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Investing.com -- Here is your Pro Recap of the biggest analyst picks you may have missed since Friday: an initiation at Outperform for Walt Disney , as well as upgrades for Carvana , Micron, Unity Software, and Shake Shack.
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Walt Disney started at Outperform at Raymond James
Raymond James initiated coverage on Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) Monday with an Outperform rating and a price target of $97.00.
The firm believes Disney's assets position the company favorably in the evolving media landscape, as it offers strong streaming services and a valuable portfolio of intellectual property.
The analysts elaborated:
"With two scaled U.S. Streaming services in Disney+ (46M domestic subs) and Hulu (48M), as well as ESPN+, Disney is bundling its services, driving higher Average Revenue Per Account (ARPA), lower churn, and strong pricing power."
Shares were nearly unchanged at the open Monday.
Micron shares gain on Deutsche Bank upgrade
Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) shares rose more than 1% pre-market Monday after Deutsche Bank upgraded the company to Buy from Hold and raised its price target to $85.00 from $65.00.
Deutsche Bank noted that its previous neutral stance on Micron was based on the challenges besetting the semiconductor industry, such as excess inventory in the supply chain and weak macroeconomic demand.
The analysts said, however, that they "now see the worst of the downcycle as behind us, given aggressive production cuts by all suppliers, as well as pockets of demand strength particularly in AI servers (for both HBM and DDR5)."
Shares were trading up 0.9% to $70.49 early in Monday trading.
Carvana upped to Neutral at Wedbush
Wedbush on Monday upgraded beleaguered used-car purveyor Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) to Neutral from Underperform with a $48 price target.
The analysts in part cited the company's just-completed debt exchange and improving profitability, which it believes "could drive upside in 3Q23 and 4Q23, and also give the company at least two years of breathing room to execute."
Wedbush also mentioned recent "significant progress on operational initiatives," adding that Carvana is also benefiting from "more favorable industry pricing conditions, loan sales that are on pace to greatly exceed originations, and favorable pricing in the ABS [asset-backed securities market, which should help drive upside in the near-term."
The move comes after the United Auto Workers (UAW) union announced a strike at the big three automakers, Ford (NYSE:F), General Motors (NYSE:GM), and Stellantis (NYSE:STLA), after which investors bid Carvana shares up more than 13% in that session on the belief that the work stoppage could impact new vehicle production in the US, thus pushing up rental car prices and ultimately benefiting the company.
Shares retreated 6.6% Friday but, overall, shares are up tremendously for the year, with gains of more than 1,000% as the company has pulled back from the brink of bankruptcy.
Shares opened Monday trading with a 1% gain to $52.74.
Unity Software raised to Buy at BofA
BofA Securities on Friday upgraded Unity Software (NYSE:U) to Buy from Neutral and raised its price target to $56.00 from $46.00, as reported in real time on InvestingPro.
The bank is positive on recent pricing changes and thinks risks for the company are well understood and are more than reflected in the valuation, commenting:
Unity announced pricing and plan changes on September 12 for Unity Runtime and Unity Plus customers. The stock has since traded down roughly 8% on fears pertaining to potential creator churn. We believe U’s incremental monetization opportunity outweighs the risks.
Shares rose 1.7% Friday, but were losing 4.1% to $34.82 shortly after the open.
Shake Shack earns an upgrade at Northcoast Research
Northcoast Research upgraded Shake Shack (NYSE:SHAK) to Buy from Neutral on Friday with a price target of $85 as dine-in traffic continues to strengthen.
The analysts said they believe Shake Shack "is well positioned to drive industry-leading, double-digit unit growth for years as development opportunities remain robust globally, in the US, Canada, Europe and Asia."
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