(This is CNBC Pro’s live coverage of Tuesday’s analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) Nvidia and a major mining stock were among the biggest talked-about names by analysts Tuesday. Goldman Sachs hiked its price target on Nvidia, calling for nearly 20% more gains ahead. UBS, meanwhile, upgraded Vale to buy from neutral, citing a strong risk-reward outlook. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 7:44 a.m.: Wells Fargo sees more upside ahead for Goldman Sachs Wells Fargo expects strong earnings growth from Goldman Sachs , upping its price target Monday to $504 per share from $450. The new target suggests nearly 14% upside from Monday’s close. “The increase reflects our view that estimates are more likely to increase than decrease going forward, aided by dry powder in private equity, improved IB [investment banking] trends, excess capital, and lending,” analyst Mike Mayo wrote in a note to clients. Goldman’s forecasted breakeven for its platform solutions by the end of the year will provide a potential tailwind, he added. Mayo is estimating earnings-per-share growth of 70% through 2026, second only to Citigroup. Shares of Goldman are up 15% year to date. — Michelle Fox 7:42 a.m.: Oppenheimer sees more upside for Freshpet following earnings Pet food maker Freshpet’s earnings report shows potential for strong EBITDA margins going forward, Oppenheimer said. Analyst Rupesh Parikh raised his price target by $15 to $135, which now suggests 11.5% upside from Monday’s closing level. Parikh also reaffirmed his overweight and top-pick ratings. “We believe FRPT remains a beat-and-raise story and continue to view guidance as conservative,” he wrote to clients. The New Jersey-based company saw $30.6 million in adjusted EBITDA and $223.8 million in revenue for the first quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet had anticipated just $13.5 million and $216.4 million, respectively. Freshpet’s earnings report proved the company’s ability to post adjusted EBITDA margins of at least 18% through the 2027 fiscal year, Parikh said. The gross margin already coming in above the 45% goal for that 2027 year is also noteworthy, he added. And the scaling of its kitchen in Ennis, Texas — which Parikh said is “very much in the early earnings” — can also be a driver of margin growth, the analyst said. Freshpet climbed more than 10% in Monday’s session following the release. And the stock has already added almost 40% in 2024, meaning Parikh’s expectation for upside would come on top of an already strong run up. — Alex Harring 7:12 a.m.: TD Cowen downgrades CVS TD Cowen is moving to the sidelines on CVS Health over a forecast unknown road ahead. “We believe CVS’s current outlook for 2024 is uncertain as the company has multiple sources of potential downside in the near term, including further pressure on Medicare Advantage MLR, pressure to OSH results as it rolls out new/dilutive centers, and a weaker macro environment and continued reimbursement pressure impacting PCW performance,” analyst Charles Rhyee said. The firm downgraded the pharmacy stock to hold from buy, and lowered its price target to $59 per share from $99. TD Cowen’s forecast calls for 5.4% upside from Monday’s close. CVS Health stock has pulled back nearly 30% in 2024. “[W]e believe uncertainty around performance in 2024, as well as the outcome of CVS’s 2025 MA bids, creates an unclear outlook for 2025 and beyond,” the analyst added. — Brian Evans 6:53 a.m.: Citi upgrades Target, says company is a ‘winner’ among retail peers Citi is moving off the sidelines on Target and thinks the company may be among the premier players in the retail space. The firm upgraded shares of Target to buy from neutral, and reiterated its $180 per share price target. Citi’s forecast implies nearly 14% upside from Monday’s $158.25 close. “TGT has emerged as one of the winners within the retail landscape with an opportunity to improve EBIT margin in the years to come (particularly in F24),” analyst Paul Lejuez said. “[A]s we look to where the market may have reacted too negatively amidst a recently-more-uncertain consumer environment, we are attracted to retailers that have mindshare for value and idiosyncratic opportunities to improve margins,” the analyst added. Target stock climbed more than 11% in 2024 and will report first-quarter earnings on May 22. — Brian Evans 6:32 a.m.: Citi upgrades Gap, expects earnings beat after modest forecast Gap has momentum on its side to surpass Wall Street’s first-quarter earnings estimates, according to Citi. The firm upgraded the clothing retailer to buy from neutral and increased its target price to $28 per share from $21. Citi’s forecast calls for about 26% upside ahead from Monday’s close. “Similar to F23, we expect both sales/earnings upside in F24 and expect a significant 1Q beat (1QE $0.25 vs cons $0.13) driven by stronger sales and margin flow through, making the path more visible to achieving EPS of $1.80-2.00 this year,” analyst Paul Lejuez. “At Gap, for the first time in 10+ years, their product assortment is in the right place at the same time as consumer demand is strong for fashion and heritage brands,” the analyst added. “Given Gap’s legacy in denim, we expect them to also benefit from the strong bottoms trend.” Gap is slated to report earnings later this month. Shares are up 6% year to date. They also gained more than 3% in the premarket. GPS 1D mountain GPS rises — Brian Evans 6:03 a.m.: JPMorgan initiates UL Solutions JPMorgan thinks UL Solutions may be on the cusp of a strong growth cycle. The firm initiated stock coverage of the safety science company with an overweight rating and a $39 per share price target. JPMorgan’s forecast implies more than 8% upside from Monday’s close. UL Solutions stock debuted last month at $34 per share. The company operates as a third party certificate firm for several types of technology applications including electric vehicle chargers and liquid cooling centers. “UL is the largest TIC player in North America, and the only publicly traded TIC company in the U.S. Since 2011, UL has grown organic revenues at about 5% annually, with acquisitions adding 1-2% to annual revenue growth, on average, and we expect UL to continue growing within the 5-6% range from 2024-2026,” analyst Stephanie Yee said. “In our view, UL should trade at a premium to the peer group, as we believe the TIC companies will grow at a similar rate over time and UL will sustain its higher margin profile,” the analyst added. — Brian Evans 5:45 a.m.: Goldman Sachs raises Nvidia price target on still strong AI demand Goldman Sachs sees enough demand for artificial intelligence to drive sky high Nvidia even higher. The firm reiterated a buy rating on the chipmaker and raised its 12-month price target on the chipmaker to $1,100 from $1,000. Goldman’s forecast calls for 19.3% upside from Monday’s close. Analyst Toshiya Hari also raised his 2025 to 2027 full-year earnings estimates by roughly 8% on average to “reflect intra-quarter industry data points indicative of continued robust AI server demand and improving supply.” The analyst added that growth in the company’s data centers segment will further stoke growth. Nvidia has rallied more than 86% in 2024. — Brian Evans 5:45 a.m.: UBS upgrades Vale The risk-reward balance for Vale is improving, according to UBS. The bank upgraded the mining giant to buy from neutral. It also raised its price target on U.S.-listed shares to $15 from $13, implying upside of 19%. “While we remain concerned about iron ore fundamentals medium-term & see downside to the spot price, we believe the overall risk-reward for Vale has improved with operational performance strong into Apr & some of the key ESG concerns set to moderate,” analyst Myles Allsop wrote. Allsop also noted that, while Vale has lagged iron ore peers over the past year due to ESG worries, “we see potential for these to moderate over the next 12mths and, despite our cautious medium-term view on iron ore, we see upside risk to the stock which we estimate is now discounting an iron ore price at ~US$85/t (vs RIO at ~$110/t).” Vale’s U.S.-listed shares are down more than 20% year to date and have lost 9.4% over the past 12 months. VALE 1Y mountain VALE year to date — Fred Imbert
