Investing.com — U.S. stocks were lower on Friday as of midday following the latest labor market data that showed the U.S. economy added fewer jobs than anticipated in August. However, the S&P (just) and Nasdaq were still on course for weekly gains.
Here are Investing.com’s stocks of the week.
Broadcom shares surged Friday, up more than 10% as of 12:45 pm ET after the company posted its latest quarterly earnings following Thursday’s close, topping consensus estimates and guiding for Q4 profit above analyst expectations.
Furthermore, the Financial Times reported late Thursday that OpenAI is set to produce its first AI chip next year in collaboration with Broadcom.
KeyBanc analyst John Vinh raised the price target on Broadcom Limited to $400 from $330, maintaining an Overweight rating on the stock following the report.
“AVGO indicated it has secured orders for a fourth AI customer, which we believe is Open AI,” wrote Vinh. “We’re impressed by the addition of a fourth AI customer and remain OW.”
Google (Alphabet) was given a boost on Tuesday after U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled Google won’t have to sell its Chrome browser and can keep its Android operating system.
Google shares jumped more than 9% on Wednesday and followed it up with further gains. It is up more than 11% in the last week.
“After 5+ years of courtroom drama, Google is only facing a few minor flesh wounds with this remedy package,” said analysts at Barclays following the news. “The court’s denial of the DoJ’s proposed Chrome divestiture and elimination of TAC payments remedies should ensure that most of Google’s search query share remains intact.”
Apple shares also gained on the news, climbing 3.8% on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, it wasn’t all positive news for Alphabet this week, with the company receiving a €2.95 billion EU fine for its advertising technology practices.
Lululemon shares plunged more than 17% Friday after its latest quarterly earnings data disappointed investors. The company missed the consensus revenue estimate, while its Q3 and full-year guidance also disappointed.
“In light of a cautious consumer and competitive backdrop, LULU will need to further address its assortment, with the newness on the technical side not enough to offset softness in the ~40% of the business in casual ’lounge and social’ dress,” said BTIG analyst Janine Stichter.
“Further, tariffs are a more significant challenge than anticipated, as we had underestimated the impact of the closing of the de-minimis loophole (2/3 of LULU’s US e-commerce shipments from Canada).“
