Thursday’s Insider Activity: USA Rare Earth Sees Major Buys

Investing.com - Unite Group plc (LON:UTG) stock rating was downgraded from Buy to Hold by Stifel on Thursday, with its price target slashed to 600p from 975p, citing concerns about student accommodation occupancy rates.

The downgrade follows Unite’s completion of the Empiric acquisition and revised occupancy assumptions for the 2026/27 academic year.

Stifel noted that sales rates for the upcoming academic year have been slower than in previous years, with guidance for Unite assets at 93%-96% occupancy and 2%-3% rental growth.

The research firm highlighted that the Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) sector has been negatively impacted by a decline in university applications from international students following visa rule changes, affordability challenges for domestic students, and early signs of a cultural shift toward students staying in family homes and attending local universities.

Unite’s share price has declined approximately 30% over the past year, while the EPRA UK Index rose 10% during the same period.

The company has reassessed its development ambitions, increased disposal targets to £350 million annually, and launched a £100 million share buyback program in response to the uncertain outlook.

Stifel analysts believe dividend growth will be limited over their forecast horizon, with their 600p target price assuming the shares trade at a 6.5% dividend yield, in line with other income-focused companies under their coverage.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Investing.com - Kepler Cheuvreux has downgraded Derwent London (LON:DLN) from Buy to Hold while maintaining its 2,050p price target, citing the stock’s 17% rally since September and uncertainty surrounding the company’s upcoming CEO transition.

The rating change follows Derwent London’s January 22 announcement that its CEO would retire, with the board beginning the process to select a successor.

Kepler’s analysis of past UK REIT CEO changes suggests shares typically underperform during transition periods, particularly when there is a longer gap before a replacement is named.

Kepler notes that while positive news flow on London office markets has increased recently, the firm still sees challenges for Derwent in replicating past successes. The current target price implies just 5% upside (10% including forecast dividend yield) from the current price of 1,946p.

The research firm is maintaining its forecasts for Derwent, projecting 1% underlying EPS growth in 2026 after a 7% decline in 2025, and 2.3% half-on-half NAV per share growth in the second half of 2025. Kepler’s target price is based 50% on NAV forecasts and 50% on DCF valuation.

Derwent London, the largest central London-focused REIT with a portfolio valued at approximately £5 billion, has seen its share price recover from lows of 1,608p to reach the current level, representing an 11.9% gain year-to-date.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Investing.com -- Wolfe Research upgraded Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO) to Outperform, with price target of $400 on growing confidence in the scale and competitiveness of Google’s tensor processing unit program and Broadcom’s position as a key beneficiary.

The firm said its channel checks suggest TPU shipments could reach about 7 million units annually by calendar 2028, a level that Wolfe said it can no longer ignore.

Google’s move to make TPUs available to third parties is creating a credible alternative to Nvidia’s GPUs, with Broadcom expected to capture much of the associated custom silicon demand.

Wolfe raised its calendar 2027 estimates to $154.5 billion in revenue and $16 in earnings per share, reflecting higher assumed TPU volumes and stronger AI-related contributions.

It said additional upside is possible from other custom accelerator programs not fully reflected in its forecasts, including projects linked to Meta and OpenAI.

For calendar 2026, Wolfe revised its AI ASIC revenue estimate to about $44 billion, based on roughly 3.3 million TPU shipments. It lifted its calendar 2027 AI revenue estimate to $78.4 billion, assuming around 5.1 million units.

The firm expects TPUs to drive the majority of Broadcom’s XPU growth, with other programs accounting for 17% of XPU revenue in 2026 and 14% in 2027.

Wolfe also modeled networking revenue of $15.1 billion in 2026, up about 75% year on year, and expects AI networking revenue to grow about 55% in 2027. It left estimates for non-AI semiconductors and infrastructure software unchanged.

Wolfe said its $400 target reflects about 22 times a bull-case earnings scenario of $18 per share in 2027, which assumes Broadcom can double AI revenue again that year.

The multiple sits below the stock’s roughly 25 times average over the past three years, covering the AI spending cycle.

Investing.com -- Citi upgraded Spotify to Buy in a note Friday, arguing it now sees “lots of reasons to like” the music-streaming platform’s stock, including attractive valuation, beatable estimates, and a series of upcoming catalysts. 

Analyst Jason Bazinet said Citi is maintaining its $650 target price on SPOT, which reflects “28x 2027 FCF per share.”

Citi told clients it sees Spotify’s revenue and profitability running ahead of Wall Street expectations, saying its revenue forecast is “1% to 2% above consensus,” driven largely by Premium average revenue per user that is “2% above sell-side estimates.” 

The bank added that its adjusted EBITDA projection is approximately 3% higher than the Street, supported by stronger revenue and gross margin expectations that are around 1% above the consensus.

On potential catalysts, Citi highlighted several developments that could boost sentiment. 

These include “more price hikes in the EU,” possible pricing increases from rival digital service providers, which would “lower the risk of share loss at Spotify,” and the prospect of “accelerating buybacks,” supported by robust free cash flow and a strong balance sheet.

Citi also argued Spotify’s valuation is compelling. At current levels, the firm estimates the stock trades at “just 21x 2027 FCF per share,” excluding cash and investments.

The bank cautioned on two risks, including the possibility that Spotify deploys its cash to acquire an AI-music startup, an outcome investors may view less favorably than buybacks, and the chance that rivals avoid raising prices, which could spur concerns about market share and long-term margin pressure.