3 Stocks to Watch on Monday: Apple Inc. (AAPL), Snap Inc (SNAP) and United Continental Holdings Inc (UAL)

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Monday could see the stock markets mired in red ink again as global and domestic traders alike continue to digest not just the failure of House Republicans to push their first major bill — healthcare reform — forward, but also an unrelenting current of new developments in the ongoing investigation between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.

3 Stocks to Watch on Monday: Apple Inc. (AAPL), Snap Inc (SNAP) and United Continental Holdings Inc (UAL)This morning, the spotlight moves to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP), which have some new analyst optimism to boast, as well as United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL) … which right now likely wishes it could duck back into the shadows.

Here’s what you need to know heading into Monday’s trading:

Apple Inc. (AAPL)

Apple is on the receiving end of a pair of wins — one on the analyst front, and one in the courts.

JPMorgan Chase, which already has an “Overweight” rating on AAPL stock, raised its price target from $142 to $165, implying roughly 18% upside from current prices. The catalyst? JPMorgan sees high pent-up replacement demand at the same time Apple is gearing up to launch a 10th-anniversary iPhone.

From analyst Rod Hall:

“Our F2018 unit forecast moves up to 260m units from our prior 245m estimate. We also take a detailed look at OLED supply to Apple and conclude that this should not be a limiting factor but probably will keep Apple from making two OLED models. Multiple iPhone “Pro” features including 3D facial scanning, a glass heavy design, and a structured-light-enabled camera look likely to us and should drive users to upgrade phones that are older, on average, than they have been for four years.”

JPMorgan also upped its earnings estimates on AAPL from to $11.74 per share in calendar year 2018.

Also, over the weekend, a court overturned a 2016 ruling that said Apple violated patent designs of China’s Shenzhen Baili — a now-defunct company that “barely existed” when it sued Apple over the design of its iPhone 6. While Apple faced an early injunction, it has been able to sell phones during the case, and thus the court victory, while encouraging, likely has no serious financial implications.

AAPL shares still are threatening to open Monday’s trading lower, along with the rest of the market.

United Continental Holdings Inc (UAL)

United Continental is in hot PR water after refusing to let two passengers on a plane.

Two girls traveling from Denver to Minneapolis were wearing leggings when they were refused entry onto a plane. The incident itself was fairly calm, and a group behind the girls even offered clothes to help cover one of the girls to meet compliance.

However, social media went ballistic when someone who witnessed the event tweeted it out.

United’s initial response was that the company “shall have the right to refuse passengers who are not properly clothed,” though later on, the airline updated its response to note that the policy had to do with a specific perks program.

“The passengers this morning were United pass riders who were not in compliance with our dress code policy for company benefit travel,” United tweeted. The rules apply to anyone who receives free travel passes linked to employment with the company, whether it’s employees themselves, or family or friends.

Nonetheless, social media continued to bash the company for what many saw as discriminatory practices. Now, some think a quick backlash could send United customers — at least in the short-term — to other competitors.

UAL shares are off slightly in Monday’s trade.

Snap Inc (SNAP)

Lastly, SNAP shares are enjoying a flood of analyst coverage on Monday morning, most of which is optimistic.

Cowen & Co. slapped an “Outperform” rating on SNAP stock with a price target of $26, or about 14% higher from current prices. Analyst John Blackledge is particularly optimistic about Snap’s ability to monetize from here:

“SNAP is a leading social / messaging service and we expect share upside based on ramping ad monetization, with SNAP’s share of WW mobile ad (x-China) rising from 1% to 5% ’17-’22E. SNAP should generate high incremental margins as it scales. SNAP is trading at 16x EV/Sales on our ’18 estimates vs. 8x for FB. We initiate coverage with an Outperform and $26 PT.”

Credit Suisse also chimed in with an “Outperform” rating and a $30 price target.

The dissenter from the group was Oppneheimer’s Jason Helfstein, which started Snap at “Hold,” but with a fairly sunny note not just about SNAP’s upside, but what Snapchat could mean for the future of communication:

“Today, mobile phones primarily perform peripheral tasks. Snapchat has begun to reorient the use-case of the mobile phone back toward communicating, using the camera. By doing so, Snapchat has blurred the lines between entertainment and communication. … While unsuccessful at garnering older users thus far, we believe Snapchat’s mission of reintroducing emotional integrity to digital communication is a universally applicable use-case.”

SNAP shares are up more than 3% in Monday’s early trade as they try to reclaim post-IPO highs around $29 — some 28% higher from here.

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Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2017/03/3-stocks-to-watch-on-monday-apple-inc-aapl-snap-inc-snap-and-united-continental-holdings-inc-ual/.

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