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(This is CNBC Pro’s live coverage of Thursday’s analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) An automaker and a tech company were in focus among Thursday’s analyst calls. Goldman Sachs raised its price target on General Motors after the stock’s best day since early 2021. Morgan Stanley also upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise, though it still sees a slightly decline for shares. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. 6:55 a.m. ET: Analysts are growing more cautious on Okta stock following third quarter results A solid third-quarter earnings print isn’t enough to keep analysts on Wall Street bullish on Okta . Despite beating on the top and bottom line, concerns over a recent data breach in October have underpinned analyst downgrades following quarterly results over the looming ramifications of the event moving forward. “While we continue to view identity as a top priority within security and Okta as a potential long-term consolidator, given the mis-execution since the Auth0 acquisition and uncertainty on the duration and the degree to which the breach may have an impact going forward, we see risk/reward as balanced with shares trading at 24.8x FCF and 4.8x revenue vs. the 10-20% growth peers at 31.6x FCF and 6.5x revenue,” KeyBanc analyst Eric Heath wrote on Wednesday. The firm downgraded Okta stock to sector weight without a price target. “We believe Okta’s focus on margin expansion at a critical time like this is an oversight. We believe the company should be more focused on driving revenue growth acceleration to assuage investor concerns regarding shares losses related to the breach,” Wells Fargo analyst Andrew Nowinski said. The firm lowered its rating on Okta stock to equal weight and slashed its price target to $70 per share from $80, which equates to about 1% upside from Wednesday’s $70.77 close. — Brian Evans 6:32 a.m. ET: BTIG downgrades ‘unanalyzable’ Farfetch BTIG is moving to the sidelines on Farfetch following mixed signals on an effort to take the company private by chief executive José Neves which could lack critical support. The firm downgraded shares of the luxury apparel company to neutral from buy and removed its price target. Shares closed at 97 cents on Wednesday and have slumped more than 79% this year. FTCH YTD mountain FTCH in 2023 “While we appreciate the stock has already declined significantly and a positive outcome is still possible, we believe moving to the sidelines until the dust settles is the best course of action as the situation has become too binary for our liking,” analyst Marvin Fong said. “Existing shareholders may want to see their investment through, but we would suggest investors new to the name take a wait-and-see approach.” — Brian Evans 6:18 a.m. ET: Here’s what analysts are saying after Salesforce’s third quarter results Analysts on Wall Street are sticking by Salesforce after the company’s stronger-than-expected third-quarter results. “We continue to believe that Salesforce is on track to become the next quality GARP stock. While margin expansion is likely to be more gradual from here, we believe it remains on a path to rule of 50+,” Bank of America analyst Brad Sills said. The bank reiterated a buy rating as well as a top pick label, accompanied by a $300 per share price target. BofA’s forecast implies more than 30% upside from Wednesday’s close. Goldman Sachs also maintained its buy rating and increased its target price to $345 per share from $340. The new target implies about 50% upside moving forward. “Despite fears of high-single digit growth, 4Q guide of 10% growth looks conservative in the context of strong renewals and a large customer win,” analyst Kash Rangan said. “Results validate our view (since March) that revenue growth is likely to trough in FY24 before re-accelerating in FY25.” — Brian Evans 5:58 a.m. ET: Jefferies moves Snapchat and Pinterest to buy on revenue growth forecasts Jefferies says both Snap and Pinterest will be beneficiaries of strong growth channels moving forward. The firm upgraded both stocks to buy from hold. Jefferies’ $41 price target on Pinterest implies about 23% upside for Pinterest, and its $16 forecast for Snap calls for a 23% increase moving forward. “We are upgrading SNAP and PINS to Buy on the view that both have catalysts for rev growth upside in FY24,” analyst James Heaney said. “SNAP is our more controversial call where we believe the stock re-rates higher on North America rev growth reaccelerating into the mid-teens in ’24 (vs. -7% in FY23). Our PINS upgrade is based on increasing conviction in PINS’s ability to grow rev 20%+ in FY24.” Shares of both companies are up sharply this year. Snap has rallied 445% in 2023, while Pinterest has gained 37%. SNAP PINS YTD mountain SNAP and PINS in 2023 — Brian Evans 5:45 a.m. ET: Morgan Stanley upgrades Hewlett Packard Enterprise on promise of AI growth While Morgan Stanley thinks more “derisking” would be preferable for Hewlett Packard Enterprise , the company’s multiple isn’t like to compress further. The bank upgraded shares of the information technology company to equal weight from underweight. To be sure, it maintained its $16 per share price target, which implies more than 3% downside from Wednesday’s $16.52 close. “We would have liked more derisking of Intelligent Edge estimates heading into FY24, but given where we are in hardware cycle, and the longer term AI opportunity, we see little opportunity for further multiple compression,” analyst Meta Marshall said. HPE shares are up just 3.5% this year, lagging the broader market. — Brian Evans 5:45 a.m ET: Goldman raises GM price target Goldman Sachs analyst Mark Delaney increased his price target on General Motors to $45 from $42 after a series of bullish moves by the auto giant. On Wednesday, GM announced a $10 billion share buyback, hiked its dividend and reinstated its full-year guidance. Shares rallied more than 9% for their best day since early 2021. Goldman’s new price target implies shares will rally another 42%. GM YTD mountain GM in 2023 “We believe investors will view the business update as an incremental positive overall given that the company expects that it can sustain the underlying core profitability of its business with cost reductions and efficiencies helping to offset labor cost and mix headwinds in 2024,” Delaney said. “Additionally, we believe the $10 bn ASR underscores the strong cash generation of the business and will be viewed positively by investors.” — Fred Imbert
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