Today's Morning Movers and Top Ratings: NVDA, PANW, DFS, WEN and More

Movers and Shakers wrote a column · Feb 21 07:08

Morning Movers

Gapping up

$Walmart (WMT.US)$ Goldman Sachs reiterated its Buy rating and $193 per share price target on Walmart following the retailer's latest earnings results. The bank said the company's share gains and improving profitability support its growth outlook. Shares rose by 0.28% in premarket trading.

Gapping down

$NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$ stock fell 1.8% ahead of the release of quarterly earnings from the artificial intelligence chipmaking giant, in a sign that traders may be balking at the firm's expensive valuation.

$Palo Alto Networks (PANW.US)$ On Wednesday, Rosenblatt Securities adjusted its stance on shares of Palo Alto Networks , downgrading the cybersecurity firm from Buy to Neutral and reducing the price target to $265 from $290. The firm's analysis followed Palo Alto Networks' announcement of a strategic shift, which sent its stock price tumbling by 23% in premarket trading. The company's management disclosed a mid-quarter strategic adjustment that has led to projections of lower billings and revenue than previously expected.

$Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA.US)$ stock fell 3% after the U.S. pharmacy chain operator lost its spot on the Dow Jones Industrial Average to Amazon, up 1%, after nearly three years on the blue-chip stock index.

$Analog Devices (ADI.US)$ has reported fiscal first-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.73, just topping Bloomberg consensus forecasts despite a "difficult macroeconomic environment." Still, shares in the company dropped by 1% in premarket U.S. trading on Wednesday.

Revenue in the three months ended on Feb. 3 dropped by 23% to $2.5B, roughly in line with expectations. Hit by both high inflation and elevated interest rates, customers have recently reined in expenditures on new chip orders, fueling an backlog of supplies following a pandemic-era boom in demand.

$Verisk Analytics (VRSK.US)$ , a leading data analytics provider, reported fourth-quarter earnings that fell short of Wall Street expectations. The company's adjusted earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter came in at $1.40, missing analysts' estimates by $0.04.

Despite the revenue beat, the company's stock fell 3.4% as both EPS and future earnings guidance failed to meet market projections. Verisk's forecast for fiscal year 2024 anticipates an adjusted EPS range of $6.30 to $6.60, which is below the analyst consensus of $6.61.

Source: CNBC; Investing.com

US Top Rating Updates on 02/21