Monday’s analyst calls: Nvidia price target hike, shoe stock to rally more than 50%

(This is CNBC Pro’s live coverage of Monday’s analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) A major chipmaker and a shoe maker were among the stocks being talked about by analysts on Monday. Morgan Stanley hiked its price target on Nvidia to $144, implying upside of 16.5%. Meanwhile, UBS upgraded Birkenstock to buy from neutral. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 6:27 a.m.: Deutsche Bank lifts its price target for Walmart Deutsche Bank thinks that a myriad of catalysts will push Walmart’s stock higher. Analyst Krisztina Katai stood by her buy rating for the retail giant but upped her price target to $77 from $71. Shares of Walmart have added 29% this year. Katai’s updated forecast is roughly 14% from where the stock closed on Friday. “Increased visibility into WMT’s earnings power from its high-margin alternative businesses – allowing the market to value its two businesses separately – will result in further multiple upside, in our view, making the investment case on WMT compelling,” Katai wrote. The analyst added that Walmart sees an opportunity for more gains as higher-income consumers shop at its stores — which could indicate that the brand’s perception is changing. “Further, the quality of assortment is improving (e.g. WMT sells Apple computers), which we think will begin to drive upside as sales mix improves,” she added. Katai also highlighted that additional profit opportunities could exist within alternative value streams, including advertising, membership, marketplace, fulfillment services and data monetization. Meanwhile, the company is also growing its e-commerce profitability, although it remains a loss leading business for the company. Additional catalysts for Walmart come from potential supply chain automation, private label penetration, store remodels and a growing international business. — Lisa Kailai Han 6 a.m.: Goldman Sachs initiates Verizon at a buy rating An improving industry backdrop will lend itself favorably to Verizon , according to Goldman Sachs. The bank initiated coverage of the telecommunications giant at a buy rating. Analyst James Schneider assigned the stock a 12-month price target of $50, which corresponds to a 21% increase from its Friday closing price. Shares of Verizon have climbed 9% in 2024. However, Schneider thinks the stock could continue climbing amid a favorable industry backdrop. “We see an improving competitive backdrop for mobile network operators in the US, punctuated by a period of declining capital intensity — a condition which has not existed in over a decade,” he wrote. “We believe Verizon can deliver a sustained return to revenue, EBITDA, and free cash flow growth over the coming 18 months with potential for a buyback in 2025 — and think the stock can re-rate as this occurs.” As a catalyst, Moore highlighted Verizon’s improving execution in its core wireless business, which the analyst called a self-sustaining trend. He also noted Verizon’s active deleveraging efforts, which could help its capital allocation story. Moore added that Verizon has a “significant runway” for its fixed wireless product cycle to grow among its consumer and business base. “Taken together with a continued moderate pace of FiOS net additions, we believe Verizon can grow its broadband business for the foreseeable future, thus mitigating ongoing business wireline declines,” he said. — Lisa Kailai Han 5:47 a.m.: Morgan Stanley hikes its Nvidia price target Nvidia should continue rising as its next generation of chips arrives, according to Morgan Stanley. Analyst Joseph Moore raised his price target for Nvidia to $144 from $116. The new forecast implies shares could rally nearly 17% from Friday’s close. Moore has an overweight rating on the stock. Nvidia has soared 149% this year. The analyst noted the artificial intelligence darling has a high bar to clear based on its valuation, but other factors mitigate this elevated multiple. NVDA YTD mountain NVDA year to date “We aren’t pounding the table at these levels given the sharp appreciation since the last earnings report, but this remains the most compelling narrative in the AI semis space, and as we transition from H100 to H200 and then Blackwell, visibility and backlog will improve materially,” he wrote. As a catalyst, Moore cited robust existing demand for Nvidia’s current microarchitecture of chips, Hopper. “Hopper builds continue to go up, as H100 starts to transition to H200 (bringing better memory bandwidth from HBM3e as well as higher memory content), and we are hearing confidence that sales of both products will remain strong,” he wrote. Meanwhile, “considerable enthusiasm” for Blackwell, Nvidia’s next-generation AI GPU, could continue to propel the company’s AI-related earnings higher, the analyst noted. — Lisa Kailai Han 5:47 a.m.: UBS upgrades Birkenstock to buy UBS sees major gains ahead for Birkenstock . The bank upgraded the shoe maker to buy from neutral. Its price target of $85, up from $52, implies upside of 56% over the next 12 months. “Our upgrade of BIRK is based on: 1) BIRK is successfully executing its [direct-to-consumer] expansion strategy better than we expected. 2) We see BIRK ramping rapidly in Asia-Pac. 3) We see [average sales prices] moving higher than previously thought, driven by a positive sales mix shift to DTC and successful intros of premium priced products in new categories.” analyst Jay Sole wrote. He also noted that his previous neutral rating on the stock was based on brand momentum worries and execution risk from new factories opening, among others factors. Birkenstock shares have climbed nearly 12% year to date. Over the past three months, the stock is up 16%. BIRK YTD mountain BIRK year to date — Fred Imbert