(This is CNBC Pro’s live coverage of Friday’s analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) Nvidia and a cloud stocks were in focus among Friday’s analyst calls. Bank of America named Nvidia a top pick, calling for $100 billion in free cash flow for the company by 2025. Meanwhile, RBC Capital Markets initiated Snowflake with an outperform rating and a price target that indicates more than 25% upside. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. 6:05 a.m. ET: Jefferies downgrades Okta Jefferies thinks the outlook for Okta is looking murky. The firm downgraded the cybersecurity stock to hold from buy on Friday. Analyst Joseph Gallo cited a recent security breach as a negative overhang for the stock, but noted he still remains positive on the overall strength of the company. “In order for shares to warrant a re-rating further past our PTs 6x CY25 rev multiple, we believe further improvement in execution and re-acceleration of growth is required which will take time,” Gallo said. To be sure the analyst raised his price target on the stock to $95 per share from $85, or about 14% above Thursday’s close. The stock has slipped about 8% from the start of the year. Gallo also mentioned peer Zscaler as a top pick in the note, noting the company can benefit from an improving macroeconomic outlook. — Brian Evans 5:43 a.m. ET: Bank of America forecasts $100 billion in free cash flow for Nvidia by 2025, names it a top pick Nvidia’s generative artificial intelligence prominence will continue for at least the next two years and help grow free cash flow and expand new initiatives, according to Bank of America. The firm reiterated a buy rating on the chip stock in a note with a $700 per share price target and labeled Nvidia a top pick. BofA’s forecast implies nearly 46% upside from Thursday’s $479.98 close. Analyst Vivek Arya asserted that Nvidia’s dominance can help push free cash flow to as much as $100 billion in 2024 and into 2025, while about $65 billion to $75 billion of those funds could be used for new growth opportunities. “NVDA’s relatively depressed trading multiple – just 24x/20x CY24/25E PE versus 67%/26% EPS growth – is partly due to uncertainty in CY25 growth prospects, and partly due to a very hardware dependent business unlike other large-cap software/internet peers that have recurring revenue profiles,” Arya said. “In our view NVDA’s solid FCF generation creates optionality in addressing these concerns, and in helping to expand its trading multiple back to its historical median 35x-40x,” Arya added. Nvidia had a monster year in 2023, rallying more than 200%. The stock, however, is down 3% in the first week of 2024. NVDA 1Y mountain NVDA in past year — Brian Evans 5:43 a.m. ET: RBC initiates Snowflake with an outperform rating Snowflake is coming off a strong year, and RBC thinks there are more gains ahead. The bank initiated the coverage of the cloud company with an outperform rating and a price target of $230 per share. That forecast implies upside of 25.2% from Thursday’s close. “Cloud remains the center of gravity for data,” analyst Matthew Hedberg wrote. “Despite 2023 cloud optimization trends, we believe platforms that can support a multi-cloud, cross-cloud strategy will win.” He also said he’s bullish on Snowflake’s long-term “growth opportunity and think upside to consensus estimates seems likely. Key catalysts include improving cloud optimization trends, rapid adoption of Snowpark, and over time, adoption of new GenAI offerings.” Snowflake shares rallied more than 38% in 2023. However, they got off to a slow start for 2024, losing 7.7% in the first few sessions of the year. — Fred Imbert
Friday’s analyst calls: Nvidia a top pick, RBC sees big gains ahead for this cloud stock
