GM hit another record high out of the gate this morning
Analysts are weighing in on carmaker General Motors Company (NYSE:GM), digital payments company PayPal Holdings Inc (NASADQ:PYPL), and casino stock Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on shares of GM, PYPL, and LVS.
Upgrade Fuels General Motors Stock to Another Record High
After earlier hitting a record high of $43.70, General Motors stock was last seen trading 2.7% higher at $43.29. GM shares are driving their way up the charts after BofA-Merrill Lynch upgraded the car stock to "buy" from "neutral" and raised its price target to $57 from $40 -- representing upside of 36.7% to the stock's current perch. The brokerage firm's upgrade comes the day after the carmaker announced its plan to add 20 new battery electric and duel cell vehicles to its global lineup by 2023, while Deutsche Bank said it expects a fleet of self-driving cars as soon as 2020. The bullish analyst note also comes amid Tesla's Model 3 production woes.
Meanwhile, the equity could now be in store for additional bullish notes, if this technical strength continues. That's because more than half of the covering brokerage firms rate General Motors just a "hold," and the shares just took out their average 12-month price target of $40.26. As such, upgrades and/or price-target hikes seem like a strong possibility.
Analyst Expects Venmo Revenue Growth to Drive PayPal Stock
PayPal stock was last seen trading down 0.4% at $63.92, despite a price-target hike to $77 from $64 at Deutsche Bank. The brokerage firm expects PayPal's payment platform, Venmo, to deliver strong revenue growth through its new consumer-to-business payment program and the launch of a physical Venmo debit card.
The shares have been on a steady climb since February, hitting a record high of $65.24 on Sept. 22. Now up 62.6% year-to-date, the payments processor has short sellers running scared. Specifically, short interest declined by 9.5% in the most recent reporting period, and an extended round of short covering could help PYPL stock resume it run into record-high territory.
Las Vegas Sands Stock Tries to Dodge Headwinds of Shooting Tragedy
Following the fatal mass shooting in Las Vegas Sunday, shares of Las Vegas Sands are fighting for upside this morning. Possibly capping the shares' downside is a price-target hike to $74 from $72 at Susquehanna. Last seen trading flat at $64.97. LVS stock is within striking distance of its nearly three-year high of $66.22 from June 19. The casino stock has tacked on almost 22% in 2017, but short interest has grown roughly 18% during the past two reporting periods to 8.22 million shares -- or 3.3 times the stock's average daily trading volume.