(This is CNBC Pro’s live coverage of Monday’s analyst conference call and Wall Street chatter. Refresh every 20-30 minutes to see the latest posts.) After a tough selloff in July, Nvidia has rebounded and still has room to rise, according to Goldman Sachs analysts. The firm raised its rating on the tech giant, citing its position as a leader in cloud computing. At the same time, Morgan Stanley lowered its rating on HP, saying it sees limitations for the computing company. Elsewhere, analysts were positive on Snowflake and Taiwan Semiconductor. Check out the latest conference call and chatter below. All times ET. 8:16 a.m.: Piper Sandler Downgrades Shake Shack Piper Sandler is keeping Shake Shack on the sidelines. The firm lowered its rating on the fast-casual chain to neutral from overweight. It also lowered its price target to $114 from $121, which suggests a 6.2% upside potential from Friday’s closing price. Analyst Brian Mullan attributes the company’s turnaround, which began last year, to progress in “operational rigor and financial discipline.” “That said, investor expectations have risen in lockstep and the industry backdrop appears to have worsened over the period, which adds execution risk to the equation going forward,” Mullan wrote in a note on Monday. Shares were down 3.6% on Monday morning. Year-to-date, the stock has risen nearly 45%. — Kim Ha-kyung 6:50 a.m. Bernstein Predicts Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Profit and Sales to Grow Faster Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is on track to deliver strong growth over the next few years, according to Bernstein analyst Mark Lee. Lee maintained his outperform rating on the chipmaker and raised his price target by $20 to $220, implying room for 26% upside. The stock has surged more than 67% this year. “While we do not expect any notable damage from the Blackwell delay, we expect robust N3 and N4/5 demand from data center AI and high-end smartphones to offset the slow recovery of older nodes,” Lee wrote in a Monday note, adding that the company’s valuation looks “attractive.” TSM’s YTD Line Taiwan Semiconductor Shares Intel’s outsourcing of production to Taiwan Semiconductor will also help drive further growth this year, he said. The company is expected to see revenue grow 26% and earnings per share grow 29% this year, according to analysts. Growth in the company’s data center AI business should continue into 2025 and 2026, he said, noting that growth will slow in 2026 when momentum slows. — Pia Xin 6:33 a.m.: TD Cowen thinks Snowflake shares could rise more than 40% after this year’s decline. Snowflake has “solid upside potential” ahead of its earnings release this week, according to TD Cowen. Analyst Derrick Wood maintained his price target on the cloud-based data storage company at $180, implying that his buy recommendation means shares could rise more than 40% over the next 12 months. His most likely scenario assumes that free cash flow margins will remain strong and Snowflake’s product revenues will grow in the mid-20% range in fiscal 2025. “While near-term concerns will likely persist, we continue to believe sentiment is too bearish and better-than-expected operating results and pace of revenue growth will help bolster confidence in the sustainability of growth,” he wrote in a Monday note. “We believe Snowflake brings advanced innovation to the large-scale data management market, which we believe will support long-term growth.” Snowflake shares have fallen 35.7% this year. Warren Buffett sold all 6.1 million of his shares in the company in the second quarter, according to a recent regulatory filing. — Pia Singh 6:08 a.m.: Goldman maintains buy recommendation on Nvidia, citing company’s “strong competitive position in AI” Goldman Sachs remains bullish on Nvidia, despite some investors growing skeptical of the burgeoning AI trade, saying the stock has an “attractive risk/reward” profile ahead of the earnings release. Analyst Toshiya Hari reiterated his buy recommendation on Nvidia and kept it on his conviction list ahead of the company’s quarterly earnings release, scheduled after the close on Aug. 28. His $135 price target suggests 8.4% upside potential for the stock, which has surged more than 150% this year. NVDA Year to Date NVIDIA Stock Performance “Importantly, we believe NVIDIA’s strong competitive position in AI/accelerated computing remains intact, with strong customer demand across large cloud service providers and enterprises,” Hari said in a Sunday note. The analyst noted that delays in shipments of Nvidia’s next-generation GPU, Blackwell, could lead to near-term volatility in the company’s stock fundamentals, but expects management commentary and supply chain data points in the coming weeks to boost confidence in Nvidia’s 2025 earnings power. — Pia Singh 6:03 a.m.: Morgan Stanley Says HP’s Outperformance Going Forward is Limited Morgan Stanley believes HP’s growth drivers are now priced into the stock. In a note on Monday, analyst Erik Woodring downgraded the computing company to equal weight from overweight but kept his price target at $37, meaning the stock could rise about 8.5%. The company’s shares have risen 19.3% this year, slightly outpacing the overall market gain. “HPQ is trading about one standard deviation above its historical average, limiting valuation upside, and FY25-26 forecast upside as the PC market recovery and improving trajectory for printing hardware are largely priced in,” the analyst said. Woodring remains a “PC market bull,” but expects the PC market to weaken slightly in the second half of the year, driven by slowing consumer PC and back-to-school demand and little sign of demand recovery from the PC and semiconductor supply chains. Weakness in the second half increases the risk that HP’s personal systems business will perform below normal seasonal levels in the next quarter, he said. — Pia Singh
