Latest news with #JohnBlackledge
Business Insider
7 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
PINS vs. SNAP: TD Cowen Picks the Better Social Media Stock Ahead of Q2 Earnings
TD Cowen's top analyst, John Blackledge, issued his second-quarter fiscal 2025 previews for leading social media companies Snap (SNAP) and Pinterest (PINS). The firm's Q2 Ad Check survey indicates stronger demand momentum for Pinterest compared to Snapchat. As a result, Blackledge maintains a 'Buy' rating on PINS and a 'Hold' rating on SNAP stock. Elevate Your Investing Strategy: Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. Make smarter investment decisions with TipRanks' Smart Investor Picks, delivered to your inbox every week. Both platforms are also benefiting from uncertainty over the future of Chinese short-form video app TikTok's operations in the U.S., as well as from leadership issues at rival platform X following CEO Linda Yaccarino's abrupt departure. First, Let's Understand the Background The advertising segments of these companies were expected to be impacted by the U.S. trade tariffs announced in Q1, due to the removal of the de minimis exemption for goods under $800 from China. However, SNAP relies more heavily on Chinese advertisers, while Pinterest benefits from a diverse advertiser base in Europe and other regions, helping it offset losses from China. With this in mind, the analyst raised the model estimates and price targets for both stocks. Blackledge increased the PINS price target from $40 to $43, implying 19.5% upside potential from current levels. Meanwhile, he lifted SNAP's price target from $9 to $10, representing 4.8% upside potential from current levels. Notably, Blackledge is a five-star analyst on TipRanks, ranking #307 out of 9,861 analysts tracked. He boasts a 60% success rate and an average return per rating of 13.60%. PINS Stock Benefits from Higher Advertising Uptake In Q2, Blackledge expects Pinterest's revenues to grow 14.6% year-over-year to $977.9 million, driven by improved monetization and a growing contribution from the company's new Performance+ advertising tools. The firm's Ad Check showed strong uptake of Pinterest's Creative & Automated Bidding offerings so far. Meanwhile, advertisers are increasing their ad spend on Pinterest, with some seeing their spending grow by 66% compared to the same period last year. These are the highlights of Blackledge's optimistic view on PINS stock: Pinterest's Global Monthly Active Users (MAUs) are estimated to reach 578 million in Q2, up 10.7% year-over-year and 1.4% over Q1. Nearly 40% of U.S. Pinterest users visit the app or site to search for or shop for products, which is more than double the same metric for other social networks, including Snapchat, Reddit (RDDT), X, and Meta's (META) Facebook and Instagram apps. The survey shows steady growth in the overall time spent and user penetration on PINS compared to both Q1FY25 and the same period last year. SNAP Is Benefiting from Growing Subscriber Base In Q2, Blackledge expects Snapchat's revenues to grow 12.4% year-over-year to $1.4 billion. This growth is mainly driven by increased advertiser spending on Direct Response (DR) ads and a higher number of users paying for Snapchat+ subscriptions, which are expected to contribute about 37% of new revenue growth in Q2. Moreover, the analyst stated that the impact of tariffs was not as bad as feared, further improving the company's outlook. These are the highlights of Blackledge's optimistic view on SNAP stock: Snap's Daily Active Users (DAUs) are estimated to reach 468 million in Q2, up 7.3% year-over-year and 1.7% over Q1. Snapchat is benefiting from the shift in some advertiser spending from TikTok to Snap due to ongoing uncertainty regarding TikTok's U.S. operations. Snap's brand advertising business remains weak, with most growth coming from DR ads and higher subscriptions. Ending Thoughts Overall, while both Snap and Pinterest show promising growth drivers ahead of Q2 earnings, TD Cowen's analysis suggests Pinterest currently holds a stronger position as the better social media stock to watch. According to the TipRanks Stock Comparison Tool, PINS stock has a 'Strong Buy' consensus rating, reflecting Wall Street's bullish outlook on the stock.
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
TD Cowen Reiterates Buy on Alphabet (GOOGL) Ahead of Earnings—Here's Why
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is one of the . On July 9, TD Cowen analyst John Blackledge reiterated a 'Buy' rating on the stock with a $195.00 price target. The rating affirmation comes ahead of the company's second-quarter 2025 earnings report. 'GOOG 2Q25 Preview: Expect Solid Search & YouTube Growth Amid Resilient Consumer; Our 2Q Digital ad expert call on 7/2 implies GOOG Search strength has cont'd into summer, despite tariff uncertainty." Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is an American multinational technology conglomerate holding company wholly owning the internet giant Google, amongst other businesses. While we acknowledge the potential of GOOGL as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: and . Disclosure: None. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Meta Gets $800 Price Target—Analyst Sees Strong Q2 and AI-Led Growth
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:) is one of the On July 9, TD Cowen analyst John Blackledge maintained its 'Buy' rating for the stock and raised its price target from $700.00 to $800.00. The firm expects Meta to beat Q2 consensus estimates, forecasting quarterly revenue growth of 16% year-over-year, 2% above expectations. It believes this upside is driven by continued video monetization and engagement gains. Moreover, the firm's Q2 digital advertising expert check demonstrated accelerating spend growth across Meta properties. 'We forecast Q2 revenue growth of 16% (year over year), roughly 2% above consensus, driven by continued video monetization and engagement gains. We see Meta's recent AI investment and hires as a response to mixed Llama 4 reception, as Meta increases AI capabilities to drive core advertising business and Business AI tools.' -Blackledge CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also formed a Superintelligence unit led by former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman. 'We believe that Meta's AI investments will support i) Growth of the core advertising business through monetization & engagement optimization; ii) Development of Business AI tools, including interactive ads & biz messaging; and iii) Enterprise adoption of Llama models.' While we acknowledge the potential of META as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: and . Disclosure: None. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
TD Cowen Remains Bullish on Amazon (AMZN) With $250 Target on AI and Retail Tailwinds
Inc. (NASDAQ:) is one of the . On July 8, Analyst John Blackledge from TD Cowen reiterated a 'Buy' rating on the stock and increased the price target to $250.00 from $240.00. Blackledge is optimistic about Amazon's performance in the upcoming quarters, anticipating its second-quarter results to surpass market expectations. The three factors that are behind this optimism are the continued growth in Amazon Web Services (AWS), advertising, and the e-commerce segments. The analyst also expects strong guidance for the third quarter of 2025. With AI capacity constraints expected to ease due to investments in generative AI infrastructure, it is quite likely that AWS will experience a boost in year-over-year revenue growth. Amazon's eCommerce business is also likely to sustain momentum due to factors such as record delivery speeds, strength in everyday essentials, rural market expansion, and an extended Prime Day event. Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is an American technology company offering e-commerce, cloud computing, and other services, including digital streaming and artificial intelligence solutions. While we acknowledge the potential of AMZN as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: and . Disclosure: None. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Business Insider
09-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Amazon Stock (AMZN) Gets Price Target Hike as Top Analyst Sees Strong Q2 Beat
Amazon (AMZN) is expected to report its second-quarter earnings early next month. Wall Street expects the chipmaker to report EPS of $1.31 on revenues of $162 billion in Q2. Ahead of the results, John Blackledge, a 5-star analyst at TD Cowen, raised his price target on AMZN to $250, up from $240, and maintained a Buy rating on the stock. The new target suggests about 14% upside from current levels. Blackledge remains upbeat on AWS growth, which he sees as a key driver in the coming quarters. Don't Miss TipRanks' Half-Year Sale Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. Make smarter investment decisions with TipRanks' Smart Investor Picks, delivered to your inbox every week. Blackledge ranks 308 out of more than 9,700 analysts on TipRanks. He has a success rate of 60%, with an average return per rating of 13.60% over a one-year period. Top Analyst Expects a Beat on Revenue and Profit in Q2 Blackledge said he believes Amazon's Q2 results will come in ahead of Wall Street estimates. His forecasts for both revenue and operating income are slightly above consensus by about 1% and 10%, respectively. He highlighted ongoing growth in Amazon's cloud unit, Amazon Web Services (AWS), which he believes is starting to regain momentum after a slower period. Alongside cloud, he pointed to solid gains in the advertising business and stable performance in Amazon's core e-commerce unit, which continues to see steady consumer demand. To add context, in Q1 2025, AWS brought in $29.3 billion in revenue — a 17% jump from a year ago — and delivered $11.5 billion in operating income. Those results underline the unit's importance as Amazon's main profit driver. Solid Outlook for Q3 and Beyond Looking ahead, Blackledge expects Amazon to issue a strong Q3 guidance. He expects Amazon's Q3 numbers to beat market views by 1.1% on sales and 6% on profit, driven by a pickup in AWS growth and solid performance in advertising and e-commerce. He also raised his longer-term outlook for sales and profit, reflecting more confidence in Amazon's ability to grow its key business areas and improve margins over time. Is Amazon Stock a Buy, Hold, or Sell? Overall, Wall Street is bullish on Amazon stock due to its strong position in the e-commerce and cloud markets. Amazon scores a Strong Buy consensus rating on TipRanks, based on 47 Buys versus just one Hold recommendation. The average AMZN stock price target of $246.60 indicates 12.42% upside potential from current levels.
