Street Research

Lam Research price target raised to $220 from $190 at RBC Capital. RBC Capital analyst Mitch Steves raised his price target on Lam Research to $220 and kept his Outperform rating ahead of its Q3 earnings, saying that while the near-term results may be a "tad light" given the latest Micron (MU) print and guide, investors will likely focus on the commentary around second-half of 2019 demand trends. The analyst believes that a below-consensus Q3 earnings print may not move the stock lower "materially" if the management conveys expectations of a second-half improvement or if Lam Research guides Q4 EPS above $3.25 per share.

ProsHoldings price target raised to $48 from $39 at RBC Capital. RBC Capital analyst Ross MacMillan raised his price target on ProsHoldings to $48 and kept his Outperform rating ahead of its Q1 results, saying the consensus is "reasonable" and the quarter may contain "drivers of potential upside". The analyst cites "relatively low" expectations for billings and subscription revenues along with higher sales incentives with a focus on cloud conversion. MacMillan adds that the implied valuation multiple of 7.0-times enterprise value to recurring sales estimated for FY21 in his price target for ProsHoldings is "in line with the current multiple for mid-cap software."

Visa, MasterCard price targets raised ahead of earnings at Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley analyst James Faucette said his data tracker suggests slightly weaker consumer spending this quarter, particularly in international markets, indicating some deceleration in payment trends in the March quarter for Visa (V) and MasterCard (MA). However, he believes this "noise" is already reflected in Street estimates and he believes the benefits the companies are seeing from improving computing power, greater scale, secular growth drivers and "relatively resilient" consumer spending trends should persist. Ahead of the card processors' earnings reports, Faucette raised his price target on Visa to $173 from $165 and on MasterCard to $259 from $250 and he keeps Overweight ratings on both stocks.