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Robinhood bull removes “buy” rating, cuts estimates

Morgan Stanley’s analysts covering brokerages also cut their price target and pivoted to more defensive, bond-focused firms like MarketAxess, Cboe, and CME.

Matt Phillips

Analysts at Morgan Stanley cut their “overweight” rating (basically, a buy) on Robinhood to “equal weight” (or hold), and downgraded their earnings forecast and price target for the stock, citing risks “that retail investors begin to disengage (for which we saw signs in March) in a period of prolonged market volatility and sharp drawdowns in broad market indices.” They wrote:

“In the context of a highly volatile and less certain macro environment with risks/uncertainty surrounding government policy, economic growth, and inflation, we lower our retail trading forecasts at the retail brokers and market infrastructure firms… and shift our preferences towards stocks that are less levered to retail trading.”

Morgan Stanley cut its price target for the shares to $40 from $90 — which was the second highest on Wall Street, according to Bloomberg data — and cut its earnings per share estimate for 2025 by 29%.

Robinhood has been hit hard since the stock market topped out on February 19, falling 40% through yesterday’s close, though the shares are bouncing higher today.

For what it’s worth, the bank also cut its ratings on Nasdaq, Virtu Financial, and Tradeweb to “equal weight” from “overweight,” and upgraded its rating on bond- and hedging-focused financial companies like CME Group, Cboe, and Marketaxess, shares that have done relatively well during the recent market tumult.

(Sherwood Media is an editorially independent subsidiary of Robinhood Markets Inc. I own Robinhood stock as part of my compensation.)

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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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