24/7 Wall St.

Now that 2020 is well underway, investors should already be looking past the 2019 mega-gains of 28.9% in the S&P 500 and closer to 35% for the Nasdaq. The base case is for the major stock indexes to generate returns of about 7.4% in 2020, but there still is a case for stocks to climb 10% to 12% if certain things come about in 2020. The phase-one trade pact with China already has played into the potential upside scenario, but now many companies are going to have to play a direct role in the stock market’s gains for 2020.

24/7 Wall St. covers dozens of analyst calls each day of the week, and that becomes hundreds of analyst calls over the course of most weeks. It turns out that, at the start of 2020, analysts are rapidly hiking their ratings and price targets on a group of leading technology stocks. This matters because it generally implies that the analyst community is generally not worried about how these companies will act after they start reporting earnings and issuing 2020 guidance over the last half of January.

There are many reasons to continue being bullish about the major technology leaders in 2020 and perhaps beyond. The tech-heavy Nasdaq already has seen a gain of nearly 5% so far in January. The iPhone supercycle is one catalyst, there is a new slate of game consoles coming late in the year, global growth appears to be more stable than just a few months ago, China is playing nice again, the cloud is still a fraction of its potential, and so on. There are also still many risks that have to be considered, before and beyond the upcoming election cycle that comes to a head this November.

Of course, it is impossible to determine which companies will beat earnings expectations and which will issue upside guidance for all of 2020. That said, when you see more than one or two analysts issuing formal upgrades or handily raising their target prices for the year ahead, it should stand out as more than just a trend.

These are not the only tech stocks and tech leaders that have seen analyst upgrades or target price hikes from Wall Street over the past month. They just happen to be the largest and all have high profiles and have seen major gains over time. Consensus analyst target price data comes from Refinitiv, and other color has been provided as well.

Here are the 10 top tech leaders that have scored major analyst price hikes and ratings upgrades from the latter half of December and into January.

Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) doesn’t seem to be a major tech stock that dominates the news headlines, but the shares have risen more than 200% in the past three years or so. With a new all-time high going above $350 per share, the consensus target price was $352.67.

• Oppenheimer raised Adobe to Outperform from Perform and set a $410 target price on January 17, 2020.
• Wells Fargo reiterated its Equal Weight rating but raised its target to $345 from $315 on January 16.
• Credit Suisse reiterated an Outperform rating and raised its price target to $385 from $350 on January 13.
• Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating and raised its price target to $390 from $370 on January 9.
• Barclays reiterated a Neutral rating with a $330 price target on December 16, 2019.
• Argus reiterated a Buy rating with a price target of $368 on December 16.
• Canaccord Genuity reiterated a Buy rating and raised its target to $350 from $320 on December 13.
• Nomura/Instinet reiterated a Buy rating and raised its target to $318 from $300 on December 13.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) has managed to shed its past woes and is winning more share in the processor market and doing well in graphics. AMD shares just hit a new all-time high above $51 and have passed the prior zeniths of 2000 and 2005, when the shares challenged the $40 level. It seems impossible to believe that AMD was a mere $2 stock in 2015. AMD’s consensus target was most recently seen down at $41.60, but that is still higher than the $37.77 consensus starting the new year.

• On January 21, Cowen reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target to $60 from $47, noting that AMD was taking market share and was better positioned against Intel for more gains.
• Mizuho upgraded it to Buy from Neutral and raised its price target to $55 from $38 on January 9.
• Wells Fargo reiterated an Overweight rating and raised its price target to $55 from $48 on January 7.
• Nomura reiterated a Buy rating and raised its price target from $40 to $58 on January 2.
• Rosenblatt reiterated a Buy rating and raised its target to $65 from $52 on AMD on December 31.
• RBC Capital Markets reiterated it as Outperform and raised its target to $53 from $50 on December 24.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) recently became just the fourth U.S. company to reach the $1 trillion mark in its market capitalization. Its latest share price of $1,479.00 comes with a consensus target price of $1,510.59, but the consensus target was $1,472.28 on the first day of 2020.

• Morgan Stanley reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target from $1,450 to $1,560 on January 21.
• UBS reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $1,675 from $1,460 on January 17.
• Deutsche Bank reiterated its Buy rating and lifted its target to $1,735 from $1,550 on January 14.
• Evercore ISI reiterated an Outperform rating and raised its price target to $1,600 from $1,350 on January 13.
• Sanford Bernstein initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $1,600 price target on January 10.
• Pivotal Research reiterated a Buy rating with a $1,650 price target on January 6.
• Canaccord Genuity upgraded it to Buy from Hold on January 3.
• Cleveland Research initiated it at Neutral with a $1,423 price target on December 20.
• Robert Baird reiterated a Buy rating with a $1,400 price target, also on December 20.
• Stifel Nicolaus upgraded it to Buy from Hold and raised its target to $1,525 from $1,325 on December 5.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) has been in the $1 trillion market cap club, but it is currently valued at $927 billion. With shares trading near $1,871, its 52-week high is $2,035.80 and its consensus target price is $2,177.93. That consensus analyst target was just over $2,165 at the start of 2020, and some of the new higher target prices have yet to be reflected.

• UBS reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target price to $2,305 from $2,100 on January 17.
• Morgan Stanley reiterated it as Overweight and raised its target to $2,200 from $2,100 on January 16.
• JPMorgan reiterated a Buy rating with a $2,200 price target on January 14.
• Merrill Lynch reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target from $2,160 to $2,330 on January 14.
• A January 14 call from Janney was more of a technical analysis call, but the firm noted a potential move up closer to $3,100 over a long-term view (not just in 2020).
• Sanford Bernstein initiated coverage with a $2,050 price target on January 9.
• Tigress Financial reiterated its Buy rating on the shares on December 31.
• Argus reiterated a Buy rating with a $2,250 price target on December 31.
• Cowen reiterated its Buy rating with a $2,400 price target on December 17.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has seen its shares surge ever higher, and analysts chasing the stock also have many scenarios for additional upside, perhaps even to $400. At $318 a share or so now, it has continued hitting all-time highs and has a market cap of about $1.4 billion. Apple’s consensus target price of $266.22 at the start of 2020 was still under its year-end price of $293.65, but that consensus target was last seen up at $288.78.

• Nomura/Instinet reiterated its Neutral rating on January 17, but its $225 target that was close to a street-low was hiked to $280.
• Morgan Stanley reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target price to $368 from $296 on January 17.
• Canaccord Genuity reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $355 from $275 on January 15.
• Atlantic Equities downgraded it to Underweight from Neutral and with a $275 price target on January 14.
• D.A. Davidson reiterated a Buy rating and raised its price target to $375 from $300 on January 13.
• Credit Suisse reiterated it as Neutral but raised its price target from $221 to $275 on January 10.
• Needham reiterated a Strong Buy rating and raised its price target to $350 from $280 on January 6.
• Merrill Lynch reiterated a Buy rating and raised its price target to $330 from $290 on January 3.
• Wedbush reiterated it as Outperform and raised its price target to $325 from $350 on December 23.
• Piper Jaffray reiterated it as Overweight and raised its target price to $290 from $305 on December 20.
• Cowen reiterated an Outperform rating and raised its price target to $290 from $325 on December 17.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) is the U.S. leader in capital equipment for semiconductor and chip makers, and its $63.50 share price comes with a consensus target price of $68.52.

• Merrill Lynch upgraded it to a Buy rating from Neutral on January 10.
• ICAP upgraded it to a Buy rating from Neutral on January 10.
• Nomura/Instinet reiterated it as Buy and raised its price target to $75 from $68 on January 2.
• Wells Fargo reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target to $70 from $67 on December 20.
• Morgan Stanley reiterated it at Equal Weight and raised its price target to $68 from $61 on December 18.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) has come back in favor along with other chip stocks, but the U.S. DRAM giant now has a $64 billion market cap again. Trading at about $58, its consensus target price of $65.32 is almost $3 higher than it was at the start of 2020.

• Longbow Research reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $69 from $67 on January 21.
• Cleveland Research upgraded shares to Buy from Neutral on January 14.
• Cowen raised its rating to Outperform from Market Perform and its price target to $70 from $50 on January 7.
• Wedbush Securities upgraded it to Outperform from Neutral and raised its price target to $65 from $44 on December 17.
• Needham reiterated a Buy rating and raised its price target to $70 from $60 on December 17.
• Susquehanna upgraded its Neutral rating to Positive and raised its price to $85 from $45 on December 16.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) has surged higher, and it is nearing $1.3 trillion in market cap. Trading near $167, it has a consensus target price of $170.39. That consensus target was $163.63 on the first day of 2020.

• RBC Capital Markets reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target to $180 from $165 on January 21.
• Wells Fargo reiterated a Buy rating on January 14.
• Credit Suisse reiterated an Outperform rating and raised its price target to $180 from $155 on January 13.
• Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating and raised its price target to $185 from $160 on January 9.
• Cowen reiterated an Outperform rating and raised its price target from $165 to $180 on January 9.
• Wedbush reiterated it as Outperform and raised its price target to $195 from $185 on January 9.
• Morgan Stanley reiterated an Overweight rating and raised its target to $189 from $157 on January 8.
• DZ Bank reiterated a Buy rating on January 6.
• Deutsche Bank reiterated a Buy rating and raised its price target to $175 from $160 on December 17.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) has come back in favor, but the $248.50 recent price and 52-week high of $252.99 are now still down from more than $280 from back in September of 2018. The consensus target price is $246.63, and most analysts see Nvidia generating stronger revenue and earnings growth in fiscal 2021 as data center spending (and on GPUs) is expected to be higher. The consensus target price was $236.32 on the first day of January.

• Piper Sandler reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target to $275 from $250 on January 15.
• Needham upgraded it to Hold from Underperform on January 13.
• Merrill Lynch reiterated a Buy rating and raised its target to $300 from $275 on January 10.
• Benchmark reiterated a Buy rating and raised its price target to $275 from $240 on December 31.
• Wells Fargo reiterated an Overweight rating and raised its target price to $240 from $270 on December 20.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) may feel look and feel like an automaker rather than a traditional technology stock, but that is not how the valuation and momentum look and feel. The company has many efforts in battery technology and electric storage that can play a role over the coming decade, all of which could be as large as or larger than its auto business when it comes to contributing to the bottom-line results. What has stood out here is that even the analysts who have downgraded the stock have issued major price target hikes. Another report shows that Tesla may be the only big winner when it comes to electric vehicle sales in the United States. Tesla’s shares surged by 6% to $541.00 on January 21, and the consensus target price was last seen at just $355.36.

• On January 21, a firm called New Street Research raised Tesla’s target price to $800 from $530 in a longer-term view.
• Morgan Stanley downgraded the shares to Underweight from Equal Weight on January 16, but the firm still raised its target to $360 from all the way down at $250.
• Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating and raised its price target to $600 from $400 on January 14.
• Deutsche Bank reiterated a Hold rating and raised its price target to $455 from $290, also on January 14.
• Oppenheimer reiterated it as Outperform and raised its price target to $612 from $385 on January 13.
• Piper Sandler reiterated an Overweight rating and raised its target price to $553 from $423 on January 10.
• Robert Baird downgraded it to Neutral from Outperform but raised its price target to $525 from $355 on January 9.
• Credit Suisse reiterated an Underperform rating and raised its price target to $340 from $200 on January 7.
• Canaccord Genuity reiterated a Buy rating and raised its price target from $375 to $515 on January 2.
• Cowen reiterated an Underperform rating and raised its price target to $210 from $190 on December 30.
• Wedbush reiterated it as Neutral and raised its price target to $370 from $270 on December 26.

Remember, no analyst call should ever be used as a sole reason to buy or sell a stock. That is particularly true when it comes to evaluating the most bullish or most bearish analyst calls of them all. Taking all that into consideration, it’s hard to ignore when an analyst brigade is hiking price targets higher and higher heading into earnings.

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