Benzinga analyzed the performance outlook of many popular investor-favorite stocks last week. This article highlights some of the key takeaways from the week.
The stock market saw some major gains on Friday (June 2), following a strong job report and successful debt-ceiling bill enforcement in the U.S. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 2.12% (or 701.19 points) while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite increased by 1.45% and 1.07% respectively, with the latter reaching its highest point since April 2022. Nonfarm payrolls in May exceeded expectations with an increase of 339,000 jobs, marking the 29th straight month of positive job growth. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both ended the week approximately 1.8% and 2% higher respectively, and the Nasdaq had grown consecutively for six weeks. The Dow also finished positively, up around 2% percent. Read on to learn about the bull and bear highlights of the week.
The Bulls
According to Chris Katje, Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU)has been receiving upgrades from analysts who are raising their price targets after the company exceeded the Street consensus estimates for Q1 results. The company has enough growth runway to sustain this momentum.
The rise of the AI sector (aided by the recent artificial intelligence boom) has led to a surge in the VanEck Semiconductors ETF (SMH) that has Piero Cingari writing about it in the article “Massive AI Boom Sends Semiconductor ETF Skyrocketing: It’s Not Just Nvidia!”.
Goldman Sachs recently initiated coverage on Cedar Fair LP (FUN), SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. (SEAS), and Six Flags Entertainment Corp (SIX), making bullish calls on two of the stocks as reported by AJ Fabino in “Goldman Sachs On Theme Park Stocks: A Ride Worth Taking?”.
Benzinga’s ‘Stock Whisper’ index highlights the five stocks that investors are secretly monitoring but not talking about yet. Check out its findings in the article “Benzinga’s ‘Stock Whisper’ Index: 5 Stocks Investors Are Secretly Monitoring But Not Talking About Yet”. Another article, “Disney Defying DeSantis? Mouse House To Reportedly Double Down On Florida With $17B Investment”, discusses the investment moves being made by the entertainment giant Disney.
The Bears
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) recently settled over $30M with the Federal Trade Commission over allegations of spying on RIng doorbell camera customers and violating children’s privacy rights with Alexa recordings. Read more about it in the article, “Amazon Agrees to Pay Over $30M to Settle Alexa, Ring Spying Claims Despite Disagreement With FTC”.
Palantir Technologies, Inc (PLTR) has almost doubled its stock market value in May, but it still faces some concerns about its “contentious” AI play, says the article “Palantir Stock Nearly Doubles In May — But Analyst Still Thinks It’s ‘Contentious’ AI Play” by Shanthi Rexaline.
Elon Musk famously purchased Twitter, and the question now is, did he overpay for it? Fidelity recently decreased its Twitter stake valuation, which indicates that the company is worth roughly a third of the price it was sold for. This issue is addressed in the article “Twitter Value Continues To Drop: Here’s Shareholder Fidelity’s Latest Estimate Of The Company’s Worth” by Chris Katje.
The article “Bearish On The Stock Market Following SPY’s Possible Double Top? This Fund Offers 3X Leverage” delves into the possible collapse of Tesla’s valuation. Additionally, there is an article about the investment losses of almost 80% of Shiba Inu holders in “Nearly 80% Of Shiba Inu Holders Have Raked Up Losses Touching Six Figures — Over A Third Purchased Within This Range”.
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