Nvidia (NVDA)
Nvidia shares rebounded in premarket trading, recouping losses on Friday that were sparked by concerns that the AI industry darling's rise may be losing steam.
New Street Research recently downgraded the stock from buy to neutral and set a price target of $135 (£104.41).
“Today, we have downgraded the stock to neutral as the upside potential only materializes in a bull scenario of significantly expanding prospects beyond 2025, which we are not yet convinced will come to fruition,” said New Street analyst Pierre Ferrague.
Read more: Biden withdraws from US presidential race, dollar falls
A recent report from Goldman Sachs suggests that AI may not be as game-changing as the headlines make it out to be, and that investing heavily in AI stocks at current prices could leave you disappointed.
“You know what all of this reminds me of? The internet revolution and the dot-com bubble that it created. I lived through that era and invested in it,” said John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market.
Still, the chipmaker is moving the market, with shares of Serve Robotics (SERV), which specializes in low-emission sidewalk delivery robots, soaring 140% on Friday after Nvidia announced it had acquired a significant stake in the company.
SAP's second-quarter 2024 earnings will be a barometer for the technology sector, reflecting demand for enterprise software and digital transformation, but so far, its shares are down in premarket trading.
Analysts expect SAP SE to report quarterly profit of $1.16 per share on revenue of $8.84 billion. The company is scheduled to report earnings after the market close.
SAP reported non-IFRS earnings per share (EPS) of €0.81 for the first quarter of 2024, up 8% year over year. The company reported non-IFRS total revenue of €8.04 billion, up 8% year over year.
“Q2 cloud revenue (non-IFRS) is expected to be €4.04 billion, up 21.7% year over year,” Zacks Equity Research analysts wrote.
“Rise with SAP solutions continue to gain significant traction and will help the company expand its market share in the cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions space. In the most recent quarter, cloud ERP suite revenue grew 31 percent year-over-year,” he added.
Starbucks (SBUX)
Starbucks shares are currently rising in pre-market trading after The Wall Street Journal reported that activist investor Elliott has bought a significant stake in the company.
The activist hedge fund and the coffee chain have been in private talks in recent weeks about ways to boost the chain's share price.
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The Wall Street Journal was unable to learn the magnitude of Elliott's position or the specific demands it makes, but noted a settlement is possible.
Elliott is one of the most active activist investors and one of the largest hedge funds in the world, having taken a number of large positions in recent months, including shares in Southwest Airlines (LUV), SoftBank (9434.T), Johnson Controls (JCI) and Texas Instruments (TXN).
Shares of Starbucks, the world's largest coffee chain by store count and sales, took a hit in April after the company reported its first same-store sales decline in nearly three years.
Ocado has risen to the top of the FTSE 250 (^FTMC) after announcing a new deal with US partner Kroger.
Shares in the online supermarket and technology group rose more than 7% after the US retailer ordered a “wide range of new automation technology”.
These technologies include Ocado's own innovations such as On-Grid Robotic Pick, a robotic arm that sits directly on the warehouse grid and uses advanced machine vision and sensing capabilities to pack bags for customers.
Ocado said its on-grid robotic picking technology, which is already deployed in its UK warehouses, can pick up and transport 70% more items than traditional robots.
This means retailers can stock up to 50,000 different products, handled by robotic arms with the sensitivity to handle both delicate and heavy items.
Chief executive Tim Steiner said: “As global supply chains come under immense pressure to manage growing volumes and complexity, along with labor costs and availability challenges, we are delivering a major transformation in warehouse automation and new levels of efficiency for our partners.”
“Today marks another exciting milestone in our partnership with Kroger, as our current Customer Fulfillment Centers (CFCs) are already delivering groundbreaking quality of service to customers across the U.S.”
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