Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB, XETRA:IDP) could see its stock move higher over the next two years as progress on its Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi and a series of late-stage pipeline readouts draw more investor attention, according to Jefferies.
The broker, which rates the stock Buy with a price target of $210, said Leqembi’s trajectory in early Alzheimer’s disease “could accelerate” if a subcutaneous induction version wins approval in mid-2026, enabling full at-home use.
US softlines retails are expected to deliver a mixed performance through the end of 2025, with consumer spending likely to results in a modest holiday season, analysts at UBS believe.
“US consumers' willingness to spend has waned month-over-month due to concerns around employment, inflation, and the direction of the US economy,” the analysts wrote, noting that this has led them to be moderately less bullish on softline stocks compared with last month.
The Budget brought plenty of political theatre, but for the gambling sector the headline was blunt: a steep rise in taxes on online betting and gaming.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set out a two-stage overhaul that lifts the tax burden on the industry far beyond what many investors had pencilled in.
The long US stock market rally may be on the verge of a shift, with earnings growth finally starting to spread beyond the tech giants that have carried the S&P 500 for the past three years, according to Deutsche Bank’s 2026 outlook.
The bank thinks the index could hit 8,000 by the end of 2026, delivering mid-teens returns from here. That call leans on a mix of improving earnings, steady investor appetite for stocks, and corporate buybacks that do not appear to be slowing down.
Zillow (NASDAQ:Z) is positioned for another quarter of outperformance in the fourth quarter as US housing momentum shows signs of strengthening, according to analysts at Jefferies.
The firm repeated its ‘Buy’ rating on the real estate platform with a $100 price target, implying upside of about 35% from current levels.
Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS)’s emerging beauty and accessories lines, alongside tighter cost discipline and a more selective approach to store expansion, could provide meaningful long-term growth drivers for the retailer, Jefferies said on Wednesday after meeting with company executives.
Jefferies, which rates the stock “Buy” with a $30 price target, said its analysts met with Chief Financial Officer Katrina O’Connell and Head of Investor Relations Whitney Notaro to discuss initiatives across pricing, promotions, store fleet strategy and capital allocation.
JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM, XETRA:CMC) forecast the S&P 500 could climb to 7,500 by the end of 2026, and potentially exceed 8,000 if the Federal Reserve eases monetary policy more aggressively than expected, according to its 2026 Global Equity Outlook.
The bank’s baseline projection assumes two additional Fed rate cuts and 13% to 15% annual earnings growth for US companies, underpinned by a resilient economy and an investment surge in artificial intelligence technology.
MongoDB Inc (NASDAQ:MDB) will release its third quarter results on Monday aftern the bell, with Wedbush analysts expecting it report another solid quarter as the document database company capitalized on heightened demand for its AI offerings.
The firm maintained an ‘Outperform’ rating and a $400 price target, keeping MongoDB on its IVES AI 30 List and Best Ideas List, noting the company is in the early stages of a multi-year growth trajectory.
Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA, XETRA:NVD) remains the uncontested leader in the AI chip race despite rising competition from the likes of Alphabet’s Google, analysts at Wedbush believe.
“The AI Revolution starts and ends with Nvidia today, and that is not changing for another few years,” the analysts wrote, highlighting that Nvidia’s dominance in AI hardware remains firmly established despite the growing presence of Google’s TPU chips and other entrants.
UBS has struck a more optimistic tone on Ceres Power Holdings PLC (LSE:CWR, OTC:CPWHF) following a roadshow with CFO Stuart Paynter, highlighting strengthening licence momentum, expanding access to the US market and improving cost competitiveness for its solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology.
The broker, which has repeated a 'Buy' rating and a 570p price target, sees material upside if Ceres’ partners scale to multiple gigawatts in the coming years.
NetApp Inc (NASDAQ:NTAP) reported largely in-line financial results for the fiscal second quarter 2026, with an earnings beat and margin outperformance bright spots for the data infrastructure company.
For the quarter ending October 24, the company posted net revenues of $1.71 billion, up 3% from the same period a year earlier and slightly surpassing Wall Street estimates of approximately $1.69 billion.
The airline industry has enjoyed a strong rebound from pandemic lows, but new data from UBS suggests the ascent might be hitting a patch of mild turbulence.
According to UBS's Evidence Lab unit, global capacity was still up by a mid-single-digit percentage year-on-year through mid-November, but momentum slowed compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019 (a key benchmark for the industry’s recovery).
JP Morgan’s equity strategists think investors may need to brace for another bout of musical chairs next year, as the winners-and-laggards rotation that has characterised much of this year rolls on into 2026.
Their latest outlook sets out a fairly benign backdrop for risk assets once the current market wobbles are out of the way.
UBS has taken Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL)down a peg, cutting its rating from buy to neutral and trimming its price target to 3,000p a share. The bank thinks the stock has lost some of its shine after a 12% rise this year and no longer looks cheap enough to warrant a more bullish call.
Shell’s rally has been built on a string of cash flow beats, helped by lower operating costs. UBS still sees the group as a core holding for many investors, with the sort of balance sheet and hard-to-replicate businesses that make it a heavyweight in global energy. The problem, in the bank’s view, is valuation. Once you factor in the medium-term challenges around replacing reserves and a more limited growth outlook, the current share price looks harder to justify.
Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT), Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA, XETRA:NVD), Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL, XETRA:APC) and other major tech names are positioned to remain top performers into year-end, according to Wedbush analysts who argue the AI boom is far from peaking.
The analysts believe that fears of an AI bubble are misplaced, pointing instead to accelerating enterprise demand and an investment cycle still in its early stages.
Canadian bank stocks look “fully valued” after a sharp autumn rally, leaving little room for disappointment as lenders prepare to report fourth-quarter results, Jefferies said on Tuesday as it downgraded Royal Bank of Canada (TSX:RY) and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSX:TD) to ‘Hold.’
The brokerage said credit trends should remain broadly stable, with flat Stage 1 and Stage 2 provisions and “likely incremental increases” in Stage 3 impairments, while lending volumes are expected to stay positive but “largely uninspiring.”
Peel Hunt has picked out an interesting detail for Accesso Technology Group PLC (LSE:ACSO, OTC:LOQPF) shareholders in the latest shake-up at Six Flags, the US theme-park group that remains the UK company’s biggest customer.
Six Flags has appointed John Reilly as its new chief executive, effective 8 December, after what it describes as a “robust succession planning process”.
Caledonia Mining Corporation PLC's (AIM:CMCL, NYSE-A:CMCL, VFEX:CMCL) decision to proceed with the Bilboes sulphide project marks a major step, so says stockbroker Cavendish, as analyst Yuen Low reacted to Tuesday's news.
The greenlight at Bilboes is supported by a feasibility study that shows a post-tax NPV of US$582 million and an internal rate of return of 32.5%.
Two of the UK’s mid-tier advertising outfits provided an unwelcome start to the week, with bothM&C Saatchi PLC (AIM:SAA) and S4 Capital PLC (LSE:SFOR, OTC:SCPPF) warning that trading has turned trickier as the year-end approaches.
Neither update was scheduled, which tells its own story.
Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) shares added more than 7% after the used car sales platform was upgraded to an ‘Outperform’ rating by Wedbush analysts.
The analysts also raised their 12-month price target to $400 from $380, arguing that the recent pullback in the stock presents a buying opportunity.
Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) is seeing a sharp acceleration in enterprise rollouts of its Copilot artificial intelligence tools as the product matures and large customers move from gradual testing to company-wide deployments, according to Jefferies.
The brokerage, which reiterated its “Buy” rating and a $675 price target, said Microsoft executives signaled broadening momentum at a recent conference, with the company closing last year’s performance gap with OpenAI and now offering “much stronger ROI and enterprise readiness.”
The tech sell-off of the past fortnight has rattled even the most seasoned Nasdaq watchers, but Wedbush argues this is more a bout of nerves than a turning point.
In a punchy note, the broker calls the pullback a “mini panic moment” rather than the bursting of any bubble, despite the swirl of AI-bubble chatter, regulatory anxiety and the usual theatre of bearish tweets.
Shares in M&C Saatchi PLC (AIM:SAA) and S4 Capital PLC (LSE:SFOR, OTC:SCPPF) sank 6% and 7% after both groups warned that 2025 will fall short of expectations.
The updates underline how fragile demand remains across the advertising and marketing landscape, where budgets are still being trimmed and visibility is patchy as clients head into the year-end planning season.
JD Sports Fashion PLC (LSE:JD., OTC:JDSPY) has been dealt another setback after Shore Capital cut its rating to 'hold', following a further slide in like-for-like sales and yet another trim to profit guidance.
It now expects full-year pre-tax profit of about £850 million, the bottom of the range management had already set out.