markets

6/25/25

Wedbush hikes price target on Microsoft to $600, saying “AI set to change the cloud growth trajectory”

Dan Ives loves one of his favorite stocks even more than he used to.

16.5% more, to be exact. That’s how much the Wedbush Securities analyst hiked his price target on Microsoft, a stock he rates as “outperform” and has on the firm’s “Best Ideas List.” That’s more than 20% above its record close of $490.11 on Tuesday, and well above the average analyst estimate of about $520.

The bump in the price target is down to “incrementally bullish recent AI customer checks in the field with a massive adoption wave of Copilot and Azure monetization now on the doorstep for Microsoft,” Ives wrote. “AI is set to change the cloud growth trajectory in Redmond.” (That’s a reference to where Microsoft is headquartered, for the uninitiated.)

Ives disagrees with reports that Microsoft’s Copilot AI chatbot isn’t getting much love from potential customers, suggesting it could add $25 billion to Microsoft’s revenue trajectory by fiscal 2026 (that is, the year ending in the middle of 2026).

“Our thesis remains that the cloud and AI monetization is going to comprise a bigger and bigger piece of Redmond going forward and will ultimately spur growth and margins over the coming years,” he concluded. “We believe Microsoft is just hitting its next phase of monetization on the AI front and more enterprises are accelerating their AI budgets and strategic footprint with Redmond into FY26 with the Street not fully appreciating the growth story.”

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markets

8h

Robinhood, AppLovin, and Emcor pop on announcement of addition to S&P 500

Shares of Robinhood Markets, AppLovin, and Emcor are all rallying in post-market trading on Friday upon news that they’re being added to the S&P 500.

Shares of the brokerage popped 7.2%, the adtech company rose 7.8%, and the construction company was up a more modest 2.7% in the minutes following the announcement.

(Robinhood Markets, Inc. is the parent company of Sherwood Media, an independently operated media company subject to certain legal and regulatory restrictions.)

Strategy, another stock rumored to be in the running for inclusion in the benchmark US stock index that has been passed over, sank 2.5% in postmarket trading.

Nia Warfield, Luke Kawa

S&P 500 falls as rate-cut optimism fizzles

The S&P 500 gave up early gains to close down 0.3%, while the Nasdaq 100 eked out a 0.1% advance and the Russell 2000 outperformed, rising 0.5%.

Brown bear on a rock

markets

11h

Kenvue plunges after reports suggest RFK Jr. may try to link prenatal Tylenol use to autism

Kenvue sank 15% Friday after a WSJ report said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may attempt to link prenatal Tylenol use to autism in an upcoming government report.

Kenvue, the maker of Tylenol and formerly a division of Johnson & Johnson prior to a 2023 spin-out, pushed back, saying the science shows “no causal link” between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and autism, and pointed to FDA and medical groups that agree on the drug’s safety.

The FDA itself has found no “clear evidence” of harm but advises pregnant women to consult providers before taking OTC meds.

The report is also expected to float a folate-derived therapy as a potential treatment.

Tylenol is just the latest well-established medication to face scrutiny under Kennedy, who has already stirred controversy by reshaping vaccine policy and amplifying doubts about mRNA shots.

Kenvue shares are now down over 18% year-to-date.

RFK Jr., HHS to Link Autism to Tylenol Use in Pregnancy and Folate Deficiencies

RFK Jr.

The FDA itself has found no “clear evidence” of harm but advises pregnant women to consult providers before taking OTC meds.

The report is also expected to float a folate-derived therapy as a potential treatment.

Tylenol is just the latest well-established medication to face scrutiny under Kennedy, who has already stirred controversy by reshaping vaccine policy and amplifying doubts about mRNA shots.

Kenvue shares are now down over 18% year-to-date.

markets

11h

Lucid surges following 6 days of losses after headlines misidentify Cantor Fitzgerald’s lower split-adjusted price target as a good thing

It’s been a shortened week, but still a rough one for Lucid. Investor blowback to the luxury EV maker’s 1-for-10 reverse stock split has sent shares to all time lows this week.

After six straight days of closing lower, Wall Street appears to have decided enough is enough and is loading up on Lucid shares on Friday, sending them up 13% in recent trading. As of 2:10pm eastern, Lucid trading volumes were at more than 240% of their 30 day average.

Some of the move could be attributed to traders reading headlines that don’t take into consideration Lucid’s reverse split. Cantor Fitzgerald on Friday slapped a new price target on Lucid of $20, compared to its previous target of $3. Some news outlets (not us!) presented that as an increase. The problem: With the 1-for-10 reverse split in effect, a comparable price target would have been $30. The new $20 target is actually... a cut.

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