Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), the parent company of search engine titan Google, is repositioning its artillery for the year ahead following what Bank of America dubbed an “AI wake-up call” in 2023.
Chief among America’s third-largest corporation’s arsenal is the development of its suite of ChatGPT-killing (wishfully speaking) Gemini large-language models (LLMs).
Gold miners should outperform the bullion price this year, according to analysts at Liberum spurred by an outbreak of mergers and acquisitions across the sector.
Liberum has upgraded both Endeavour Mining and Centamin to 'buy', from 'sell' and 'hold' respectively, though its favourite remains UK-listed house stock Caledonia.
Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) received positive reviews from analysts after its fourth-quarter results sent the shares surging 13% higher to a two-year high of $560 in the first hour of trading in New York.
However, Deutsche Bank's reaction was to downgrade the shares, removing its 'buy' rating and moving to 'hold', but raising its share price target to $525 from $460 as it upped earnings and cash flow estimates.
easyJet PLC investors overlooked news that the airline had been impacted by the war in the Middle East during the first quarter as shares climbed over 2% on Wednesday.
Despite announcing a £40 million hit from the war, FTSE 250-listed easyJet said losses had narrowed during the quarter as people continued to fork out on travel despite higher living costs.
'Sell' ratings have been issued for Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) and Volkswagen Group (XETRA:VOW) as a looming electric vehicle (EV) oversupply leads to pressure on profit margins.
Equities research company Redburn, which is owned by investment bank Rothschild, raised a red flag over the EV market, predicting a challenging phase as margins fall due to an oversupply of a million vehicles during a period when companies are continuing to plough significant investment into the sector to grow or at least maintain a share of the market.
Associated British Foods PLC (LSE:ABF) has made a robust start to the 2024 fiscal year, with its Primark division playing a pivotal role, according to a post-update assessment by Liberum.
Repeating its 'buy' advice and £28 a share price target, the boutique investment bank said Primark's 2.1% like-for-like growth was "commendable" given the challenging comparison against a previous 11% increase.
Premier African Minerals Ltd (AIM:PREM, OTC:PRMMF) should publish a new mineral resource for its Zulu Lithium project shortly, says house broker Shore Capital.
Focus of the update will be tonnes of contained spodumene in the Main Zone area, with completion expected by the end of the current quarter.
Adriatic Metals PLC (LSE:ADT1, ASX:ADT, OTCQX:ADMLF) flagged a slightly slower timeline for the Vares mine construction alongside guidance for the production ramp-up, but brokers at Stifel and RBC still see the miner starting to generate plenty of cash this year.
Delays in equipment getting through the Suez Canal caused the slippage, which has also pushed up costs slightly, but steady state production should still be achieved in the fourth quarter of this year, says RBC.
Shares in the couturier Burberry Group PLC (LSE:BRBY) seemed impervious to a couple of downgrades, rising 2.7% in early afternoon trading.
RBC Capital cut its price target by a £1 a share to £15, while Jefferies was more bearish as it set its valuation at £13 from £14.60, believing the shares are destined to 'tread water' in the near-term at least.
Haleon PLC (LSE:HLN, NYSE:HLN) was the biggest faller on the FTSE 100 on Wednesday morning after JPMorgan fired off a warning shot ahead of the Sensodyne and Panadol maker's annual results next month.
After Haleon delivered strong volumes versus sector peers in the consumer staples sector over the past two years, the investment bank now expects the top line to disappoint as the tailwinds that boosted its over-the-counter divisions abate.
Citi has upgraded the target price for Flutter Entertainment PLC (LSE:FLTR) by £10 a share to £180 ahead of its listing in New York next week.
Following Flutter's 17% share price rally post its fourth-quarter trading update for 2023, the investment bank's analysts have taken a closer look at the company's prospects, and specifically its ownership of the fast-expanding FanDual sports book operation.