, reflecting a substantial upside potential of 15% in compariosn to its current market price. The decision to bestow a Buy rating on Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) implies Citi’s strong endorsement of the stock as an attractive investment opportunity. This positive shift in the rating suggests that Citi anticipates Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) to outperform its industry peers, signaling confidence in the company’s growth prospects, strategic initiatives, or other favorable factors within the telecommunications sector. The adjusted price target of $45 emphasizes Citi’s optimistic outlook on Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) future market performance. This upward revision indicates Citi’s belief in the potential for significant appreciation in the stock’s value, providing investors with a clear signal to consider Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) as a compelling investment within the telecommunications landscape.
Ariel Global Fund made the following comment about Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in its Q3 2023 investor letter:
“By comparison, global communications and technology leader, Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), continued to weigh on performance following an article in the Wall Street Journal outlining concerns on lead cable lines posing a significant public health threat. Although the lead covered cable lines remain an overhang on shares, we find Verizon’s valuation to be compelling. The company delivered a solid earnings report, with subscriber and financial metrics in-line or ahead of consensus. Management also reiterated full year guidance and noted it may exceed its outlook for free-cash-flow. From a competitive and financial standpoint, we view Verizon to be among one of the best positioned telecoms in the world. Looking forward, we expect free cash flow to grow significantly in the years ahead as the company moves past the secular peak in 5G capital spending.”
04. Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW)
Upside Potential: 22%
As of January 16, financial firm Truist Financial has made significant adjustments to its assessment of Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW), a leading player in the cloud data platform industry. Truist Financial has increased its target price on Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) shares from $210.00 to $230.00, signaling a substantial upside potential of 22% in compariosn to its current market price. Simultaneously, Truist Financial has bestowed a “buy” rating upon the company. The decision to elevate the target price to $230.00 reflects Truist Financial’s optimistic outlook on Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) future market performance. This adjustment signifies Truist Financial’s confidence in the company’s potential for significant appreciation in stock value, considering factors such as anticipated improvements in financial metrics, strategic initiatives, or positive trends within the cloud data platform sector. The “buy” rating underscores Truist Financial’s strong endorsement of Snowflake as a favorable investment opportunity. This positive rating suggests that Truist Financial believes Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) is well-positioned to outperform its industry peers, and investors should consider it as an attractive option within the dynamic and competitive cloud data platform landscape.
ClearBridge Multi Cap Growth Strategy made the following comment about Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) in its Q2 2023 investor letter:
“While the ClearBridge Multi Cap Growth Strategy has limited mega cap exposure, which has been a recent headwind to relative performance, we own several companies that stand to benefit from the explosive growth in generative AI. These holdings play key roles in building out the necessary infrastructure and helping customers leverage capabilities enabled by this emerging technology.
Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW), a cloud-based data platform company, is positioned well to help enterprises better leverage their own data to get the most out of AI models. Though it is still early days in terms of adoption, Snowflake saw workloads for data science, machine learning, and AI use cases grow more than 90% year-over-year in its most recent quarter.”
03. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Upside Potential: 31%
As of January 17, Wells Fargo & Company has made notable revisions to its evaluation of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), a behemoth in the e-commerce and technology industry. Wells Fargo has increased its target price on Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares from $190.00 to $197.00, indicating a substantial upside potential of 31% in compariosn to its current market price. Concurrently, Wells Fargo has assigned an “overweight” rating to the company. The decision to raise the target price to $197.00 underscores Wells Fargo’s positive outlook on Amazon’s prospective market performance. This adjustment reflects Wells Fargo’s confidence in the company’s potential for significant appreciation in stock value, taking into consideration various factors such as expected improvements in financial metrics, strategic initiatives, or positive trends within the e-commerce and technology sector. The “overweight” rating emphasizes Wells Fargo’s endorsement of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) as an attractive investment opportunity. This rating suggests that Wells Fargo believes Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is well-positioned to outperform its industry peers, and investors should consider it favorably within the dynamic and competitive landscape of e-commerce and technology. Investors and market participants may interpret the 31% upside potential as a compelling opportunity, prompting a closer examination of the underlying factors contributing to this positive outlook. Analyzing how Amazon adapts to evolving market trends, technological advancements, and consumer behavior within the e-commerce and technology industry will be crucial for assessing the feasibility of the projected upside.
Tsai Capital Corporation stated the following regarding Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) in its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter:
“Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) ($151.94 – up 80.9% for the year. Recent high $155.63): Amazon, founded by Jeff Bezos in his garage in 1994, is the most dominant e-commerce company and owns Amazon Web Services (AWS), the leading cloud provider. Andy Jassy, formerly head of AWS, became CEO of Amazon in 2021 and is executing exceptionally well. Because of their scale, AWS and Amazon retail benefit from numerous competitive advantages, which in turn drive a high customer value proposition. For example, instead of using the benefits of size to maximize short-term profits, Amazon operates with a scale-economies-shared business model, giving back some of its margin to the underlying consumer. This in turn drives further demand and strengthens the company’s ecosystem. Amazon’s long-term strategy masks the underlying earnings power of the business. As consumers continue to shift their spending from in-store purchases to online shopping, and as data continues to migrate from on-premise servers to the cloud, we expect Amazon to grow revenue at a low double-digit rate for at least the next five years and increase its profit margins over time.”
02. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Upside Potential: 31%
As of January 16, financial institution KeyBanc has adjusted its evaluation of NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), a leading semiconductor manufacturer. KeyBanc has increased its price target on NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) shares from $670 to $750, indicating a substantial upside potential of 31%. Simultaneously, KeyBanc has reaffirmed an “overweight” rating for the company. The decision to elevate the price target to $750 underscores KeyBanc’s positive outlook on NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) future market performance. This adjustment signifies KeyBanc’s confidence in the company’s potential for significant appreciation in stock value, considering factors such as anticipated improvements in financial metrics, strategic initiatives, or positive trends within the semiconductor industry. The “overweight” rating emphasizes KeyBanc’s endorsement of NVIDIA as an attractive investment opportunity within the semiconductor sector. This rating suggests that KeyBanc believes NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is well-positioned to outperform its industry peers, and investors should consider it favorably within the competitive landscape of semiconductor manufacturing.
In its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter, ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Strategy stated the following regarding NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA):
“Much of that differential can be attributed to the performance of the Magnificent Seven (Alphabet, Amazon.com, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla), a basket of mega cap growth stocks that accounted for 47.8% of the benchmark return for the quarter and 65.4% for 2023.
The ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Strategy maintains exposure to six of the seven stocks, with overweights in Amazon.com, Meta and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA). Those three stocks, as well as Microsoft, were among the leading contributors to Strategy performance for the quarter. Microsoft and Nvidia continued to be supported by strong execution and leadership positions in the implementation of generative artificial intelligence (AI).
These are high-quality, cash flow generative businesses that we will continue to own, actively adjusting our positioning sizes based on risk/reward and portfolio construction priorities. With Nvidia shares more than tripling in 2023, we opportunistically took profits throughout the year, an approach that continued in the fourth quarter with additional trims that brought the position down to 6% of overall assets.
Active management of our mega cap exposure contributed to the Strategy outperforming the benchmark both in the fourth quarter and through the narrow leadership market of 2023. We also attribute these improved results to solid stock picking, being opportunistic in adding to or initiating new positions in growth companies at or near the bottom of their earnings cycle, and maintaining a commitment to diversification across our three buckets of growth: select, stable and cyclical.”
01. Repay Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:RPAY)
Upside Potential: 33%
As of January 16, Barclays analyst Ramsey El-Assal has made significant adjustments to the outlook for Repay Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:RPAY), a player in the financial technology industry. El-Assal has increased the price target on Repay Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:RPAY) from $9.00 to $10.00, indicating a noteworthy upside potential of 33%. Importantly, Barclays maintains an “Overweight” rating for the company. The decision to raise the price target to $10.00 signifies Barclays’ optimistic outlook on Repay Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:RPAY) future market performance. This adjustment suggests Barclays’ confidence in the company’s potential for substantial appreciation in stock value, considering factors such as anticipated improvements in financial metrics, strategic initiatives, or positive trends within the financial technology sector. The “Overweight” rating emphasizes Barclays’ endorsement of Repay Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:RPAY) as an attractive investment opportunity within the financial technology industry. This rating implies that Barclays believes Repay is well-positioned to outperform its industry peers, and investors should consider it favorably within the competitive landscape of financial technology.
Baron Small Cap Fund made the following comment about Repay Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:RPAY) in its first quarter 2023 investor letter:
“Shares of payment processing solutions provider Repay Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:RPAY) fell this quarter. Although the company reported strong fourth quarter results with 17% organic gross profit growth and 29% EBITDA growth, its 2023 financial guidance missed Street expectations. We believe Repay’s weaker outlook reflects macroeconomic uncertainty, the divestiture of a non-core business, tough comparisons in the B2B segment due to biennial political ad spending at its media clients, and, perhaps, some conservatism on the company’s part. We are disappointed that growth has slowed in the core consumer segment but are hopeful that results will return to mid-teens growth. We think the shares are silly cheap, at less than seven times depressed EBITDA, for a well-managed business with unique offerings and a scalable operating platform.”
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