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(This is CNBC Pro’s live coverage of Friday’s analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) Two tech stocks were in focus early Friday among Wall Street analyst. Piper Sandler upgraded Twilio shares to overweight, noting they are poised to build on a strong 2023 performance. Barclays analyst were less sanguine on Snowflake, downgrading the stock while noting its valuation “looks full.” Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 5:46 a.m.: Oppenheimer raises Netflix price target, forecasts nearly 22% upside Netflix’s advertising acceleration has Oppenheimer optimistic on the company’s revenue outlook, even with tough competition within the streaming sector. On Wednesday, Netflix announced that its advertising monthly active users exceed 23 million, up from 15 million in November and 5 million in May. This quicker-than-expected growth implies the company could top Wall Street’s estimates for the fourth-quarter, according to analyst Jason Helfstein. Helfstein raised his price target on Netflix to $600 from $475, suggesting shares could rally 21.8% from Thursday’s close. Shares have surged 48% during the last 12 months. The analyst says rise in advertising subscriptions means the “bull thesis [is] strengthening” around the stock. “Over the medium-term, we believe the pace of acceleration suggests plenty of room for sub growth in 2024 and are conservatively raising our 4Q/’24E net adds” Helfstein wrote in a Thursday note. ” While accelerating sub growth is positive, the faster NFLX reaches scale in advertising, the faster ARM levels reset higher.” Shares are up 1.1% year to date. — Hakyung Kim 5:40 a.m.: Barclays downgrades Snowflake to equal weight After a successful rally for Snowflake shares in 2023, Barclays thinks the stock’s valuation now “looks full” relative to other software companies. Analyst Raimo Lenschow downgraded shares to equal weight from overweight in a Friday note. Lenschow kept his price target of $198, which is just 1.2% higher than Thursday’s close. Snowflake has surged 39.3% over the last 12 months and are currently trading at 16 times their 2025 enterprise value-to-sales ratio, according to Barclays. “There is a lot of consumption recovery or new product contribution needed to deliver accelerating product growth,” Lenschow wrote. “Unlike a subscription revenue model, Snowflake recognizes revenue as customers consume resources. This could create volatility in the P & L as Snowflake has limited visibility into the revenue it can recognize compared to traditional SaaS companies.” Shares slipped 1.6% during premarket trading Friday. The stock is down 1.7% in 2024. — Hakyung Kim 5:40 a.m.: Piper Sandler upgrades Twilio Twilio shares have more room to run after a strong 2023, according to Piper Sandler. Analyst James Fish upgraded the software stock to overweight from neutral. He also hiked his price target to $82 from $75 per share. The new forecast implies upside of 14.2% over the next 12 months. Fish cited a “material upside potential to FCF estimates as Twilio has executed better on profitability initiatives” and “a positive risk-reward at these levels that gives investors an opportunity to own a best-in-class CPaaS business at an average CPaaS / telco multiple” as reasons for the upgrade. Twilio shares were up more than 2% in the premarket. The stock is coming off a monster year, rallying nearly 55% in 2023. TWLO 1D mountain TWLO rises — Fred Imbert
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