5 big analyst picks: Microsoft picks up 2 upgrades on Q3 beat | Pro Recap

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By Davit Kirakosyan

Investing.com -- Here is your daily Pro Recap of the biggest analyst picks you may have missed since yesterday.

Microsoft receives two upgrades following Q3 beat

Macquarie and BMO Capital upgraded Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) after the company reported a Q3 beat, highlighted by growth in cloud computing and Office productivity software businesses, as well as the company crediting the boost in sales to its artificial intelligence products. As a result, shares closed more than 7% higher yesterday.

Macquarie upgraded the stock to Outperform from Neutral and raised its price target to $325.00 from $260.00. According to the firm, Microsoft has been able to resist the macroeconomic challenges, and its potential to integrate Generative Al into Office, Bing, and other key aspects of the company presents promising long-term business opportunities.

Meanwhile, BMO Capital upgraded the stock to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $347.00 based on their stronger confidence that Azure growth challenges will ease by the end of fiscal 2023, and the potential for AI to fuel sustainable growth over time.

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UPS upgraded to Peerperform on stock reset following Q1 miss

Wolfe Research upgraded United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) to Peerperform from Underperform on the stock reset after shares plunged around 10% on Tuesday following Q1 earnings miss.

According to the firm, UPS is facing challenges from a weak economy, share losses, and the normalization of SCS and International earnings. However, domestic parcel pricing remains stable, and buybacks may pick up after the Teamsters contract.

The firm also noted that the upcoming consolidation of FDX Ground and Express could benefit UPS. While stock volatility is expected in the near term around Teamsters' news flow, Wolfe Research moved to the sidelines given the shares trade at 16.6x its reduced 2023 EPS estimate.

3 more analyst picks

CFRA upgraded Domino’s Pizza (NYSE:DPZ) to Strong Buy from Hold.

The company is set to report its Q1 earnings today before the market opens. Street estimates stand at $2.71 for EPS and $1.03 for revenues.

H.C. Wainwright initiated coverage on Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN) with a Buy rating and a price target of $75.00. The firm anticipates Coinbase to gain market share in 2023 due to its trusted brand, user-friendly products, and emphasis on compliance and regulation, all of which uniquely position it to benefit from the sizeable and rapidly expanding global crypto economy.