(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.) An electric vehicle maker and a wholesale retailer were among the stocks being talked about by analysts on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank resumed coverage of Tesla with a buy rating, calling it a top pick. Meanwhile, Redburn Atlantic downgraded Costco to neutral from buy. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 7:38 a.m.: Susquehanna initiates coverage on Dell Susquehanna Financial thinks investors should stay the sidelines when it comes to Dell . Analyst Mehdi Hosseini initiated coverage on the company with a neutral rating and $120 price target, suggesting around 13% upside potential for shares. Hosseini believes Dell is a “market-leading” hardware name. However, he cited potential headwinds from the company’s artificial intelligence hardware economics and unclear strategy for scaling up its AI services. “In contrast to prior cycles when the ROI on HW (upgrade) investment was understood well in advance, the ROI on AI investments and especially for “inferencing” for the upcoming cycle remains unknown,” Hosseini wrote in a Tuesday note. Increasing competition for AI systems pose another risk to Dell shares, he added. Dell shares are up 38.4% in 2024. — Hakyung Kim 7:32 a.m.: Wells Fargo lowers price target on Ford, General Motors The legacy U.S. automakers are losing ground in the SUV sector, and that could lead to downside for their stocks, according to Wells Fargo. Analyst Colin Langan lowered 2025 earnings estimates for Ford and General Motors , saying in a note to clients that foreign automakers are gaining ground in the key vehicle category. “Although the [Detroit 3] have historically led in the mass-market SUV segment, they have lost ~14% share since 2010. The mass-market SUV segment has become increasingly crowded with 87 models today vs. 50 models in 2017,” the note said. Langan has underweight ratings on both Ford and General Motor and trimmed the price targets on the stocks. For Ford, Wells Fargo lowered its target to $9 per share from $10, implying downside of more than 15%. For GM, the new target is down to $33 from $34, implying downside of 30%. — Jesse Pound 7:10 a.m.: Bank of America upgrades data center to buy Data center company Johnson Controls is a “best-in-class” name, according to Bank of America. Analyst Andrew Obin raised his rating on shares to buy from neutral. He also notched his price target $4 higher to $80, implying shares could gain 16.6% from Monday’s close. Obin forecasts sees about $4 billion in revenue from the company’s data center business this year. The company’s pending divestitures of its air distribution technologies and HVAC businesses will also boost its revenue mix, the analyst said. Johnson Controls International has “best-in-class data center assets, and change is coming,” Obin wrote in a client note. He referred to the company’s search for a new CEO, which he believes will be announced by the end of 2024 and a upside driver for the company. “Combined with activist investor involvement, we believe this potentially signals a new strategic direction for the company,” Obin said. Shares advanced 2% Tuesday before the bell. The stock has climbed 19% in 2024. — Hakyung Kim 6:57 a.m.: No major surprises’ at Apple’s iPhone launch, analysts say Apple’s launch of the iPhone 16 on Monday was largely in-line with expectations, according to Wall Street analysts. Along with the new iPhone 16 line, the company unveiled Apple Intelligence for beta rollout next month, or new artificial intelligence capabilities for the iPhone. The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus are available for pre-order starting Friday. UBS analyst David Vogt said the event was “a somewhat anticlimactic iPhone launch as AI is not a fully baked offering.” The real surprise was that Apple did not change the price of the iPhone 16 from the previous iPhone 15 line, he added. Vogt is less enthusiastic on iPhone demand, citing low upgrade rates and muted carrier promotions from telecom companies. AAPL 5D mountain AAPL 5-day chart “The market’s more bullishness on iPhone unit growth is out of sync as the buyside expects mid-teens iPhone unit growth in Apple’s fiscal 2025, too aggressive in our view,” he wrote in a note. The UBS analyst holds a neutral rating and $236 price target on shares. Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring is more bullish, noting the launch contained few surprises. He holds an overweight rating on shares and reiterated Apple as one of his top picks. “Overall, there were no major surprises at [the] ‘It’s Glowtime’ event, which heavily featured the integration of new AI tools (Apple Intelligence) on the new iPhone 16; we now await early iPhone 16 pre-order data this Friday,” Woodring wrote in a Monday note. Apple Intelligence could be a key incentivizer for iPhone owners to upgrade their devices, he added. Woodring has a price target of $273 on shares. Goldman Sachs also believes the new AI capabilities could boost demand. Analyst Michael Ng noted that the stock remained relatively unchanged on the announcement. “Overall, product announcements were largely as expected without any upside surprises coming from pricing, outsized promotional activity, or AI features,” Ng said. He holds a buy rating and $276 price target on shares. Shares dipped around 1% Tuesday during premarket trading. — Hakyung Kim 6:20 a.m.: Bernstein is bullish on GE Aerospace GE Aerospace is a winner with several upside opportunities, according to Bernstein. The firm initiated coverage on GE Aerospace with an outperform rating. Its target price of $201 per share indicates 25% upside potential from where shares closed on Monday. The aviation company is “not cheap, but in a unique position for growth,” according to analyst Douglas Harned. He cited high demand but lack of supply in the commercial aviation industry as a positive backdrop for GE Aerospace. “GE is the largest player in aircraft propulsion and consistently delivers the highest margins,” Harned wrote. “Near-term, GE is set to continue benefiting from engine aftermarket demand.” To be sure, Harned cited risks such as supply chain shortfalls pressuring third-quarter results. Year to date, shares are up nearly 30%. — Hakyung Kim 5:54 a.m.: Redburn Atlantic downgrades Costco Redburn Atlantic is stepping to the sidelines on Costco . Analyst Daniela Nedialkova lowered her rating on shares to neutral from buy. She did increase her price target to $890 per share from $860, but that only implies upside of 1.5% from Monday’s close. Although Costco is a “high-quality growth compounder” thanks to its differentiated business model and growing membership base, Nedialkova thinks upside catalysts for this year have largely been price in. “While ongoing comp/market share gains should continue to drive decent earnings growth (c10% pa), the current risk-reward profile is skewing less favourably given the even higher than normal expectations priced into a starting point of 50x P/E on FY25,” the analyst wrote in a note Tuesday. “When valuation is high, there is simply less risk,” she added. Shares have surged nearly 36% year to date. COST YTD mountain COST year to date — Hakyung Kim 5:54 a.m.: Deutsche Bank names Tesla a top pick Tesla’s recent momentum is only the beginning of a strong period, according to Deutsche Bank. Analyst Edison Yu resumed coverage of the EV maker with a buy rating and a price target of $295, which implies upside of 36%. Yu also named Tesla a top pick. “At the core, we do not see Tesla as an automaker but rather a technology platform attempting to reshape multiple industries, deserving of a unique type of valuation framework,” the analyst wrote. “Near-term, automotive deliveries/margin have indeed been softer but we view this as temporary ahead of new models/refreshes coming in the pipeline. Long-term, Tesla is an emerging leader in autonomous driving (robotaxi) and humanoid robots (Optimus … which represent some of the most clear and lucrative applications of end-to-end AI,” he added. Tesla shares are down nearly 13% year to date. However, they have soared 24% over the past three months. TSLA 3M mountain TSLA 3-mo chart — Fred Imbert
