(This is CNBC Pro’s live coverage of Thursday’s analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) A tech giant and an energy spinoff were among the stocks being talked about by analysts on Thursday. Analysts gave their assessment of Meta Platforms’ latest quarterly report, which exceeded Wall Street earnings and revenue expectations. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley upgraded GE Vernova to overweight . Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. Wall Street stands by Meta after latest earnings beat Wall Street analysts were left blown away by Meta’s latest quarterly earnings beat. The social media platform traded 7% higher after it posted second-quarter earnings of $5.16 a share on $39.07 billion in revenue. That’s higher than the LSEG consensus of $4.73 per share on revenue of $38.31 billion. The company also lifted its revenue forecast for the current quarter. META 1D mountain META pops Analysts at Goldman Sachs, Citi, Barclays and Bank of America stood by their buy- or overweight-equivalent ratings and raised their price targets across the board. Goldman Sachs and Barclays raised their forecasts to $555, implying upside of 17%. Bank of America lifted its price target to $563 from $555, while Citi increased its target to $580 from $555. Bank of America listed Meta as one of its top AI plays within the consumer internet space. Besides its solid AI ramp-up, analysts also commended the company’s advertising gains, which rose 22% from a year earlier. By contrast, Meta rival Alphabet reported just an 11% increase in its Google ad sales last week. “META continues to execute at arguably the best pace of any company in digital advertising, with little revenue deceleration despite facing very tough comps in 2H24,” wrote Barclays analyst Ross Sandler. Shares of the Magnificent Seven stock are 34% higher on the year. — Lisa Kailai Han Morgan Stanley upgrades GE Vernova General Electric’s energy spinoff is primed for strong gains ahead, according to Morgan Stanley. The bank upgraded GE Vernova to overweight from equal weight. Its price target of $220, up from $175, implies upside of 23% from Wednesday’s close. “We believe we are at the early stages of a multi-decade energy transition investment cycle that will require significant capital investment in gas power, renewables, and grid expansion/enhancement. GEV, in our view, is the purest way to gain exposure to all three of these investment opportunities,” analyst Andrew Percoco wrote. GE Vernova was spun off from General Electric in April, along with the conglomerate’s aviation business. Over the past three months, shares have climbed 17%. GEV 3M mountain GEV in past 3 months — Fred Imbert
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