All I Want for Christmas…
There’s only one thing I want for Christmas this year, Great Ones. Can any of you guess what that is?
World peace? 1,000% gains? A vaccine? Market rationality? Tell us!
This sounds corny, but I want a Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 5 Digital Edition. I want to bask in the warming glow of the PS5’s glowing warmth while I shoot space aliens on Christmas morning with friends and family … just the way the Almighty intended us to celebrate his birthday.
Or something…
But I’m not getting one, thanks to reseller groups and their crafty shopping bots. But that won’t stop me from trying. And, no, I’m not paying $1,000 for one off eBay. Stupid resellers.
Anywho … I do have a potential consolation prize this year. I may get to rewatch Game of Thrones on my Roku.
Yes, you read that right. AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and Roku Inc. (Nasdaq: ROKU) are reportedly near a deal to put the HBO Max app on Roku’s streaming platforms. AT&T reached a deal with Amazon to carry Max on Fire TV platforms last week, and a deal with Roku is reportedly getting closer.
Brace yourself … “Winter Is Coming” memes are coming!
Did you not see today’s main image?
Anyway, that’s not all that ROKU investors are excited about. Last Thursday, Pivotal Research Group upgraded the stock from sell to neutral, citing “Roku’s long-term competitive positioning” and benefits related to the pandemic-related lockdowns.
And if that wasn’t enough, Needham reiterated its buy rating this morning while lifting its price target on ROKU from $255 to $315. That’s the highest ROKU price target on the Street. In order to justify this sky-high target, Needham pointed toward a dramatic reallocation of consumer spending during the pandemic, which is forcing advertisers to adopt to streaming TV faster than expected.
It’s nice to see the brokerage community finally realizing what Great Stuff has known since May 2019: Roku and its agnostic platform are the future of online content streaming. After all, 43 million active users can’t be wrong … especially when it comes to advertising revenue.
Great Stuff recommended buying ROKU twice in the past year and a half. Those Great Ones who got in back in May 2019 sit on a gain of more than 200%! Congratulations!
Meanwhile, those who bought ROKU in December 2019 see a return of about 102%. Also not too shabby of a return for just shy of 12 months.
I’m here to tell you Great Ones that the ROKU ride is not over.
With HBO Max coming on board, soon all the major players will be available under the Roku banner. That means more devices sold this Christmas. It means more active users and more ad revenue, regardless of whether or not Netflix, Amazon, Hulu or HBO has the new must-see show of the week.
Great Stuff’s advice? Continue to hold ROKU. And if you aren’t in yet, wait for the stock to digest its recent gains before hopping on this profit train. Remember, if you’re too hasty with these things, you’ll shoot your eye out!
Your other option? Bank on the 5G and wireless revolution that’ll make streaming faster and more reliable than ever before. No more buffering … buffering … buffering…
And one company is behind a miracle material that’ll be critical in harnessing 5G. Without it, 5G won’t even work. Click here to see how you could profit now!
So many stocks, so little time … and so little information. It’s time to get Quick & Dirty:
Wall Street is so over vaccine stocks, and it shows. AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) announced late-stage clinical trial data on its own COVID-19 vaccine this morning, and investors snoozed. Apparently, 90% efficacy and normal refrigeration requirements are old news at this point. AZN dropped more than 3% today.
The new COVID-19 hotness on Wall Street is treatment. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: REGN) received FDA Emergency Use Authorization for its coronavirus “cocktail therapy.” The treatment is the same one given to President Trump last month, according to the president’s doctors. Trump claimed that Regeneron’s treatment “just made me better. I call that a cure.” REGN surged nearly 6% on the news before settling with a gain of about 1%.
What’s a pharma giant without a leading treatment to do at this point? Why, you buy one of course!
Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) said this morning that it’ll buy immunotherapy company OncoImmune for $425 million in cash. Notably, OncoImmune (seriously, these names…) is developing a largely unknown COVID-19 treatment that proved in late-stage clinical trials to reduce the risk of death by respiratory failure by more than 50%.
Makes what I spent my stimulus money on kinda lame … MRK fell fractionally lower on the news.
Hey Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) investors! Do you have chills? Are they multiplying? Don’t go losing control ‘cause Wedbush analyst Dan Ives raised his target price on TSLA from $500 to $560.
However, Ives set his “bull-case” price target at $1,000. These “bull-case” targets seem a bit sketchy to me. If you’re that bullish, just man up and be that bullish. Especially if you call for a “major inflection in EV demand globally,” Dan. TSLA rose more than 7% on Mr. Ives’s research note.
If you thought earnings would take the week off for the holidays … you’re half right! This week sees the retail roundup continue, helping set the tone (and expectations) for retailers as we head into the holiday season.
And we’ll see how certain brick-and-mortar stalwarts have paced with the pivot to online shopping (or not). We’ll also see just how confident certain stores and chains are, depending on whether or not they nail down the ever-elusive guidance.
Whether or not predicting next-quarter’s financials is an act of confidence or insanity remains to be seen. Here’s what this week looks like in the earnings confessional, courtesy of Earnings Whispers on Twitter:
Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) kicks off the retail shebang tomorrow, and like Wall Street, we’re laser-focused on whether or not Best Buy kept online sales churning. When you consider how many ways you can buy electronics online — as long as you don’t want a PS5 — Best Buy has to pack heat to stay increasingly relevant.
Likewise, the back-to-school quarter is also usually a boon to computer hardware makers like Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL). But, as we’ve seen with consumer reports and other retail earnings … that “boon” kinda fizzled out like a half-melted root beer float.
While department stores flounder nationwide and many folks’ new-clothes-shopping hits all-time lows … in walk the likes of Gap (NYSE: GPS), Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) and Burlington Stores (NYSE: BURL).
Wall Street masochists want to see just how much damage the pandemic wreaked on the sales front, but investors are hoping for a glimpse of strength as retailers limp into the do-or-die holiday shopping season.
Then there’s Dicks Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS), which might buck the retail Armageddon trend with everyone and their mother suddenly getting in touch with their outdoorsy side — or at least working out at home instead of the gym.
Last but not least is a grab bag of possible Greatness:
- Progressive Corp. (NYSE: PGR) has you covered on the insurance front if that gets your premium-banking blood pumping.
- Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) might surprise us when you consider that, well, lawns don’t care about viruses … and mowing grass is marginally better than staying inside to watch paint dry.
Great Stuff: Retail It and Weep
What stocks are you watching this week? Got any upcoming trades in your sights?
Better yet, have you banked the Roku rally … or are you missing out on one of Great Stuff’s top picks?
Let us know what’s on your mind at GreatStuffToday@BanyanHill.com. Whether you’ve got questions that need answers or rants you’ve got a-rambling, hit us up. We’d love to hear from you, night or day!
We’ll be back tomorrow, so check us out on social media for now: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Until next time, stay Great!
Joseph Hargett
Editor, Great Stuff
