BABA's Back, With a Strong Buy Rating + Price Target Increase

Hungry for hot stock intel? Here’s what we’re stalking today: 

Symbol: DJIA 🔥 

Price: 43,239.05

Change: +161.35

% Change: +0.37

Symbol: Nasdaq 🔥 

Price: 18.373.61

Change: +6.53

% Change: +0.04

Symbol: S&P 500 🥶

Price: 5,841.47

Change: -1.00

% Change: -0.02

* As of market close yesterday

🔥 HOT: Shares of NuZee (NASDAQ: NUZE), a beverage company focused on easy-to-make coffee and tea products, soared 546.1% on Thursday after it announced that it opened offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Mainland China. The tremendous rally was fueled by 244.7 million shares traded, well above the stock’s usual daily volume of between 3 and 3.5 million.

🥶 NOT: Thursday brought some bad news for investors who hold Affirm (NASDAQ: AFRM). Shares of AFRM fell by 8.4% after news broke that Apple agreed to terms with Klarna to give Apple Pay users access to Klarna’s buy now, pay later service. Affirm is set to announce its first-quarter revenue and earnings for 2025 on November 7th, 2024.

🔥 HOT: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE: TSM) gained 9.8% on Thursday after its third-quarter earnings report. The report showed that TSM’s EPS and revenue for the third quarter were both higher than expected. The company also issued strong guidance for the fourth quarter due to the continually increasing demand for artificial intelligence chips.

🥶 NOT: Shares of Lands End (NASDAQ: LE) came back to Earth on Thursday after an impressive 24.4% gain over the last week. The stock was down 9.8% as of Thursday’s close, which leaves it up 12.2% since the rally began last Friday. LE has been one of the market’s best performers this year and is up 88.6% since January.

📈 Want more? Check out the biggest winners and biggest losers on WSZ. 

Strong Buys: Top Picks from Top Wall Street Analysts 

Don’t rely on stock recommendations from just anyone. With WallStreetZen, you gain access to high-conviction stock ratings from top-rated analysts every weekday. It’s a premium feature on our site, but we’ve unlocked a FREE sampling below: 

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) 

⭐ Earnings expected 11/15

Analyst/Firm: Jiong Shao / Barclays

Analyst ranking: Top 15% / average return +9.79% / win rate 49% 

Yesterday’s market close: $100.07

Price target: $137.00 

• Maintaining a Strong Buy rating, Barclays's Jiong Shao raised their price target on Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) by 28% from $107 to $137 in advance of the company’s upcoming 11/15 earnings report. 
• Shao offered a preview of Alibaba's Q2 2024 earnings, saying they anticipate "broadly in-line results" that will not change Barclays' estimates."
• In light of substantial shareholder returns, the analyst predicted the stock price would keep rising.
• Could BABA see 34% upside in the coming year? Here’s what pros have to say.

1-year chart for BABA, courtesy TradingView

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) 

Analyst/Firm: Jake Bartlett / Truist Securities

Analyst ranking: Top 2% / average return +19.35% / win rate 61% 

Yesterday’s market close: $314.70

Price target: $350.00 

• Maintaining a Strong Buy rating, Truist Securities's Jake Bartlett raised their price target on McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) by 18.6% from $295 to $350 on 10/15.
• Bartlett's price target hike was delivered in a Q3 2024 preview of names in their Consumer Cyclical (Limited-Service Restaurants) sector portfolio.
• Mcdonalds' "Collectors Meal" promotion, its "$5 Meal Deal," and easing comps all contributed to what Truist Securities's Card Data checks indicate was "accelerating Y/Y growth throughout the quarter," the analyst told investors.
• Bartlett predicted that the company's "Chicken Big Mac" launch this month could generate a lot of consumer interest and potential traffic.
• See what 19 analysts have to say about MCD here.

1-year chart for MCD , courtesy TradingView

International Paper Co. (NYSE: IP) 

⭐ Earnings expected 10/31 

Analyst/Firm: Michael Roxland / Truist Securities

Analyst ranking: Top 11% / average return +11.6% / win rate 69% 

Yesterday’s market close: $46.63

Price target: $57.00

• Truist Securities's Michael Roxland raised their price target on International Paper Co (NYSE: IP) by 3.6% from $55 to $57 in advance of the company’s earnings report, expected on 10/31. 
• In a Basic Materials (Forest Products; Packaging & Paper) sector preview note, Roxland told readers that names in the group saw better containerboard demand and stable pricing, uneven boxboard demand and mixed pricing depending on substrate, and mixed wood products pricing, with single-family construction in the early stages of a recovery.
• Beverage can demand remained steady with better growth out of Europe and South America, the analyst added.
• See more forecasts for IP here.

1-year chart for IP, courtesy TradingView

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