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Bullish Snap analyst : “Will stabilize from here”

Deutsche Bank maintained its “buy” rating on the stock, but cut the price target.

As Snap endures a serious market beatdown Wednesday after posting earnings yesterday, bullish Deutsche Bank analysts maintained their “buy” rating on the stock, writing that they have confidence in the company’s strategic moves despite economic uncertainty created by President Trump’s trade war.

In particular, they spotlighted Snap’s growing SnapChat+ subscription service and momentum in its “direct response” advertising business. Direct response ads are a growth area of the ad industry, focused on digital ads that nudge viewers to take some sort of immediate action, like making a purchase or download.

Growth in direct response ads, Deutsche analysts wrote, will allow the company to boost ad sales to small and medium-sized businesses, diversifying the company’s client base. They wrote:

“While the company acknowledged that advertiser spending has been impacted by the macro environment, including some of those impacted by the changes to the de minimis trade exemption, we contend that Snap’s ad platform moving down funnel will help diversify toward an increasingly durable revenue mix, supported further by outsized [small and medium sized business] advertiser growth (up 60% y/y in 1Q), and continued strong growth at SnapChat+.

Overall, we think North American and EU daily active user trends will stabilize from here and we are positive on Snap’s ability to scale its direct response business, become more performant, drive greater adoption from SMB advertisers, and deliver greater revenue durability through subscriptions.

All in, we maintain our Buy rating, however lower our target price to $8.50 from $10.”

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

  • Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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