A Tesla Supercharger station in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
10 things to watch Monday, March 3
— Today’s newsletter was written by Jeff Marks, director of portfolio analysis.
1. Stocks are poised for a higher to start March following a strong oversold rally in Friday’s session. Wall Street is continuing to watch the latest trade headlines, with President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports set to go into effect tomorrow.
2. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies surging after Trump announced a U.S. strategic crypto reserve. The announcement is receiving some pushback for not solely being a bitcoin fund. Trump said it also will include XRP and ether, among others.
3. Morgan Stanley’s well-known auto analyst Adam Jonas made Tesla his top pick in U.S. autos again following the stock’s 27.5% year-to-date decline. Shares of Tesla added around 3% this morning.
4. Chipotle was upgraded to a buy-equivalent overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley. The analysts, who also raised their price target to $70 a share from $65, believe the recent slowdown in sales is a short-term headwind. Also, Chipotle CEO Scott Boatright told “NBC Nightly News” the burrito chain will absorb any tariff-related cost increases.
5. Evercore issued a “positive tactical call” on Kroger ahead of earnings on Thursday, arguing the stock will start to get credit for defensive growth. Later this morning, though, Kroger announced longtime CEO Rodney McMullen resigned after a personal conduct investigation. Evercore also put a tactical underperform call on Best Buy ahead of earnings. We exited our position in the retail last month to protect gains.
6. Anheuser-Busch InBev was upgraded to buy at Deutsche Bank on improving execution and cash flow. Alcohol stocks have been a tough place to be, but AB InBev has found some momentum lately. The world’s largest brewer reported better-than-expected quarterly sales last week.
7. Southwest Airlines was downgraded to a sell-equivalent underweight by JPMorgan on valuation ahead of its industrials conference. Southwest has faced pressure from activist Elliott Management, which secured board seats at the company last fall.
8. Club name Apple’s more conversational version of Siri that leverages AI is behind scheduled and won’t be unveiled in June, Bloomberg News reported. The comes after fellow Club holding Amazon announced a revamped, AI-infused Alexa last week.
9. AbbVie is entering the obesity market through a licensing agreement with the Danish firm Gubra for its amylin treatment. Amylin, like GLP-1, is a hormone linked to appetite and body weight. Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk and Club name Eli Lilly, which has Zepbound, are still ahead in trials for next-generation obesity treatments.
10. Intel shares are jumping nearly 6% after Reuters reported that Club names Nvidia and Broadcom are running manufacturing tests with the struggling chipmaker. Intel has been aggressively heavily to catch TSMC in leading-edge chip production.
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