Check out the companies making headlines before the bell Wednesday:
Amazon (AMZN) — An employee in Amazon’s “Brazil” office in downtown Seattle tested positive for the coronavirus. ″We’re supporting the affected employee who is in quarantine,” Amazon told CNBC.
General Electric (GE) — The industrial giant said it expects the coronavirus outbreak to shave off between $300 million and $500 million in first-quarter free cash flow. GE, however, reaffirmed its full-year outlook for free cash flow.
Oracle (ORCL) — An analyst at Societe Generale upgraded Oracle to “buy” from “hold,” citing the stock’s “large discount vs. peers.” The analyst also thinks Oracle will be less impacted by the coronavirus than other companies in the space, given that two-thirds of revenue is recurring “thanks to its maintenance and cloud businesses.”
Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) — Shares of the fast-casual food chain were upgraded to “overweight” from “equal weight” by an analyst at Wells Fargo who believes Chipotle drive-thru locations are “set to accelerate the company’s move back toward all-time high store-level sales, margins and returns, which we do not believe is appreciated by the market.”
Home Depot (HD) — Instinet upgraded Home Depot to “buy” from “neutral,” and hiked his price target on the stock to $251 per share from $240 per share. The new price target represents a 10% upside from Tuesday’s closing price of $227.94. “The recent market volatility, along with movements in rates, makes for a more rewarding entry point,” the analyst said.
Mattel (MAT) — The toymaker was upgraded to “overweight” from “sector weight” by an analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets. “With cost takeouts and turnaround heavy lifting largely in hand, it was more apparent to us that MAT is pivoting back onto offense, squarely focused on revenue growth,” the analyst said.
Target (TGT) — Goldman Sachs added Target to its “Americas conviction list,” noting: “We think there is room for the top-line story to exceed their low-single-digit growth guidance as the company continues to benefit from competitor store closures.”
Nordstrom (JWN) — Nordstrom shares dropped 7% in the premarket on the back of disappointing quarterly results. The retailer earned $1.42 per share on revenue of $4.54 billion. Analysts polled by Refinitiv expected a profit of $1.47 per share on sales of $4.56 billion. The company also issued weaker-than-expected earnings guidance for the year.
Morgan Stanley (MS) — Morgan Stanley shares were upgraded to “buy” from “neutral” by an analyst at Citi who said the recent pullback in bank stocks gives investors with “a longer-term horizon” to buy into the investment bank.
Beyond Meat (BYND) — Argus Research initiated Beyond Meat with a “buy” rating and a price target of $130 per share, which represents an upside of 36.2% from Tuesday’s close of $95.43 per share. “We expect demand for plant-based alternatives to meat to continue to grow, driven not only by consumer preferences for healthier food, but also by environmental concerns,” the analyst said.
Dollar Tree (DLTR) — Dollar Tree reported mixed quarterly results for the fourth quarter, sending the stock down 1.6%. The discount retailer posted a profit of $1.79 per share, beating a Refinitiv estimate of $1.75 per share. However, the company’s $6.32 billion in revenue was below analysts’ estimate of $6.39 billion.
—CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
Oracle and Chipotle get big upgrades. Nordstrom falls on disappointing earnings.