Wednesday's analyst calls: Stifel gets bullish on Tesla, FedEx seen rallying 40%

Electric vehicle maker Tesla and sprawling food giant Campbell's Soup were getting analyst attention Wednesday, as was Federal Express following big news from the shipping giant. Stifel opened coverage on Tesla with a buy rating and an ambitious price target as it sees multiple growth opportunities for the company. Elsewhere, JPMorgan swung to an overweight rating on Campbell's Soup for the first time in about 15 years, while strong earnings and cost-cutting measures at FedEx drew praise from JPMorgan. (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.) 6:01 a.m. FedEx can rally 40% amid strategic freight initiatives, JPMorgan says JPMorgan moved off the sidelines on FedEx coming off earnings with a potential transformation of its freight business underway. Analyst Brian Ossenbeck upgraded shares of the delivery company's stock to overweight from neutral and hiked his price target by $63 to $359. Ossenbeck's fresh target implies about 40% upside over Tuesday's closing level. FedEx on Tuesday posted $5.41 in adjusted earnings per share and $22.11 billion in revenue for the fourth fiscal quarter. That topped respective expectations of $5.35 a share and $22.07 billion from analysts surveyed by LSEG, sending shares higher by almost 14% in Wednesday's premarket trading. More interesting for Ossenbeck than those numbers is a fuel surcharge amid strategic initiatives underway for the freight business. A potential spin-off of the business also still appears on the table, he noted. "We expect some pushback that the FY25 revenue guide is too aggressive or macro dependent," Ossenbeck said. "But we think that overlooks the changes to the recent fuel surcharge tables that we highlighted in our F4Q24 Preview, which will flip to a tailwind in FY25 from a headwind in FY24." "This strategic announcement adds an idiosyncratic angle that is hard to ignore and should support the stock for the next six months while the review is underway," he added. Heading into earnings, FedEx shares underperformed the market with a rise of just over 1% in 2024. — Alex Harring 5:42 a.m. JPMorgan moves to overweight on Campbell Soup for the first time since 2009 JPMorgan turned bullish on Campbell Soup on Wednesday for the first time in about a decade and a half. Analyst Ken Goldman upgraded shares of the food maker to overweight from neutral, a rating the bank hasn't had on the stock since 2009. Goldman also hiked his price target by $7 to $52, now reflecting upside potential of 17.7% over Tuesday's close. The analyst said demand for Rao's and some other Sovos products is "excellent" and could be better than expected. On top of that, he said there could be improved synergies on the Sovos brand, which Campbell acquired earlier this year. Goldman also pointed to the company's long-term margin potential as a reason for optimism, given that it could be bigger than Wall Street expects. He said the company should at least be able to meet its long-term earnings per share growth algorithm of 6% to 8% over the next few years. CPB YTD line Campbell Soup performance in 2024 "We believe that the combination of Rao's strong growth, potentially higher deal-related accretion down the road than expected, and a self-help margin improvement story should give investors relatively high confidence that CPB can grow its bottom line as planned over the next few years," he told clients in a Wednesday note. "This is better than what other food companies might show with their earnings growth, we suspect." Goldman's call comes amid a period of underperformance for Campbell Soup. Shares have added just over 2% this year, while the broader S & P 500 has climbed more than 14%. — Alex Harring 5:24 a.m. Stifel says struggling Tesla shares are worth buying and can surge more than 40% Stifel opened coverage on Tesla in the bull camp and foresees a rebound ahead. Analyst Stephen Gengaro initiated the electric vehicle maker at a buy rating with a $265 price target. Gengaro's target implies 41.4% upside from Tuesday's closing level. "We believe TSLA is very well positioned to deliver robust multi-year growth in 2025-27+," he wrote to clients in a Tuesday note. A revamp to Model 3 and Model Y cars should boost sales in the near term, the analyst said. Then, he said the start of production on its next-generation vehicle called the Model 2 should aid demand. Tesla's full-self driving initiative can also bring value through sales, licensing and the potential RoboTaxi opportunities, Gengaro said. To be sure, he cited lackluster first-quarter earnings, challenges with broader electric vehicle adoption and the U.S. election as potential risks to performance in the near term. Gengaro's call suggests shares can see a big bounce after a tough year. The stock has dropped more than 24% so far in 2024, meaning it has sat out of the broader market's ascent. — Alex Harring