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Autodesk, Applied Materials, T-Mobile Upgraded

AMAT reported a seventh straight quarterly profit beat

May 19, 2017 at 9:25 AM
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Analysts are weighing in on software stock Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK), chipmaker Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT), and cell phone service provider T-Mobile US Inc (NASDAQ:TMUS). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on shares of ADSK, AMAT, and TMUS.

ADSK Stock Signals Record Highs After Earnings, RBC Upgrade

After settling last night at $95.83, ADSK stock is up 14% in electronic trading -- on track to open the session well above its May 16 record high of $98.05. Boosting the shares is Autodesk's narrower-than-expected first-quarter loss and subsequent round of bullish analyst attention. Among those weighing in was RBC, which raised its rating to "outperform" from "sector perform" and its price target to $125 from $95, saying the stock "could reasonably surpass $150 in two years."

Should ADSK stock continue to add to its 30% year-to-date gains, short sellers may be ready to cut their losses -- which could help fuel the equity's fire. At ADSK's average pace of trading, it would take more than a week to cover the 8.8 million shares that are sold short.

Wall Street Raises Price Targets on AMAT Stock After Earnings

Applied Materials reported a seventh straight quarterly profit beat on roughly in-line revenue, and offered upbeat current-quarter guidance. Wall Street was quick to chime in, too, with no fewer than five brokerages raising their price targets. Included in the bunch was Cowen, which raised its target to $50 from $45, saying AMAT's "'18 commentary is incredibly bullish for it only being May."

Against this backdrop, AMAT stock is trading almost 4% higher ahead of the bell, and could take aim at Tuesday's 16-year high of $45.08. Longer term, the shares have added 36% in 2017, based on last night's close at $43.91. Options traders were active ahead of earnings, too, with 45,000 calls and 26,000 puts traded on Thursday -- nearly five times the average daily volume of 15,000 contracts.

Goldman Sachs Adds TMUS Stock to "Conviction Buy" List

TMUS stock was added to Goldman Sachs' "Conviction Buy" list, with the brokerage firm seeing "potential upside both from M&A and standalone fundamentals." This follows recent reports of a possibly revived TMUS-Sprint merger, with T-Mobile Chief Financial Officer Braxton Carter saying, "It's not a question of will talks happen. Of course, they're going to happen as it's been very, very widely reported in the press."

At last check, TMUS shares were 2.1% higher in pre-market trading, after closing last night at $65.72. While this will put the stock within a chip-shot of its May 2 all-time peak of $68.88, any near-term pullbacks could be contained in the $62.50 region -- home to peak open interest of 45,180 contracts at the June 62.50 put.

 

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