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Luke Kawa

Micron rises on price target boost, positive signs from overseas on memory chip pricing

Micron is starting this week as it ended the last one — trading up — with the stock about 2.6% higher as of 7:35 a.m. ET on Monday.

Susquehanna boosted its price target on the US memory chip specialist by 50%, to $300, while maintaining a positive rating on the stock.

Micron’s early advance is also in keeping with recent performance of its peers overseas.

South Korean memory giant SK Hynix soared on Monday, with Shawn Oh, head of Korea cash equities at NH Investment & Securities, telling Bloomberg that the gains were tied to strong pricing for the HBM3e line (the most recent generation of high-bandwidth memory chips) as well as fresh chatter about ADR issuance.

A local brokerage also boosted its SK Hynix price target, estimating that the South Korean company’s operating profit will double this year thanks to the surge in memory chip prices.

Separate reporting from ZDNet Korea indicated that SK Hynix is also delaying the ramp in its HBM4 production, in part to better align the release with Nvidia’s upcoming Rubin chip.

The potential for ADRs would effectively introduce some fresh competition for memory chip investment dollars among American investors, but SK Hynix’s postponement may reinforce demand for Micron’s existing HBM3e chips and give the American company more time to develop its own HBM4 chips.

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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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