(This is CNBC Pro’s live coverage of Tuesday’s analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) A beverage giant and a streaming powerhouse were among the stocks being talked about on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley named Coca-Cola a top pick, raising its price target on the stock. Evercore ISI also raised its price target on Netflix. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 6:38 a.m.: Barclays initiates coverage of BlackRock, says stock deserves ‘industry-high multiple’ Barclays is bullish on BlackRock’s performance as traditional asset managers continue to face industry headwinds. Benjamin Budish initiated coverage of BlackRock with an overweight rating and $985 price target, saying an “industry-high multiple” is warranted for the stock. His price target suggests that shares of the company — the world’s largest asset manager — could gain about 11.5%. This year, the stock has added 8.8%. BLK YTD mountain BLK year to date BlackRock “has one of the faster organic growth profiles in the space despite its size. The company is well aligned with key thematic growth areas, such as ETFs, fixed income, and alternatives,” the analyst said. “BlackRock also has an industry-leading and highly differentiated tech platform, which adds an element of faster, recurring revenues into the P & L.” Although the company needs meaningful net inflows to hit its 5% organic growth target, the analyst said flows have been strong compared to those of other asset managers. — Pia Singh 6:16 a.m.: Wall Street is ready for Apple’s CFO transition, remain optimistic on share price growth Apple on Monday said it will replace longtime CFO Luca Maestri starting January. Longtime employee Kevan Parekh will step into the role then. Analysts are largely positive on the change, which comes as the tech giant plans for the launch of its upcoming iPhone. Here’s what some big-name firms have to say about the succession change: JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee kept his overweight rating and $265 price target, which implies 16.6% potential upside. He expects investors “will be mildly disappointed” given the company’s significant progress under Maestri, who helped grow Apple’s Services business that led to a higher valuation multiple and also maintained strong operational and financial discipline that led to significant shareholder returns. Bank of America’s Wamsi Mohan expects a smooth transition given Parekh’s long tenure with Apple, and expects Apple to remain focused on its target to get to net cash neutral through buybacks and dividend increases. He reiterated his buy rating, citing ongoing potential for a multiyear iPhone upgrade cycle and strong cash flows. Mohan has a $256 price target on the stock. Like BofA, Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring believes Apple will continue to prioritize share buybacks. He questioned whether Parekh will eventually bring a new approach to Apple’s quarterly guidance announcements, and said that so far, he’s been impressed with the incoming CFO’s knowledge base. Woodring has an overweight rating and $273 price target on the stock, which is also a “top pick” for the firm. Apple shares edged 0.3% lower in the premarket. The stock is up 18% year to date. — Pia Singh 5:47 a.m.: Netflix is in its ‘strongest’ financial and fundamental position ever, Evercore ISI says Evercore ISI remains bullish on Netflix’s long-term dominance in the streaming space. Analyst Mark Mahaney reiterated his outperform rating and raised his price target by $40 to $750, which implies about 8.9% upside. Shares are up more than 41% this year. The analyst continues to see earnings upside for the stock, particularly if the streaming giant returns to its historical price increase cadence with its subscription plans. NFLX YTD mountain NFLX year to date “We stick with the conclusion we have drawn since early ’24: Netflix is in the strongest position financially, fundamentally and competitively that we have ever seen. And we see with Live Events and Gaming two very promising long-term greenfield revenue opportunities,” Mahaney wrote in the note, pointing to “Squid Games II” and two National Football League games scheduled to release on Netflix in late December. Mahaney highlighted Evercore ISI’s recent quarterly U.S. survey, which reflected reasonably stable satisfaction with Netflix, continued dominance of the company over other streaming platforms, ongoing growth in Netflix’s subscription and advertising-based video on demand, or SAVOD, and its rapidly rising Games adoption in the U.S. — Pia Singh 5:47 a.m.: Morgan Stanley names Coca-Cola a top pick Coca-Cola’s bullish trend will only get better from here, according to Morgan Stanley. The bank, which has an overweight rating on the stock, named the beverage giant a top pick. It also raised its price target to $78 from $70, implying upside of 10.1% over the next 12 months. “We continue to like KO here in an absolute sense and even more relative to a group struggling with slowing [organic sales growth], as Coke’s fundamentals increasingly disconnect favorably from the group,” analyst Dara Mohsenian wrote. “Alpha from a stock picking perspective has become tougher to find in the group with stock bifurcation with higher relative valuations at the “haves” with solid visibility, but less stock upside after run-ups,” he added. “Coke is a great and unique “tweener” answer: a) fundamentally Coke is well positioned to post strong, above-consensus, and above-peer underlying LT OSG in our “Topline Landing” industry scenario as industry pricing drops off; but b) also offers attractive valuation, generally trading in-line to at relative discounts vs. [long-term] averages vs. key large-cap peers.” The move by Morgan Stanley comes as Coca-Cola enjoys a strong year, up 20.2% in 2024. That performance puts the stock on track for its biggest annual gain since 2009, when it soared nearly 26%. KO YTD mountain KO year to date — Fred Imbert
