Investing.com -- Here is your Pro Recap of the top takeaways from Wall Street analysts for the past week.
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AppLovin Corp.
What happened? On Monday, Needham upgraded Applovin Corp (NASDAQ:APP) to Buy with a $700 price target.
*TLDR: Needham Bullish. Ecommerce forecast hiked to $1.45B for ’26E.
What’s the full story? Needham upgrades APP to Buy, slapping a $700 price target on it after digging deeper into ecommerce, bolstering confidence in ’26E revenue acceleration—just as the stock slumps from its peak a month back. The firm sees this as a classic market mispricing, where savvy advertisers swarm in, defying the usual doldrums.
Needham hikes its ’26E ecommerce forecast to $1.45B from $1.05B, betting self-service launches spark advertiser growth and spending surges that smash through Q1 seasonality for sequential gains. It’s a calculated rebellion against gravity.
Yet, even this bold bump leaves room for upside in the bull case, if APP mirrors TikTok’s rocket ride—proving once more that in finance, imitation isn’t flattery, it’s fortune.
American Axle
What happened? On Tuesday, BWS Financial initiated American Axle & Manufacturing at Buy with a $17 price target.
*TLDR: AXL merges with Dowlais. Stock trades undervalued.
What’s the full story? American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. (AXL), soon to rechristen itself Dauch Corp (NYSE:AXL)., edges toward completing its merger with Dowlais Group plc (DWLAF). This union promises sweeping diversification, broadening the customer base across automakers and global markets while enriching the product lineup. The combined entity emerges as a colossus in the auto-supplier arena, primed to leverage scale across regions and unlock potent operating efficiencies according to BWS Financial.
That leverage forecasts a surge in free cash flow from 2027 onward.
Meanwhile, AXL refines its bidding strategy to bolster gross margins, triggering a dip in 2025 sales but a concurrent rise in cash flow. This temporary sales slump likely shoves the stock into the bargain basement according to the analyst.
Yet AXL trades at levels typically signaling distress, even as it remains profitable and churns out free cash per the report. Investors eyeing undervalued gems might find this mismatch intriguing
Applied Materials
What happened? On Wednesday, Mizuho upgraded Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ:AMAT) to Outperform with a $370 price target.
*TLDR: Mizuho sees WFE growth and capex tailwinds drive upside for AMAT.
What’s the full story? Mizuho upgrades AMAT to Outperform with a $370 price target, ditching the Neutral/$275 apathy. As the world’s second-biggest wafer fab equipment slinger, the investment bank spots AMAT riding a roaring capex wave from US, Taiwan, and Japan—like Laird Hamilton off Maui North Shore in 2009. Tailwinds howl: 2026 WFE estimates spike 13% year-over-year, 2027 another 12%, a brutal acceleration that crushes prior forecasts and juices AMAT’s upside.
Foundry and logic, devouring 65% of revenues, feast on TSMC’s "significantly higher" 2026-28 capex binge versus 2023-25, plus INTC’s brighter 2026 tool spend, and DRAM’s high-bandwidth memory bonanza at 30% of revs.
China? Less a millstone now, as ex-China revenues—70% of the pie—accelerate like a steamboat outrunning the fog. With global WFE gusts and TSMC/INTC windfalls, Mizuho bets big on Outperform.
First Solar
What happened? On Thursday, BMO Capital downgraded First Solar Inc (NASDAQ:FSLR) to Market Perform with a $263 price target.
*TLDR: BMO downgrades FSLR amid Tesla’s solar threat. Capacity swell risks lower module prices.
What’s the full story? BMO downgrades FSLR amid the shadowy specter of Tesla’s solar juggernaut. Uncertainty swirls around how much of TSLA’s excess module capacity—proven scalers of clean energy behemoths like ESS and inverters—floods the market beyond their own lairs. With U.S. utility-scale solar chugging at 45-50 GW yearly, FSLR’s 14.1 GW stronghold and T1 Energy’s budding 2.1 GW (plus 3.2 GW expandable) face a potential deluge from TSLA’s 100 GW ambition, hammering long-term pricing or casting a perpetual overhang on shares like a Mississippi river fog.
The thesis hinges on juicier U.S. module ASPs, but as FSLR’s stock surges 56% last twelve months, it now discounts a paltry $0.29/watt—while backlogs hum at $0.30-$0.33. Prior sleuthing hints prices could spike to upper $0.30s or low $0.40s via Section 232 tariffs on polysilicon imports, each $0.01/watt bump worth $23/share.
Yet a presidential decree on semiconductors carves exemptions for data centers—TSLA’s likely solar playground—potentially softening polysilicon probes.
This, plus swelling capacity, leaves BMO wary of enduring price euphoria, like a gambler eyeing a rigged wheel.
Broadcom Inc.
What happened? On Friday, Wolfe Research upgraded Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO) to Outperform with a $370 price target.
*TLDR: TPU growth boosts AI revenue estimates at Wolfe driving upgrade.
What’s the full story? Wolfe upgrades AVGO to Outperform with a $400 price target on this silicon beast that’s feasting on the AI frenzy like a Madison Avenue marketer working with Sydney Sweeney. The research note can’t ignore Google’s TPU juggernaut anymore—checks reveal it’ll swell to 7 million units by 2028, and Alphabet’s sly move to peddle it to third parties finally births a real rival to Nvidia’s throne. Wolfe crowns AVGO the prime profiteer, jacking CY27 estimates to $154.5 billion revenue and $16 EPS, trading at a 21x multiple, with extra juice from uncounted XPU ramps at Meta and OpenAI.
The note rejiggers CY26 AI ASIC revenue to $44 billion on 3.3 million TPU shipments, exploding to $78.4 billion in CY27 with 5.1 million units—TPE dominates, while other projects nibble 17% and 14% slices. Networking surges 75% to $15.1 billion in CY26, mirroring Nvidia’s estimates, then 55% in CY27; non-AI semis and software stay pat.
Valuation screams opportunity: $16 EPS by CY27 implies a 25x multiple, but bull case hits $18 if AI revenue doubles again. Wolfe’s $400 target clocks 22x that bull earnings, undercutting AVGO’s three-year 25x average since the AI gold rush kicked off.
