7 minutes ago
Wall Street analysts are mostly bullish about Alphabet (GOOGL) stock ahead of the release of the Google parent’s fourth-quarter results, scheduled for after the market closes Tuesday.
Of the 19 analysts covering the stock tracked by Visible Alpha, 15 have issued “buy” or equivalent ratings, with four “hold” ratings. Their consensus price target is about $219.
Alphabet shares were up 2% at around $205 in mid-afternoon trading. The stock has gained 44% over the past 12 months, handily outpacing the S&P 500’s performance over the period.
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Alphabet is expected to report fourth-quarter revenue of $96.6 billion, up 12% year-over-year, and earnings of $26.17 billion, or $2.12 per share, up from $20.69 billion, or $1.64 per share, a year earlier.
Jefferies recently maintained a “buy” rating and $235 price target for the stock, writing that Alphabet’s “fundamentals appear to be improving with solid ad spend,” and that the company is seeing growing demand for Google Cloud.
The tech giant’s spending on AI will also likely be in focus after the emergence of a sophisticated, cost-efficient AI model from Chinese startup DeepSeek raised concerns about the competitiveness of U.S. firms and their spending on the emerging tech.
Bank of America analysts told clients in a note Friday that they view last week’s strong results from Meta (META), which stood by its AI spending plans, as a positive signal for Alphabet. Earlier in the week, Raymond James and Bank of America analysts also suggested that DeepSeek’s rapid rise could push the tech giant to act with greater urgency on AI developments.
1 hr 14 min ago
Meta (META) shares moved higher Tuesday after setting a record close yesterday, as investors continue to bid up the stock in the aftermath of a solid quarterly earnings report and optimism about the potential for AI-fueled growth.
Meta shares trended higher within a six-month rising wedge before breaking out above the pattern’s upper trendline last month on above-average volume. Moreover, the breakout has coincided with the relative strength index (RSI) moving above the 70 threshold, confirming bullish price momentum, but also cautioning overbought conditions in the stock.
Meta shares have gained 20% since the start of 2025, making the stock the top performer over that stretch among the Magnificent Seven group of large-cap tech companies. The stock was up 1.1% at around $705 in recent trading and on pace to close at another record high Tuesday.
Source: TradingView.com.
The measuring principle projects a shorter-term bullish target at $755, while bars pattern analysis forecasts a longer-term upside target of around $935. Investors should also monitor major support levels on Meta’s chart around $632 and $600.
Read the full technical analysis piece here.
2 hr 12 min ago
Estée Lauder (EL) shares tumbled 17% Tuesday to lead S&P 500 decliners as the beauty products maker reported a surprise quarterly loss and weak guidance, and announced it was slashing jobs as sales lagged.
The cosmetics giant posted a fiscal 2025 second-quarter operating loss of $580 million, or $1.64 per share. Analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha were looking for a per-share profit of $0.26. Revenue fell 6% year-over-year to $4.0 billion, although that was a tick better than forecasts.
Skin Care segment sales sank 12% to $1.92 billion, and Makeup sales slipped 1% to $1.15 billion, mainly because of slowing demand in China and the rest of the Asia-Pacific region.
CEO Stéphane de La Faverie said Estée Lauder was launching a new strategic plan called “Beauty Reimagined,” aimed at “significantly transforming our operating model to be leaner, faster, and more agile, while taking decisive actions to expand consumer coverage, step-change innovation, and increase consumer-facing investments to better capture growth and drive profitability.”
As part of the move, the company will shake up the executive suite and lay off 5,800 to 7,000 employees.
Estée Lauder also warned that with “challenges in the Company’s Asia travel retail business, subdued consumer sentiment in China and Korea, and evolving global geopolitical uncertainty, the Company anticipates continued volatility and low visibility in the near term.” It sees current-quarter adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.20 to $0.30, with revenue falling 10% to 12%. Visible Alpha estimates were for $0.62 and a drop of almost 7%, respectively.
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Shares of Estée Lauder have lost about half their value in the past year.
2 hr 45 min ago
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is set to report its fourth-quarter results after the market closes Tuesday, with analysts projecting revenue and earnings growth on strong demand for AI chips.
AMD is expected to report revenue of $7.54 billion, up 22% year-over-year, and earnings of $1.1 billion, or 67 cents per share, up from $667 million, or 41 cents per share, a year earlier. Of the 14 analysts covering the stock tracked by Visible Alpha, eight have issued a “buy” or equivalent rating, compared with five “hold” ratings, and one “sell.” Their consensus price target is $164.
The stock was up 3% at around $118 in midday trading Tuesday. AMD shares have taken a hit over the past year, losing about a third of their value, amid concerns about the chipmaker’s outlook and ability to compete with Nvidia’s (NVDA) offerings.
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However, in notes to clients last week, Bank of America and Raymond James analysts suggested competition in the AI space from Chinese firms like DeepSeek, which rocked markets last week with its claims of a sophisticated, cost-efficient AI model, could push U.S. tech firms to spend even more on AI, to the benefit of chipmakers like AMD.
“Spending for AI continues unabated,” Citi analysts said last week, pointing to Meta’s (META) plans to invest $60 billion to $65 billion in capital expenditures this year. That level of AI spending is “good news” for AMD, as well as rivals like Broadcom (AVGO), the analysts said.
3 hr 28 min ago
Spotify (SPOT) shares jumped Tuesday after the Swedish audio streaming giant posted its first full-year profit and quarterly revenue that beat estimates.
Spotify, which had been cutting costs in recent years, said fourth-quarter revenue jumped 16% year-over-year to 4.24 billion euros ($4.38 billion). That exceeded the 4.16 billion euros analyst consensus from Visible Alpha. The company’s net profit of 367 million euros, versus a loss of 70 million euros in the previous year, was, however, below estimates of 407.7 million euros.
Still, subscriber numbers soared. Monthly active users during the fourth quarter climbed 12% to 675 million, and premium subscriptions came in at 263 million. The numbers both exceeded forecasts Spotify made of 665 million MAUs and 260 million premium subscribers in the fourth quarter, as well as Visible Alpha’s estimates.
Looking ahead, Spotify forecast revenue of 4.2 billion euros, 678 million MAUs and 265 million premium subscribers in the first quarter of 2025.
Spotify shares were up 11% in recent trading and have gained about 170% over the past 12 months.
4 hr 30 min ago
Merck shares tumbled Tuesday morning after the drugmaker’s soft outlook outweighed fourth-quarter revenue that topped expectations.
Merck (MRK) reported $15.62 billion in revenue for the quarter, up 7% year-over-year and above the $15.43 billion analysts had expected, according to estimates compiled by Visible Alpha. The company’s net income came in at $3.74 billion, or $1.48 per share, compared to a $1.2 billion loss a year ago but below the $3.92 billion analysts had expected.
After adjusting for one-time charges like costs related to acquisitions, however, Merck’s adjusted net income of $4.37 billion topped estimates of $4.21 billion.
For 2025, the drugmaker expects revenue to come in between $64.1 billion and $65.6 billion, with adjusted earnings per share forecast between $8.88 and $9.03 per share. Analysts had higher expectations, with the current 2025 consensus at $67.08 billion in revenue and $9.09 adjusted EPS.
Sales rose across most of Merck’s medication portfolio, with declining sales for Gardasil and Januvia attributed to lower demand in some international regions and lower pricing in the U.S., respectively.
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Merck shares were down nearly 11% in recent trading, leading decliners in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and have fallen nearly 30% over the past 12 months.
5 hr 20 min ago
Palantir (PLTR) shares soared in premarket trading Tuesday after the analytics software company’s fourth-quarter revenue and 2025 outlook sailed past Wall Street expectations amid robust demand for its AI platform.
Palantir shares have consolidated within an ascending triangle since late December, a chart pattern that signals a continuation of the stock’s longer-term uptrend. Indeed, the price looks set to stage a breakaway gap above the pattern after the better-than-expected quarterly results.
Source: TradingView.com.
It’s also worth noting that the stock registered its highest daily volume on Monday since December’s triple witching trading session, suggesting pre-earnings accumulation.
Bars pattern analysis projects a potential upside target of around $170 and indicates a continuation of the stock’s uptrend until late March. Investors should watch key support levels on Palantir’s chart around $85 and $66.
Palantir shares were up 23% at around $103 shortly before Tuesday’s opening bell. Through the close of Monday’s regular trading session, Palantir shares had gained 11% so far in 2025 and had risen five-fold over the past 12 months amid growing demand for the company’s suite of AI-powered software offerings.
Read the full technical analysis piece here.
6 hr 12 min ago
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.1%.
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S&P 500 futures were up 0.1%.
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Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.2%.
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