Wall St Engine

HSBC Upgrades $CVX to Buy from Hold, Raises PT to $215 from $180 Analyst comments: "We upgrade Chevron from Hold to Buy with a raised price target of $215. Chevron’s shares have modestly lagged Exxon year to date despite a much lower exposure to the broader Middle East region. Only 4% of Chevron’s upstream production comes from the region, mostly in Israel (Leviathan and Tamar gas fields, which were shut in as a precaution in early March) plus some production from the Saudi-Kuwait Partitioned Zone. Chevron is not among the companies with announced growth ambitions anchored in the Gulf states. In the downstream, Chevron has minority stakes in Qatari and Saudi chemical plants via its 50% stake in CPChem." Analyst: Kim Fustier

Oppenheimer Upgrades $FRPT to Outperform from Perform, Initiates PT at $80 Analyst comments: "We are upgrading FRPT shares to Outperform from Perform and installing an $80 price target. Last March, we downgraded FRPT shares on concerns of slowing growth, and at the time, limited visibility on the company's ability to stabilize top-line trends. Following the 10%+ pullback on 3/17 driven by concerns of new competition from Costco's Kirkland Signature brand, we now see a more attractive risk/reward. A few key factors support our now more upbeat views: 1) we are increasingly confident in management’s ability to stabilize top-line trends, at least in the high single digits, even with new competition; 2) a more attractive valuation following the recent pullback; and 3) optionality from a potential takeout down the road as leading pet players adjust portfolios to incorporate fresh products." Analyst: Rupesh Parikh

Mizuho Upgrades $CMG to Outperform from Neutral, Raises PT to $40 from $37 Analyst comments: "We see a comp inflection near-term along with incremental margin visibility, with Q1 earnings and Q2-to-date commentary a potential positive catalyst. One, based on the strength of our checks, we increase our Q1 same-store sales growth estimate to 0.0% from (0.4)% versus consensus of (1.1)%. Importantly, trends strengthened as the quarter progressed, pointing to Q2 traffic/comp upside as well (1.5% MSUSA; 0.7% consensus). Two, early success of ongoing comp initiatives, including incremental value focus, increased marketing/promotional cadence, and incremental menu innovation, points to further comp acceleration as 2026 progresses, particularly with easier year-over-year compares ahead. Three, CMG's year-long cycle of lower margin revisions is almost at an end. Lastly, valuation is an overly pessimistic reflection of CMG's mid-teens long-term EBITDA growth algorithm. Therefore, we upgrade to Outperform from Neutral and increase our PT to $40 from $37. We slightly increase our 2026 EPS estimate to $1.12 from $1.11 (Q1 to $0.24 from $0.23)." Analyst: Nick Setyan

Reuters reports Tesla $TSLA is in talks to buy about $2.9 billion of solar manufacturing equipment from Chinese suppliers as it works toward 100 GW of U.S. solar capacity by the end of 2028.

Today's Key Events (All EST) — 03/20/2026 13:00: US Baker Hughes Total Rig Count 16:00: Monthly OPEX (Triple Witch) Before Open 👇 04:00: XPeng $XPEV 06:00: BitFuFu $FUFU 07:00: Milestone Pharmaceuticals $MIST B.O: Ermenegildo Zegna $ZGN

$AMZN FOUNDER JEFF BEZOS’S BLUE ORIGIN SEEKING PERMISSION TO DEPLOY NEARLY 52,000 SATELLITES CAPABLE OF HANDLING AI COMPUTING INTO ORBIT: FILING WITH FCC

$NVDA statement on $SMCI report: "Strict compliance is a top priority for NVIDIA. We continue to work closely with our customers and the government on compliance programs as export regulations have expanded. Unlawful diversion of controlled U.S. computers to China is a losing proposition… across the board—NVIDIA does not provide any service or support for such systems, and the enforcement mechanisms are rigorous and effective."

@markflowchatter 2hrs ago??? would like to know where

Holy hell $SMCI Was out 2 hours ago :) People finally seeing this news This guy, smh

$SMCI disclosed that federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York have charged three people tied to the company in an alleged export-control conspiracy. Supermicro was not named as a defendant. The company placed two employees on administrative leave, cut ties with a contractor, and is cooperating with the investigation.

Amazon has acquired autonomous robotics startup Rivr Rivr was valued at $110 million in an August 2024 funding round that included Jeff Bezos and Amazon. Source: The Information

WIRED reports $GOOGL has reshuffled part of the team behind Project Mariner, its Chrome-based AI agent that can navigate the web and complete tasks for users, with some staff moved to higher-priority projects as attention shifts toward the new wave of AI agents.

$PL Q4’25 EARNINGS HIGHLIGHTS 🔹 Revenue: $86.822M (Est. $78.5M) 🟢 🔹 Adj. EPS: ~$0.00 (Est. -$0.05) 🟢 🔹 Gross Profit: $47.03M 🔹 Gross Margin: 54% 🔹 Adj. Gross Margin: 57% FY26 Guide: 🔹 Revenue: $415M to $440M (Est. $379.6M) 🟢 Financials: 🔹 Operating Expenses: $83.032M 🔹 Net Loss: ($152.455M)

$FDX Q3’26 EARNINGS HIGHLIGHTS 🔹 Revenue: $24.0B (Est. $23.49B) 🟢 🔹 Adj. EPS: $5.25 (Est. $4.17) 🟢 🔹 Adj. Oper Income: $1.62B (Est. $1.37B) 🟢 🔹 Adj. Oper Margin: 6.7% (Est. 6.02%) 🟢 Raised FY26 Guide: 🔹 Adj. EPS: $19.30 to $20.10 (Prev. $17.80 to $19.00) 🟢 🔹 Revenue Growth: +6.0% to +6.5% YoY (Prev. +5% to +6%) 🟢 🔹 ETR: ~24% 🔹 Pension Contributions: $275M 🔹 CapEx: No more than $4.1B (Prev. $4.5B) Other Metrics: 🔹 FedEx Express: $21.15B (Est. $20.58B) 🟢 🔹 FedEx Freight: $1.99B (Est. $2.03B) 🔴 🔹 Permanent Cost Reductions: More than $1B 🔹 FedEx Freight Spin-Off: On track for June 1, 2026 Commentary: 🔸 “Team FedEx delivered another quarter of strong financial results and excellent service for our customers, powered by disciplined operational execution, the resilience of our global network, and the accelerating impact of our advanced digital solutions.” 🔸 “Our third quarter results and improved financial outlook reflect the resilience of our business and outstanding execution against our strategy to drive profitable growth.”

Cloudflare $NET CEO Matthew Prince said AI bot traffic is on pace to exceed human internet traffic by 2027. Prince said AI agents can hit thousands of sites for a single task, creating much more load than a human user and putting new pressure on internet infrastructure.

APOLLO COMMITS $1 BILLION FOR RETAIL VENTURE WITH REALTY INCOME

Google $GOOGL has started privately testing a Gemini app for Mac, according to Bloomberg, moving closer to a dedicated desktop client to compete with ChatGPT and Claude.

US MONEY-MARKET FUND ASSETS HIT RECORD $7.856 TRILLION AT ICI

WSJ reports Jeff Bezos is in early talks to raise a $100 billion fund to buy manufacturing companies and use AI to automate them faster. The fund is said to target sectors like chipmaking, defense, and aerospace.

Tim Scott and Elizabeth Warren are urging the SEC to restrict Chinese 🇨🇳 companies’ access to U.S. capital markets, according to the FT, warning of risks to national security, market integrity, and investor protection.

US AUTHORIZES DELIVERY, SALE OF SOME RUSSIAN CRUDE OIL