Bank of America said this week that a slate of stocks is poised for upside as the summer heats up. The firm said companies such as Nvidia are well positioned heading into the second half of the year. CNBC Pro combed through Bank of America’s research to find buy-rated stocks that are too attractive to ignore. They include Nvidia, Carnival, Block and Palantir Technologies. Carnival Carnival is coming off better-than-expected earnings in late June. Bank of America analyst Andrew Didora said in a recent note that this bodes well for the stock in the months ahead. “Cruise spend remains healthy, and CCL had positive commentary on the pace of 2025 bookings,” he wrote. Didora said management is executing after a period of difficult years that included Covid-19 pandemic headwinds. Cost savings are underway with a balance sheet that could “help drive a better valuation multiple,” the analyst said. “The steady fundamentals continue to provide the opportunity for balance sheet improvement, a key part of our investment thesis,” Didora said. Carnival is off by 7% in 2024, which makes the stock extremely compelling, the analyst added. He lifted his price target to $24 per share from $23, which implies nearly 40% upside from Friday’s close. Block The payment company is down almost 15% in 2024, but the dip is worth buying, according to analyst Jason Kupferberg. “Shares have lagged in recent months while ’24/’25 sell-side estimates have continued to increase,” he wrote. The firm pointed to a few reasons for the stock’s underwhelming performance, including changes in management and weaker-than-expected quarterly reports from other software companies. Still, Kupferberg is pounding the table for Block shares. “We recognize concerns around US GPV [gross payment volume] growth and SMB [small and midsize businesses], but believe they have been over-discounted in shares,” he said. Nevertheless, the company’s fundamentals remain strong, and that is why shares are compelling, Kupferberg said. “Attractive valuation no matter how you slice it,” he added. Palantir Technologies Shares of the software company have soared nearly 60% this year, but analyst Mariana Perez Mora said Palantir is still a solid buy ahead of earnings in August. “The market seems to be underpricing the risks around the next earnings announcement, offering an attractive entry point to own PLTR options, in our view,” she wrote. Further, the analyst said the stock’s technicals remain solid. “PLTR remains within bullish trends on an absolute price basis and relative to the S & P 500,” she added. Mora also sees a slew of positive catalysts on the horizon. They include possible inclusion to the S & P 500, as well as growing business through the U.S. Department of Defense. “We’re still in the early innings of AI adoption and expect Palantir (PLTR) to continue to see significant upside from this trend,” she said. Square “Shares have lagged in recent months while ’24/’25 sell-side estimates have continued to increase … Attractive valuation no matter how you slice it. … We recognize concerns around US GPV [gross payment volume] growth and SMB [small and midsize businesses], but believe they have been over-discounted in shares.” Nvidia “Solid fundamentals, compelling valuation cushion volatility. … However, any volatility could be short-lived since: GenAI hardware deployments are still only in Yr 2 of what could be a 3-5yr deployment cycle, with ~$300bn+ in l-t opportunity, 3x vs. current year; Benefits of NVDA’s next-gen purpose-built Blackwell AI accelerator systems will start later this year, with solid demand/visibility across cloud customers.” Carnival “Cruise spend remains healthy, and CCL had positive commentary on the pace of 2025 bookings. … The steady fundamentals continue to provide the opportunity for balance sheet improvement, a key part of our investment thesis. … Management was asked on the call about paying a dividend, and the team continues to place debt reduction as a top priority.” Palantir “We’re still in the early innings of AI adoption and expect Palantir (PLTR) to continue to see significant upside from this trend. PLTR remains within bullish trends on an absolute price basis and relative to the S & P 500 (SPX). … The market seems to be underpricing the risks around the next earnings announcement, offering an attractive entry point to own PLTR options, in our view.”
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