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(This is CNBC Pro’s live coverage of Thursday’s analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) A semiconductor maker and a tech giant were among the stocks being talked about by analysts on Thursday. Analysts reacted to Broadcom’s latest quarterly results, which sent shares surging. Meanwhile, Jefferies named Microsoft a top pick, calling for about 25% upside. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 6:41 a.m.: Oppenheimer names Ulta a top pick, thinks the struggling beauty stock has strong upside Oppenheimer thinks beaten-down Ulta shares are primed for a comeback. Analyst Rupesh Parikh re-added Ulta to a “top pick status” and kept his outperform rating on the stock. His 12-18 month price target of $475 implies shares could gain another 21.8%. This year, the stock has lost more than 20%. “We overall see a very compelling risk/reward scenario,” Parikh wrote. “We believe management’s updated FY24 guide is now more realistic, and are optimistic new efforts on the innovation front along with easy compares could help to drive a comp acceleration as the year progresses.” He continues to have a favorable view on Ulta’s long-term prospects for several reasons, including: The retailer’s “differentiated offering and unique value proposition” Ulta’s “superior merchandisers” that have a strong history of innovation Relative attractions of the beauty category Ongoing market share potential Commentary from Ulta’s management at the firm’s consumer conference left analysts with a positive feeling on the stock, as the company is pleased with its brand launches and optimistic on its innovation pipeline for the second half of the year, Parikh added. — Pia Singh 6:01 a.m.: Morgan Stanley downgrades Corning, sees more balanced risk-reward Corning shares will have a tougher time moving higher after their run-up this year, according to Morgan Stanley. Analyst Meta Marshall downgraded the company, which is known for making specialty glass and materials, to equal weight on an improved demand picture. She kept her $38 price target, which implies shares could drop just slightly from its latest close. This year, the stock has significantly outperformed the broader market, gaining about 24.9%. “We like GLW’s positioning to participate in many mega trends in the coming years, but think current valuation captures the bulk of expected NT upside to estimates and are moving away from our OW given our view of a more balanced risk-reward,” Marshall said in a Tuesday note, adding that she still sees upside to results through 2024. The stock’s valuation now accounts for expected improvements in service provider spend and partial de-risking of 2025 estimates on a weaker yen. It also includes some upside from AI data center-related fiber demand, Marshall said. — Pia Singh 5:45 a.m.: What analysts are saying about Broadcom earnings Semiconductor manufacturer Broadcom beat analysts’ second fiscal quarter expectations , leading shares to pop 13% in the premarket. The stock was already up nearly 34% this year. Here’s what analysts had to say about the company after its results: Barclays analyst Tom O’Malley reiterated his overweight rating and hiked his price target by $500 to $2,000, implying 33.7% potential upside. Broadcom’s earnings reinforced its position as one of the largest AI beneficiaries, O’Malley said, expecting its AI revenue for fiscal year 2024 to come out at higher than $11 billion as more of a base case scenario. “AVGO continues to efficiently integrate VMware, and in our view remains one of the best ways to play AI,” he said. JPMorgan’s Harlan Sur similarly kept his overweight rating and upped his price target by $300 to $2,000. He walked away from the print bullish on Broadcom’s future AI-driven revenues, which he thinks are currently conservative, and noted that Google and Meta are among its AI networking shipment customers. The stock remains its top pick in semiconductors, Sur said. UBS was slightly less optimistic by comparison, with analyst Timothy Arcuri maintaining his buy rating and raising his price target by $125 to $1,735. Still, that suggests about 16% potential upside. “From here, the numbers still leave headroom to keep moving higher, especially considering the sheer scale of GPU demand and typical “attach” rate for networking solutions,” he wrote in a Thursday note. — Pia Singh 5:45 a.m.: Jefferies names Microsoft a top pick Microsoft is “going for AI gold,” according to Jefferies. The investment bank named the tech giant a top pick, maintaining a buy rating. Its price target of $550 implies upside of around 25%. Microsoft shares have rallied more than 17% this year, building on their 56.8% surge from 2023. MSFT YTD mountain MSFT year to date Analyst Brent Thill said Jefferies hosted meetings with Microsoft executives recently. “Our key takes: 1) Capex ramp to continue but expect efficiencies once it reaches scale; 2) Core Azure continues to be healthy, bolstered by AI halo; 3) M365 Copilot is on track, expect benefit in F2H25; 4) recent [year over year] operating leverage is impressive given significant AI investments.” — Fred Imbert
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