These reports, excerpted and edited by Barron's, were issued recently by investment and research firms. The reports are a sampling of analysts' thinking; they should not be considered the views or recommendations of Barron's. Some of the reports' issuers have provided, or hope to provide, investment-banking or other services to the companies being analyzed.
Dell Technologies -- DELL-NYSE Outperform -- $468.87 on Aug. 19 by Evercore ISI While investors are focused on Dell Technologies' artificial-intelligence compute segment, we think Dell's storage portfolio remains underappreciated and should enable not just revenue but also profit acceleration. As enterprises begin to repatriate workloads back on-premises, we think storage will see an uptick in demand, and notably, Dell could be unique in providing a more end-to-end AI offering....
We view storage as an important driver for three reasons: 1) Dell has one of the broadest storage portfolios in the industry, spanning primary storage, all-flash, hybrid flash, unstructured data, AI storage, and hybrid cloud; 2) storage carries a materially higher margin profile than AI servers, creating a mix and leverage opportunity if Dell can grow its attach rate; and 3) Dell is shifting the portfolio away from lower-value third-party offerings and toward more Dell-controlled intellectual property, software-defined storage, and AI-relevant platforms....
We are sticking with our Outperform rating and raising our target price to $550 (24 times our fiscal-year 2028 earnings-per-share estimate).
IMAX -- IMAX-NYSE Buy -- $50.55 on Aug. 19 by Rosenblatt Fueled by the runaway success of The Odyssey, IMAX is on pace for a record-breaking third quarter and a bang-up 2026....Since the company reported record monthly box office of $257 million, the news has gotten ever better. The Odyssey, which constituted the bulk of July revenue, has grown to $1.29 billion in total box office...As we discussed with management at our recent Age of AI Conference, The Odyssey isn't a one-off, but rather a blueprint that studios and filmmakers can follow to deliver outsize box office returns....
IMAX is unique in that it delivers an end-to-end ecosystem, from image capture, through postproduction to the final playback in a theater equipped with IMAX projection equipment and speakers. Filmmakers and studios leverage this ecosystem by getting IMAX involved in the earliest stages of a project, determining the best way to add IMAX DNA to a film. Target price: $60.
Home Depot -- HD-NYSE Outperform -- $337.88 on Aug. 18 by Mizuho Aside from the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, tariff noise, Home Depot's comp sales growth improved nicely in the second quarter and beat a buy-side bar around +1%. Only three categories tracked negative, which touch less than 20% of total revenue vs. about 50% over each of the past several quarters and could be an early sign of broader recovery.
Callback items: 1) Each month of the quarter tracked above +1% when adjusting for weather variability, with early third-quarter-to-date trends also running higher than the +1% level; 2) various input costs continue to run hot, pushing Home Depot's focus to "maintaining" competitive pricing vs. outright price cuts; 3) tariff-refund volatility should be contained to the combined second-to-third-quarter period, where this quarter's benefit removes upside from third-quarter numbers.
We reshuffle our quarterly forecasts following an estimated $400 million one-time net tariff benefit or an incremental $0.30 to second-quarter earnings. Our price target goes to $390 on a slightly improving top line.
Grocery Outlet Holding -- GO-Nasdaq Hold -- $11.06 on Aug. 18 by TD Cowen The second quarter offered incremental proof points that the turnaround at Grocery Outlet Holding is gaining traction. We were most encouraged by: (1) improving opportunistic mix, (2) improving basket trends, and (3) declining reliance on synthetic promotions. We view each as an important indicator that GO is rebuilding its value proposition, though sustained comp recovery will be needed to support a more durable earnings recovery....We believe value perception and re-establishing the treasure hunt experience are key, and we are encouraged that the company reiterated 15% to 20% price gaps vs. mass retailers and 30% to 40% against conventional. We remain on the sidelines but raise our target price to $12.
Ramaco Resources -- METC-Nasdaq Buy -- $11.60 on Aug. 18 by Texas Capital Securities Ramaco Resources just announced a series of new commercial relationships associated with its Brook Mine Project, securing a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, with three separate companies-roboLoop, Bedrock Semiconductor, and Indium Corp. While the MOUs are nonbinding and not guaranteed to result in definitive offtake agreements, we are encouraged by the string of announcements and believe it is a positive step forward for Ramaco and the Brook Mine Project [an exploration-phase rare-earth elements, critical minerals, and thermal coal project in Wyoming]. Given the rapid commercial progress since the release of the Hatch Conceptual Study [in July 2026, identifying e-waste opportunities], we believe that Ramaco will be successful in securing additional commercial engagements over the coming months, and the company offers strong upside potential if sentiment around the project improves. As a result, we are reiterating our Buy rating and $28 target price for the company.
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