Bloomberg reports that Chinese authorities have said they are ready to order Nvidia’s H200 AI chips from the country’s biggest tech companies, including Alibaba. Separately, CNBC reported that NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang plans to visit China in the coming days ahead of the Lunar New Year in mid-February, according to people familiar with the plans. The AI leader’s stock is up 1% in premarket. 2. Don’t give up on Intel. Shares fell 13% after the company released mixed quarterly results and a weak outlook for the current three months. But it’s only been 10 months since the company appointed Lip Vu Tan as its new CEO after a shaky four years under Pat Gelsinger. Balance sheets needed to be addressed. This has now been fixed. The number of orders is overwhelming. Demand is incredibly strong and chipmakers are gaining new customers. JP Morgan raised its price target from $30 to $35 but maintained its sell rating, while Mizuho raised its price target from $41 to $48 and maintained its hold rating. 3. Capital One had a disappointing quarter compared to older metrics. But the company is building an entirely new payments network with its $5.15 billion acquisition of Brex, a fintech that helps businesses pay their bills. The acquisition follows that of Discover and furthers CEO Richard Fairbank’s plan to turn American Express on its head. Capital One shares fell 2%. 4. COF’s Fairbank says this year’s tax refunds are unusually large (compared to the lack of ACA subsidies during last year’s government shutdown), plus the addition of the “Trump account” should significantly increase the flow of money to the S&P 500. 5. KeyBanc reiterated a buy rating on Microsoft with a price target of $630, representing nearly 40% upside from current levels. The company cited better-than-expected results from its security business and increased demand for its Azure cloud services. 6. Goldman Sachs said it was time for an acquisition after Spotify’s steep decline. Analysts like its premium subscription business, long-term secular growth theme, and increasing monthly active users. However, the company lowered its price target from $735 to $700. 7. As expected, the Procter & Gamble upgrade is here. It reported an expected weak quarter on Thursday. JPMorgan and DBS Bank raised money to buy from hold. Wells Fargo raised its price target to $165 from $158. We can expect accelerated growth and increased profits. Get ready to learn the name of Shailesh Jejurikar, the CEO who seems to have the situation under control. We were pleased to see that the company is on track to meet its guidance goals of organic sales growth, core EPS growth, and adjusted free cash flow productivity. 8. J.P. Morgan downgraded Southern Copper from Hold to Sell, giving the stock its highest price relative to copper prices. In fact, analysts like Weil. Please be careful here. Gold’s rise is about both the weakness of the dollar and the weakness/dysfunction of cryptocurrencies as stores of value rather than playthings for the rich. Mr. Bernstein downgraded Freeport-McMoRan’s stock from buy to hold, saying the current valuation includes a much higher copper price than Mr. Bernstein is comfortable with. 9. Haleon, which, like Kenvue, makes OTC drugs, vitamins, and oral care products (Sensodyne, Advil, Centrum) has been upgraded to be available for purchase from hold at Barclays. Seems like a lame upgrade, but there’s a lot to be said for this being an integrator. Aggressive growth under CEO Brian McNamara? 10. Starbucks price target raised to $95 from Gordon Hassett’s $88. Significant rise ahead of analyst meeting on January 29th. In fact, I expect CEO Brian Nicol to lower his forecast. There’s no reason to keep them high. He should take a hit. Sign up for free for my Top 10 Morning Thoughts on the Markets email newsletter (See here for a complete list of Jim Cramer Charitable Trust stocks.) As a subscriber to Jim Cramer’s CNBC Investment Club, you’ll receive trade alerts before Jim makes a trade. After Jim sends a trade alert, he waits 45 minutes before buying or selling stocks in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim talks about a stock on CNBC TV, he will issue a trade alert and then wait 72 hours before executing the trade. The above investment club information is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, along with our disclaimer. No fiduciary duties or obligations exist or arise from your receipt of information provided in connection with the Investment Club. No specific results or benefits are guaranteed.
