STRONG BUYS: Walmart (WMT), Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL), & More

The markets were buoyant yesterday — here’s what we’re watching. Below, you'll find four of the hottest (and nottest) stocks on the market, plus 3 timely strong buy picks.

P.S. Have you checked out our latest stock of the week? This one could be big…

🔥 HOT: Upstart Holdings (NASDAQ: UPST) gained 15.0% on Monday after analysts at Wedbush upgraded the stock’s rating from underperform to neutral and raised its price target from $10 to $45. Enthusiasm for the stock is increasing as interest rates fall and the company improves the quality of its loans. UPST has now gained 36.6% YTD.

🥶 NOT: Top Wealth Group (NASDAQ: TWG) gave back 35.6% on Monday, giving back about half of its 233% gain from Friday. Monday’s loss is most likely due to short-term traders taking profits after the wild enthusiasm over TWG’s public offering from Friday. Even with Friday’s massive rally, TWG is down 8.0% YTD.

🔥 HOT: Bitcoin mining company Cleanspark (NASDAQ: CLSK) gained 12.7% on Monday as Bitcoin moved higher, gaining 3.4% in 24 hours. Cleanspark has increased its hashrate by more than any other miner in 2024, reaching 30 EH/s late last week. The company aims to continue improving its infrastructure to reach 37 EH/s by the end of 2024 and 50 EH/s in 2025.

🥶 NOT: Piedmont Lithium’s (NASDAQ: PLL) rally that started with it obtaining a mining permit from Ghana’s government has finally stalled after gaining more than 50% over the last few weeks. The stock lost 7.7% on Monday on slightly elevated volume compared to the end of last week. Even with last week’s rally, PLL still has a lot of work to do to recoup its 2024 losses. The stock is still down 52.5% YTD.

📈 Want more? Check out the biggest winners and biggest losers on WSZ. 

Strong Buys: Top Picks from Top Wall Street Analysts 

Don’t rely on stock recommendations from just anyone. With WallStreetZen, you gain access to high-conviction stock ratings from top-rated analysts every weekday. It’s a premium feature on our site, but we’ve unlocked a FREE sampling below: 

1- Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) 

Analyst/Firm: Michael Lasser / UBS

Analyst ranking: Top 7% / average return +10.55% / win rate 68% 

Yesterday’s market close: $80.29

Price target:  $92.00 

• Maintaining a Strong Buy rating, UBS's Michael Lasser raised their price target on Walmart (NYSE: WMT) by 13.6% from $81 to $92 on 10/11. 
• Lasser contextualized their price target move by saying that "Walmart is still in early stages of a multi-year journey growing its third-party marketplace which, by CY 2026, UBS expects to represent more than $150B in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) and contribute $15B to the company's revenue compared to GMV of $90B and revenue of $9B in CY 2024.
• Further, the analyst said that UBS thinks Walmart's e-commerce market share and margins will improve as it grows its third-party marketplace and offers better connectivity between physical and digital.
• See dozens more ratings on WMT here.

1-year chart for WMT, courtesy TradingView

2- Intra Cellular Therapies Inc. (NASDAQ: ITCI) 

Analyst/Firm: Jeffrey Hung / Morgan Stanley

Analyst ranking:  Top 13% / average return +10.68% / win rate 56% 

Yesterday’s market close: $73.84

Price target: $95.00 

• Maintaining a Strong Buy rating, Morgan Stanley's Jeffrey Hung raised their price target on Intra Cellular Therapies (NASDAQ: ITCI) by 3.3% from $92 to $95 on 10/11.
• Prior to the sNDA filing for adjunct MDD (Major Depressive Disorder), Hung told investors that Morgan Stanley's estimates aligned with the consensus for Caplyta's sales.
• The analyst recommended that investors keep an ear out for any news regarding Cellular Therapies' sales force expansion, which might include a second expansion next year in addition to the 150 new sales representatives expected in Q3 of this year.
• Footnotes: A sNDA (supplemental New Drug Application) is a submission to the FDA to request approval for changes to an already approved NDA (New Drug Application). Caplyta is an atypical antipsychotic medication used to treat adults with schizophrenia and bipolar depression.
• Will ITCI soar 70% in the coming year? Here’s what pros say.

1-year chart for ITCI, courtesy TradingView

3- Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) 

Analyst/Firm: Steven Wieczynski / Stifel Nicolaus

Analyst ranking: Top 8% / average return +11.96% / win rate 59% 

Yesterday’s market close: $196.78

Price target: $230.00 

• Maintaining a Strong Buy rating, Stifel Nicolaus's Steven Wieczynski raised their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL) by 15% from $200 to $230 in advance of the company’s earnings announcement, scheduled for 10/29.  
• Wieczynski said that their price target increase was catalyzed by the announcement that Royal Caribbean Cruises is building a second Perfect Day concept in Costa Maya, Mexico.
• The analyst explained that the original Perfect Day concept at CocoCay was opened back in 2019 and has been "at least double-digit accretive" to Royal Caribbean Cruises's yields, and there is no reason to think that Costa Maya won't be as accretive when the concept is launched in 2027."
• See why some analysts forecast nearly 30% upside for RCL in the coming year.

1-year chart for RCL, courtesy TradingView

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