Author: Chris Katje

Ahead of second-quarter financial results, a Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) analyst says investors aren’t focused on earnings, but rather what comes next after Tuesday’s report.

The Tesla Analyst: Guggenheim analyst Ronald Jewsikow reiterated a Sell rating on Tesla and $134 price target.

The Analyst Takeaways: Investors will be focused on what comes next for Tesla and not the past earnings, Jewsikow said.

Read Also: EXCLUSIVE: Tesla ‘An Elon Musk And A Technology Story First, EV Story Last’ — Market Strategist Explains Why To Buy The Stock

The analyst said Tesla delaying the robotaxi event from Aug. 8 will be top of mind for investors.

“With the planned 8/8 event now formally delayed, investors will look for color on the new timeline, what to expect at the event and more details on the delay,” Jewsikow said.

The delay in the Robotaxi event has led to investors seeing the segment as less actionable, according to the report.

The analyst said 2024 volume guidance could also be a key item to watch in the earnings report.

“We don’t believe guiding for y/y volume growth is realistic, but we do not see CEO Elon Musk indicating negative volume growth as his forecast.”

China and market share in the country could also be a key focus in the earnings report, the analyst said.

“How does TSLA return to growth with so much competitively priced product in China?”

The analyst expects Tesla to beat earnings per share estimates and miss on automotive gross margins (ex-credits) due to “large discounting actions.”

Jewsikow currently ascribes no value to robotaxis, robots, artificial intelligence or insurance when forecasting a price target on Tesla.

TSLA Price Action: Tesla shares are down 1% to $249.25 on Tuesday versus a 52-week trading range of $138.80 to $278.98. Tesla stock is up 0.3% year-to-date in 2024, after gaining over 30% in the past month, as seen on the Benzinga Pro chart below.

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The airline sector was one of the hardest hit by the Microsoft Outage and CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) issue on Friday.

While the issues have subsided in recent days, one airline may demonstrate its resilience and ability to avoid the outages that impacted its competitors.

What Happened: An update by CrowdStrike impacted industries and companies using Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) software and cloud services on Friday.

The airline sector was hit particularly hard with Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL), United Airline Holdings (NASDAQ:UAL) and American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) all suffering outages and grounded flights due to the technology issues.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) was not impacted by the tech issues and could come through as a winner.

According to a Digital Trends report, Southwest Airlines planes were still operating on Friday as other peers were grounded. The surprising reason is likely the fact that Southwest has been procrastinating on software updates in recent years.

Digital Trends reports that Southwest is using Windows 3.1, an operating system from 1992 from Microsoft.

The report mentioned that some of Southwest’s systems are still running on Windows 95 and Windows 3.1, which has been a recurring issue, prompting calls for the company to upgrade to newer systems.

“It should go without saying that Southwest needs to update its system, but in this case, the ancient operating systems seem to be doing the airline some favors to avoid a complete Y2K-level apocalypse,” Digital Trends writes.

Read Also: Jim Cramer Applauds CrowdStrike’s Response To Global IT Outage, Sees Swift Recovery Ahead: ‘It Just Happened To Be Bad Luck’

Why It’s Important: Millions of travelers were impacted by the outage Friday, which led to cancelled flights and delays.

For airline companies, this means they will likely have to issue vouchers, refunds, and other compensations, impacting both current and future revenue. Additionally, they will probably face numerous customer complaints, despite the tech issues often being beyond their control.

Southwest escaping the same customer and revenue issues could set the airline company up well for the future.

The airline company is set to report second-quarter financial results on Thursday. The company could use the earnings report and conference call as an opportunity to highlight its strength in remaining operational during the major tech outage that impacted the sector.

LUV Price Action: Southwest shares are up 1.36% to $27.55 on Monday, versus a 52-week trading range of $21.91 to $37.40. Southwest shares are down 5.1% year-to-date in 2024.

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Photo: Around the World Photos/Shutterstock.com

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was one of the worst-performing Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks in the first half of 2024. Investors and analysts will be looking for the company to show progress from a mixed first quarter when second-quarter financial results are reported Wednesday, July 17.

Earnings Estimates: Analysts expect Johnson & Johnson to report second-quarter revenue of $22.31 billion, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

The company reported revenue of $25.53 billion in last year’s second quarter, meaning analysts see a revenue decline on a year-over-year basis. Johnson & Johnson has beaten revenue estimates in six of the past 10 quarters and four of the last five quarters.

Analysts expect Johnson & Johnson to report second-quarter earnings per share of $2.70, which would be a decline from $2.80 reported in last year’s second quarter. The company has beaten analysts’ estimates for earnings per share in the last 10 straight quarters.

Guidance from the company calls for full year sales of $88.7 billion to $89.1 billion, which was ahead of previous consensus estimates. The company estimates that full fiscal year earnings per share will be in a range of $10.57 to $10.72.

What Analysts Are Saying: Johnson & Johnson is making noise in the intraocular lens segment, Stifel analyst Thomas Stephan said in a new investor note.

The analyst surveyed 93 U.S. ophthalmologists to find out which IOLs were being favored over others.

“JNJ’s Odyssey is already showing impressive early survey results,” Stphen said.

The bad news for Johnson & Johnson could be that Odyssey could “cannibalize other JNJ lenses” like Synergy, the analyst said.

The analyst has a Buy rating on Alcon (NYSE:ALC) and RxSight (NASDAQ:RXST) in the sector and sees the potential of Johnson & Johnson losing more market share.

“RXST’s LAL expectedly is poised to gain overall IOL share in 2025; ALC share loss appears moderate, and potentially less than JNJ.”

Guidance from analysts and the company are reasonable for Johnson & Johnson, Goldman Sachs recently said.

The firm reiterated a Neutral rating on Johnson & Johnson and has a $160 price target.

Goldman Sachs estimated Johnson & Johnson will have second-quarter revenue of $22.5 billion and earnings per share of $2.72.

The analyst cautioned that growth could slow for the company citing the biosimilar entry of Stelara, the company’s largest product.

Read Also: 5 Biggest Winners, 5 Biggest Losers From Dow Jones Industrial Average In First Half 2024

Key Items to Watch: Psoriasis drug Stelara had sales of $2.45 billion in the first quarter, which was below estimates. Analysts and investors will likely be looking for this number to improve ahead of competition in 2025.

Several cancer drugs saw growth in the first quarter and will be closely monitored in the second quarter report.

Medical devices were a strong segment in the first quarter with sales of $7.82 billion, up 4.5% year-over-year. The segment could provide some relief from any weakness in other segments.

Since reporting first-quarter financial results, Johnson & Johnson has shared updated clinical trial results for several promising drugs.

The company’s cell therapy Carvykti showed strong survival rates in a Phase 3 study. The study could expand the use cases for Carvykti going forward.

In June, Johnson & Johnson shared data from its Phase 3 study of Tremfya, an induction therapy to treat Crohn’s Disease. The study met co-primary endpoints.

With shares of Johnson & Johnson shares down 4.1% year-to-date in 2024, as seen on the chart from Benzinga Pro below, the company could use the earnings report and earnings call as a chance to highlight the drug pipeline and future growth.

JNJ Price Action: Johnson & Johnson shares trade at $150.51 at last check Tuesday, versus a 52-week trading range of $143.13 to $175.97. Johnson & Johnson stock is down 5.5% over the last year, trailing the broader market.

Read Next:

• Johnson & Johnson: Bullish Charts Signal Strong Setup Before Q2 Earnings

Photo: Michael Vi via Shutterstock

Each week, Benzinga’s Stock Whisper Index uses a combination of proprietary data and pattern recognition to showcase five stocks just under the surface and warrant attention.

Investors are constantly on the hunt for undervalued, under-followed and emerging stocks. With countless methods available to retail traders, the challenge often lies in sifting through the abundance to uncover new information and making sense of why these stocks should be of interest.

Here’s a look at the Benzinga Stock Whisper Index for the week of July 5:

Read Also: EXCLUSIVE: Top 10 Most Searched Tickers On Benzinga Pro In First Half 2024 – Where Do Nvidia, Tesla, Palantir, GameStop Rank?

E.l.f. Beauty Inc (NYSE:ELF): The beauty products company saw strong interest from readers as shares fell 7.2% on the week. It could be expanding its reach with several new initiatives announced. e.l.f. Beauty expanded a partnership with gaming company Roblox Corporation (NYSE:RBLX) as the first beauty brand to test selling real-world products through the game.

E.l.f. received over 12 million visits to its Roblox experience and distributed over one million free virtual items. e.l.f. Beauty is also seeing its Alicia Keys collaboration, Keys Soulcare, join Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) for a custom Alexa theme.   

The new partnerships could see e.l.f. Beauty reach new consumers and increase its brand awareness. Below is a chart of the stock over the last week from Benzinga Pro.

Amphenol Corporation (NYSE:APH): The supplier of connectors, sensors and interconnect systems saw strong interest from readers, which comes with shares trading near 52-week highs.

There is minimal news on the stock and several analysts have been lowing their price targets over the past month.

Amphenol reported first-quarter revenue of $3.3 billion, up 9% year-over-year. The company also announced a new $2 billion share buyback, which may have led to increased optimism in the stock going forward. Amphenol is forecasting second-quarter revenue to grow in a range of 6% to 8% year-over-year.

Amphenol shares traded nearly flat over the last week, as seen in the chart from Benzinga Pro below.

MicroStrategy Inc (NASDAQ:MSTR): Shares of the software company and Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) holder took a breather over the last week down 11%, as seen in the Benzinga Pro chart below. The company recently bought an additional 11,931 Bitcoin for $786 million. MicroStrategy has been buying Bitcoin since August 2020 and now holds 226,331 BTC, valued at around $14.9 billion.

With the price of Bitcoin falling in recent weeks, shares of MicroStrategy have followed the leading cryptocurrency lower.

Outside of its cryptocurrency holdings, MicroStrategy announced changes to its MicroStrategy ONE and HyperIntelligence platform. The company is integrating more artificial intelligence powered data insights into its platforms.

Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER): The ride-share company saw shares volatile over the last week with the Massachusetts Attorney General announcing a settlement with the company. The settlement will see Uber pay a minimum $32.50 per hour for drivers and pay $175 million to settle allegations of violating state wage and hour laws.

The conclusion of the multi-year litigation could be a welcome sign for Uber and investors, but comes ahead of a key event that could impact the company’s future. Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is set to host its robotaxi day next month (Aug. 8). The event is expected to be a negative for Uber in the future, but the event could also lay out the timeline of how long it will take Tesla to reach its ambitious goals.

Bank of America recently named Uber as one of the top second-half 2024 stocks to watch.

“While there is risk of new competition, less competitive uncertainty following Tesla’s robotaxi day could also benefit Uber and Lyft given overhangs,” Bank of America said.

Uber shares are down 2% over the last five days, as seen on the chart below.

Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE:TSM): While semiconductor giant Nvidia gets most of the attention, Taiwan Semiconductor is seeing increased interest from Benzinga readers. The interest comes with shares hitting new all-time highs. The company is also nearing a market capitalization of $1 trillion, which could put an increased spotlight on the stock.

UBS has a Buy rating on the stock and sees demand for generative AI continuing for the company. Analyst Lin Lijun sees TSMC’s gross margins rising with increased AI demand.

The analyst sees TSMC gaining as a supplier to Nvidia and strong market share as a supplier in the semiconductor space.

Taiwan Semiconductor shares are up 4% over the last five days, as viewed on the chart below and are up 75% year-to-date in 2024.

Stay tuned for next week’s report, and follow Benzinga Pro for all the latest headlines and top market-moving stories here.

Read the latest Stock Whisper Index reports here:

• June 7
• June 14
• June 21
• June 28

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Each week, Benzinga’s Stock Whisper Index uses a combination of proprietary data and pattern recognition to showcase five stocks just under the surface and warrant attention.

Investors are constantly on the hunt for undervalued, under-followed and emerging stocks. With countless methods available to retail traders, the challenge often lies in sifting through the abundance to uncover new information.

This index layers editorial commentary to help make sense of why these stocks should be of interest and whether investors or casual readers should watch them.

Related Link: EXCLUSIVE – Top 10 Most Searched Tickers On Benzinga Pro In May: Where Do Nvidia, Tesla, GameStop, AMC Rank?

Here’s a look at the Benzinga Stock Whisper Index for the week of June 28:

The TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX): The discount retailer saw strong interest from readers, which comes after peer companies Big Lots and Five Below reported quarterly earnings.

The parent company of TJ Maxx and Marshalls recently announced a joint venture with Grupo Axo, an operator of global brands and Mexico and South America. TJX will own 49% of the joint venture, which will include Axo’s off-price, physical store business in Mexico.

“As the world’s retail leader in off-price apparel and home fashions, we are excited about the opportunity to expand to Mexico through our partnership with Axo, and grow and enhance that country’s leading off-price retailer,” TJX Companies CEO Ernie Herrman.

TJX shares are trading flat on the week, as shown by the chart from Benzinga Pro below.

Dutch Bros Inc (NYSE:BROS): The coffee company saw strong interest as a new board of directors member was announced: Wendy’s Company CEO Todd Penegor will join the board as an independent director. Penegor also held leadership roles with Kellogg and Ford.

“We look forward to leveraging his extensive experience as we continue to build a board of directors that understands the unique needs of a high growth company dedicated to scaling not only performance, but culture,” Dutch Bros CEO Christine Barone said.

Dutch Bros shares also moved on TD Cowen naming the company one of the top small to mid-cap stock ideas with a Buy rating and $50 price target.

Shares of Dutch Bros were up 9% over the last week, as seen in the chart from Benzinga Pro below.

Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN): Shares of the electric vehicle company soared after announcing a $5 billion investment and joint venture with automotive company Volkswagen (OTC:VWAGY).

Rivian also hosted its first-ever investor day on Thursday. During the investor day, the company shared updates on key financial metrics, cost savings, and what the joint venture means for the company.

Analysts were mixed on the Volkswagen joint venture, with the funding helping in the short-term, but could come at the cost of dilution and as Rivian needs more money down the road.

The company shared guidance for vehicle production for the second quarter and full year and said it expects to launch the highly anticipated R2 vehicle in the first half of 2026.

Rivian shares were up 35% during the trading week.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co (NYSE:PCG): The utility company saw strong interest from readers with limited news. Several analysts have issued updated ratings and price targets on the California utility company. Morgan Stanley maintained an Equal-Weight rating and lowered the price target from $18 to $17. Barclays maintained an Overweight rating and lowered the price target from $22 to $21. Citi shared a spotlight on utility companies overall as power grid demand increases.

Utility stocks could be in the spotlight during the summer months.

Shares of the utility company were down 1% on the trading week.

Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR): The scientific instrument manufacturing company saw increased interest from readers. The interest comes after the company’s Cepheid subsidiary landed FDA approval for a point-of-care Hepatitis C test. According to Cepheid, 2.4 million to 4 million people in the U.S. have Hepatitis C and many are unaware they have it. RBC Capital recently maintained a Buy rating on Danaher with a $297 price target. Danaher shares were down 2% over the trading week.

Stay tuned for next week’s report, and follow Benzinga Pro for all the latest headlines and top market-moving stories here.

Read the latest Stock Whisper Index reports here:

May 31

June 7

June 14

June 21

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Semiconductor company Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) is set to report third-quarter financial results after market close Wednesday.

Here are the earnings estimates, what analysts are saying and key items to watch.

Earnings Estimates: Analysts expect Micron to report third-quarter revenue of $6.63 billion, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

The revenue estimate would be an improvement from $3.75 billion reported in last year’s third quarter. Micron has beaten analysts’ revenue estimates in four straight quarters and seven of the last 10 quarters overall.

Analysts expect Micron to report third-quarter earnings per share of 49 cents, compared to a loss of $1.43 in last year’s third quarter. The company has beaten earnings estimates in four straight quarters and eight of the last 10 quarters.

Company guidance calls for third-quarter revenue to be $6.6 billion, plus of minus $200 million and earnings per share to be 38 cents to 52 cents according to estimates given during the second quarter results.

Related Link: Silvaco Group Inks Deals With Micron, Key Japanese Customer: Earnings Were ‘2x Our Forecast,’ Analysts Say

What Analysts Are Saying: Micron has been getting lots of analyst updates and price target changes ahead of the third quarter earnings report.

Higher average selling prices for the third quarter could be a key item to watch according to Wedbush analyst Matt Bryson.

The analyst has an Outperform rating and raised the price target recently from $130 to $170.

Bryson expects Micron to beat estimates from analysts and raise guidance. The analyst saw Micron’s average selling prices, revenue, margins and earnings per share all trending higher.

“We expect only positive news for MU’s financials for some time to come, and expect the stock will continue to lift until we see a change in industry investment plans,” Bryson said.

A third-quarter beat-and-raise is also expected by Rosenblatt analyst Hans Mosesmann.

The analyst has a Buy rating and $225 price target on Micron.

Mosesmann sees increasing demand for artificial intelligence applications continuing in Micron’s third quarter and several positive trends continuing into 2026 and 2027.  

Here are other analyst ratings on Micron and their price targets:

Morgan Stanley: Equal-weight rating, raised price target from $130 to $140

Citi: Buy rating, raised rice target from $150 to $175

Baird: Outperform rating, raised price target from $150 to $172

Raymond James: Outperform rating, raised price target from $130 to $160

Wolfe Research: Outperform rating, raised price target from $150 to $200

Key Items to Watch: Micron is among the companies benefitting from growth in the artificial intelligence sector.

“Our preeminent product portfolio positions us well to deliver a strong fiscal second half of 2024. We believe Micron is one of the biggest beneficiaries in the semiconductor industry of the multi-year opportunity enabled by AI,” Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrota said after second-quarter results.

Investors will likely be looking for an update on customer demand and AI growth during the quarterly results.

A recent Bloomberg report said Micron is facing construction delays for a factory site in New York. The delays have pushed the groundbreaking into 2025. The project could help Micron increase domestic chip production.

Micron could share an update on this recent delay and other production projects that could impact future growth.

MU Price Action: Micron shares closed Tuesday at $141.12 versus a 52-week trading range of $60.50 to $157.54. Micron stock is up 113% over the last year and up over 60% year-to-date in 2024.

Read Next: The ‘AI Big 10’: 10 AI Stocks Now Comprise 28% Of S&P 500, Up From 14% In 2023

Photo: NPS_87 on Shutterstock

Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to remove an incorrect statement about Chipotle Mexican Grill’s market cap and to make the language regarding Chipotle’s market cap clearer.

The battle for the world’s most valuable public company took a turn last week with NVIDIA Corporation briefly taking over the spot as the company’s share price soars on growth of artificial intelligence-related revenue.

On Companiesmarketcap.com, Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) was briefly listed as having a $4.428-trillion market cap Tuesday — likely an error in calculating the current value multiplied by 50.

On the site, Chipotle, which has a market cap of $88 billion, is shown as moving up 187 places and passing the three largest companies:

• Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT): $3.33 trillion
• Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL): $3.22 trillion
• Nvidia: $2.97 trillion

The same error was recognized on Yahoo Finance with a $4.44-trillion market capitalization shown.

The restaurant company will complete a 50-for-1 stock split after the market closes on Tuesday, with shares trading at a new split-adjusted price to open Wednesday’s trading session.

When stock splits and reverse stock splits occur, finance sites can sometimes take time to show adjusted financials and market capitalizations. Tuesday’s error is less frequently seen, as it is occurring ahead of the planned stock split.

Related Link: Chipotle Mexican Grill Q1 Earnings: Revenue Beat, EPS Beat, Comparable Sales Up 7% And More

Why It’s Important: Chipotle is one of the top-performing restaurant stocks over the last 10 years, gaining over 440%.

The stock has been a top performer since its 2006 IPO at $22 per share.

Chipotle beat analyst estimates for both revenue and earnings per share in the first quarter. The company also reported that comparable restaurant sales were up 7% year-over-year.

The company plans to open 285 to 315 restaurants in the current fiscal year, with around 80% coming with a Chipotlane, the company’s version of a drive-thru.

Chipotle’s first-ever stock split could make shares easier to obtain for employees and investors looking to buy whole shares instead of partial shares, given a current share price in the thousands.

CMG Price Action: Chipotle shares are up 1% to $3,233.48 on Tuesday versus a 52-week trading range of $1,768.64 to $3,463.07.

Read Next: Chipotle’s Stock Sizzles: Hits Record High After Stellar Q1 Earnings, Charts Indicate Further Bullish Momentum

Image: Shutterstock.

Logistics and shipping giant FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) is set to announce fourth-quarter (Q4) financial results after market close Tuesday, June 25.

Here’s a look at the earning estimates, analyst ratings and key items to watch.

Earnings Estimates: Analysts expect FedEx to report fourth-quarter revenue of $22.06 billion according to estimates from Benzinga Pro. The company had revenue of $21.9 billion in last year’s fourth quarter.

The company has missed analysts’ revenue estimates in eight straight quarters and eight of the last 10 quarters overall.

Analysts expect the company to post fourth-quarter earnings per share of $5.37 compared to $4.94 in the previous year’s fourth quarter.

FedEx has beaten analysts’ earnings per share estimates in seven of the last 10 quarters.

Related Link: How To Earn $500 A Month From FedEx Stock Ahead Of Q4 Earnings

Analyst Ratings: Here’s a look at recent analyst ratings and price targets for FedEx ahead of the quarterly earnings report.

• Raymond James: Outperform rating, lowered price target from $325 to $300
• Evercore ISI Group: Outperform rating, lowered price target from $351 to $318
• Wells Fargo: Initiated with Equal-weight rating, $275 price target
• JPMorgan: Neutral rating, lowered price target from $301 to $296
• UBS: Buy rating, lowered price target from $340 to $333

Key Items to Watch: FedEx recently unveiled a plan to streamline operations in Europe, that could result in cost savings.

The company plans to reduce 1,700 to 2,000 positions across segments that include commercial and back-office roles.

The announcement comes with the company seeking to save $250 million to $375 million from various cost cutting plans.

FedEx authorized a $5 billion share buyback plan in the third quarter. The company said it planned to buy back $500 million in shares in the fourth quarter. Investors and analysts will likely monitor to see if this was completed and how much the company forecasts to buy in the coming quarters.

The company’s revenue misses are a concern to shareholders and analysts and come as FedEx is working on an ongoing business transformation.

“We are making meaningful progress on our transformation, while strengthening our value proposition and improving the customer experience. I’ve never been more confident in our path ahead as we build a more flexible, efficient, and intelligent network,” FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam said after third-quarter results.

FDX Price Action: FedEx shares trade at $255.58 versus a 52-week trading range of $224.64 to $291.27. FedEx stock is up 13% over the last year and up only 1% year-to-date in 2024.

Read Next: FedEx Restores Priority Services To Kyiv Amid Ukraine Crisis; Russian, Belarusian Operations Remain Suspended

Image: Shutterstock

Strong retail investor interest in GameStop’s (NYSE:GME) annual shareholder meeting caused a server crash and a postponement of the event.

After rescheduling the event for Friday, GameStop has moved the event again and it may line up with a holiday that Roaring Kitty (aka Keith Gill) is a fan of.

What Happened: The return of Roaring Kitty on social media may have prompted renewed attention for the video game retailer and on Thursday those results were on full display with the shareholders meeting.

Computer Share, who hosted the meeting, told CNBC a high amount of traffic for the meeting led to servers crashing.

The rescheduled meeting was set for 4 p.m. ET on Friday, June 14 but has since been moved to 12:30 p.m. ET on Monday, June 17.

GameStop said the meeting was adjourned “due to technical difficulties with the third-party hosting site.”

While Monday may seem like a normal business day, social media is buzzing with the shareholders meeting now coinciding with a holiday.

Monday, June 17, 2024 is “National Take Your Cat To Work Day,” a holiday that falls on the third Monday of June every year, ac

The holiday, which was the brainchild of Allianz-owned pet insurance company Petplan, has only been around for a few years, while National Take Your Dog To Work (the first Friday after June 19) has existed since the 1990s.

On the subreddit r/Superstonk, where Roaring Kitty has shared portfolio updates, one user said “RK is now RC’s cat, and he’s bringing him to work!!”

The post references Roaring Kitty (RK) and GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen.

Many optimistic GameStop investors have speculated that the large ownership position from Roaring Kitty could prompt more involvement with the company.

Roaring Kitty, who recently made his livestream return to YouTube, has not shared any intention to be involved with GameStop’s management or Board of Directors.

The strong interest in GameStop’s shareholder meeting on Thursday could now be trumped with more attention on Monday as more speculation begins on Roaring Kitty.

Related Link: Who Is Roaring Kitty? Why Does His Return To Social Media Matter For GameStop Stock?

Why It’s Important: GameStop has raised around $3 billion in two recent share offerings since the stock rose from the return of Roaring Kitty on social media.

In its filings, GameStop said it could use the proceeds for acquisitions and investments. Many investors want to know what these plans are or if Cohen will start investing the cash in stocks and cryptocurrency, as he is now allowed to per a company announcement from last year.

Investors may also be looking for updates on the company’s future plans, as its main business line is physical video games while the sector is transforming to digital games.

GameStop has shared minimal details in recent quarterly financial results and has not hosted a conference call in many consecutive quarters.

An update from Roaring Kitty that included ownership of five million GameStop shares and 120,000 options was well received by investors.

On Thursday, an update from the investor showed that he no longer held any options, but instead owned 9,001,000 shares.

Gill shared that he had an average cost basis of $23.4135 on the shares and they were up around $51 million. Many investors expressed optimism that Gill sold his calls and put the proceeds into shares instead of simply cashing out.

GME Price Action: GameStop shares were trading down 1.79% at $28.60 on Friday at publication after closing up 14% on Thursday. Shares have traded between $9.95 and $64.83 over the past 52 weeks.

Read Next: GameStop Stock Falls After Roaring Kitty Livestream Disappoints: ‘He Had 3 Years To Prepare,’ ‘Hard To Think Of A Catalyst To Drive $GME Back Up After This’

Photo made using photos on Shutterstock

Semiconductor company Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO) is set to report second-quarter financial results after market close Wednesday, June 12.

Here are the earnings estimates, what analysts are saying and key items to watch ahead of the report.

Earnings Estimates: Analysts expect Broadcom to post second-quarter revenue of $12.03 billion according to data from Benzinga Pro.

The company reported $8.73 billion in revenue in last year’s second quarter. Broadcom has beaten analysts’ estimates for revenue in nine of the last 10 quarters.

Analysts expect the company to report earnings per share of $10.84 for the second quarter compared to $10.32 in last year’s second quarter. The company has beaten analysts’ estimates for earnings per share in 10 straight quarters.

Related Link: Top 10 Highest Paid CEOs In 2023: Elon Musk Nowhere To Be Found, Where Tim Cook, Ted Sarandos Rank

What Analysts Are Saying: Broadcom’s growth in the artificial intelligence sector and upside synergies from the acquisition of VMWare led to Morgan Stanley analyst Joe Moore resuming an Overweight rating on the stock.

The analyst, who has a $1,658 price target, said Broadcom is one of the strongest AI plays.

Moore said Broadcom is set to grow faster than many other AI alternatives.

Bank of America analyst Vivek Arya expects Broadcom to report a beat in the second quarter on Wednesday.

The analyst, who has a Buy rating and $1,680 price target, said strength in AI could offset headwinds in the company’s legacy businesses.

JPMorgan analyst Harlan Sur recently highlighted deals for Broadcom with Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)(NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META).

The partnerships are helping Broadcom estimate that its AI-related revenue will reach $11 billion in 2024.

Sur said Broadcom could have over $12 billion in AI-related revenue in 2024 and $14 to $15 billion or more in 2025.

The analyst, who has an Overweight rating and $1,700 price target, said Broadcom is the top market share leader in custom (ASIC) chip designs.

Here are other analyst ratings on Broadcom and their price targets:

Citigroup: Buy rating, $1,560 price target

Jefferies: Buy rating, lowered price target from $1,616 to $1,550

Barclays: Overweight rating, raised price target from $1,405 to $1,500

Key Items to Watch: The AI-related revenue, as mentioned by analysts above, will likely be the key item for investors to watch in the second-quarter results.

“We are pleased to have two strong drivers of revenue growth for Broadcom in the first quarter and fiscal year 2024. First, our acquisition of VMware is accelerating revenue growth in our infrastructure software segment, as customers deploy VMware Cloud Foundation,” Broadcom CEO Hock Tan said after first-quarter results. “Second, strong demand for our networking products in AI data centers, as well as custom AI accelerators from hyperscalers, are driving growth in our semiconductor segment.”

The company’s guidance will be another area analysts and investors are watching. The company is guiding for a full-year 2024 revenue of $50 billion. With the added excitement of AI-related revenue, some may expect a raise to the estimates for the full year after a strong first-quarter report and continued momentum in the second quarter.

One area of concern to watch on is AI chip export restrictions, which could impact Broadcom and other semiconductor stocks.

AVGO Price Action: Broadcom shares trade at $1,442.58 on Tuesday at publication versus a 52-week trading range of $795.09 to $1,454. Broadcom stock is up 69% in the last year and up 29% year-to-date in 2024.

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