Analysts on Wall Street and beyond seem to like certain stocks a lot. While the rally throughout the entire stock market is broadening out, there are some stocks that are clear favorites in the analyst community. Not only do these stocks have “strong buy” ratings attached to them, but analysts are continually upgrading their price targets on their shares, expecting greater advances. Strong earnings, bullish forward guidance, and strong demand for their products and services are leading analysts to upgrade these stocks time and again.
In the process, they help boost sentiment towards the securities and direct investor capital towards these winning names. Here are some of the analyst upgrades: three stocks are expected to have impressive returns in 2024.
IBM (IBM)
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) just raised its price target on shares of IBM (NYSE:IBM) from $200 to $220, and reiterated its “buy” rating on the stock. Analysts at Bank of America say the turnaround at IBM continues at a fast pace, and cite “a defensive portfolio, attractive dividend yield, and underappreciated AI capabilities” as reasons to buy IBM stock, which has gained 53% in the last 12 months and is up 18% ytd.
The upgrade from Bank of America comes after IBM issued impressive quarterly results and announced that it is cutting jobs in its marketing and communications division as it relies more on artificial intelligence applications moving forward. IBM CEO Arvind Krishna has said that the technology giant is “massively upskilling all of our employees on AI.” Krishna has announced plans to replace 8,000 jobs at IBM with AI in the coming years.
Nvidia (NVDA)
Analysts are practically tripping over themselves to upgrade chipmaker Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) following its stellar earnings report for the final quarter of 2023. Bank of America just lifted its price target on NVDA stock to $1,100 per share from $925 previously. That implies a 25% upside from current levels. Analysts at Mizuho Financial Group (NYSE:MFG) took their price target on Nvidia to $1,000 a share from $850.
The upgrades come despite the fact that NVDA stock has gained 240% in the last 12 months, including a massive 82% increase in the first 10 weeks of this year. Analysts seem unconcerned by the red-hot advance in Nvidia’s share price and expect the microchip and semiconductor company to continue outperforming as demand for its chips used to power AI applications and models accelerates.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
Another chipmaker that is getting a lot of love from analysts lately is Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD). The chief rival to Nvidia in the market for AI microchips has had the price target on its stock increased to $235 a share from $200 previously and a “buy” rating maintained by analysts at Mizuho. The analysts cite the expanding AI chip market and see further multiple expansion at AMD.
The upgrade from Mizuho comes as Advanced Micro Devices announces a new AI chip designed for the Chinese marketthat meets U.S. government trade restrictions. If AMD is given a greenlight to sell one of its microchips for AI to China, it could prove to be a gamechanger for the company and help to boost both its earnings and share price. AMD stock is up nearly 40% so far in 2024.
On the date of publication, Joel Baglole held a long position in NVDA. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.