Facebook (FB), Activision Blizzard (ATVI) and Electronic Arts (EA) were started with top ratings, Amazon.com‘s (AMZN) price target was hiked, and Twitter (TWTR) was downgraded.
Loop Capital initiated Facebook at buy with a PT of 165. Facebook continues a snail-slow ascent from its 128.43 buy point.
Shares were down 1.5% at 128.10 in premarket trading on the stock market today, on reports the leading social media firm has told major ad agencies that it had overestimated the average viewing time for video ads for two years.
Activision, EA
Morgan Stanley started coverage at overweight with a PT of 56. Morgan Stanley also initiated rival Electronic Arts at overweight with a PT of 101.
“We are bullish on the digital gaming shift as gaming evolves from a ‘units sold’ business into an ‘engagement monetization’ business. We see digital in-game offerings leading to recurring and growing user bases, higher per-game engagement (time spent per user), and more monetization opportunities,” said Brian Nowak, a Morgan Stanley analyst in a report.
Shares of Activision were up 1.8% early Friday at 45.30. EA wasn’t active early.
Amazon
Mizuho Securities hiked its PT on Amazon to 950 from 855. Amazon is ranked No. 6 in IBD’s Internet-Retail group while China’s Alibaba Group (BABA) is No. 1.
“Our proprietary survey work shows that Amazon Prime is at an inflection point, and we believe this could drive increased revenue as consumers spend more on Amazon. Furthermore, Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant and Echo devices could put Amazon at the center of home automation and be the next revenue opportunity for Amazon,” said Mizuho analyst Neil Doshi in a report.
Amazon shares dipped 0.1% to 803.96.
Wal-Mart
Barclays initiated Wal-Mart at overweight with a PT of 87. “Wal-Mart is in the early stage of a turnaround, and given the company’s metrics on free cash flow yield, dividend yield and ROIC, we believe WMT should trade more in line with the universe of stable staples,” said the Barclays report.
Shares climbed 0.4% to 72.57.
RBC Capital downgraded to underperform and lowered PT to 14 from 17. Loop Capital started Twitter at hold with a PT of 18.
Shares soared 21% to 22.58 on reports a deal is near for a buyout of Twitter.
In other analyst moves, Piper Jaffray started AstraZeneca (AZN) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) at overweight. Jefferies initiated Medgenics (MDGN) and Ingevity (NGVT) at buy. Barclays initiated Five Below (FIVE) at equal-weight.Stifel lowered its PT on Oracle (ORCL) to 45 from 48. Imperial Capital initiated Alaska Air (ALK) at “in-line” with PT of 74.
