3 Stocks to Watch on Monday: Apple Inc. (AAPL), Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) and Electronic Arts Inc. (EA)

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AAPL - 3 Stocks to Watch on Monday: Apple Inc. (AAPL), Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) and Electronic Arts Inc. (EA)

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The tech sector’s miserable Friday performance was mercifully met with a couple days of buzz over the weekend as video game conference E3 got into gear. Thus, as we head into Monday’s trade, Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) have found themselves in the spotlight.

3 Stocks to Watch on Monday: Apple Inc. (AAPL), Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) and Electronic Arts Inc. (EA)However, there’s going to be some hangover from last week, too. That’s why Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has also found its way onto this list of stocks to watch today.

Here’s what you should know:

Apple Inc. (AAPL)

Apple and the rest of the tech sector appear headed for a continuation of last Friday’s pain thanks to a downgrade of the iPhone maker’s stock.

Abhey Lamba and Parthiv Varadarajan — two analysts at Mizuho Securities — have downgraded AAPL stock from “Buy” to “Neutral,” and also lowered their price target from $160 to $150. While that’s still technically higher than Apple’s Friday close right below $149, it represents fractional upside from here.

Mizuho’s concern? While they still expect good things from the iPhone 8, “The stock has meaningfully outperformed on a YTD basis and we believe enthusiasm around the coming product cycle is fully captured at current levels, with limited upside to estimates from here on out.”

The pros appear to be increasingly contrarian on Apple’s iPhone 8 hopes. This note comes just a few days after a Pacific Crest downgrade to a neutral-equivalent rating based on the same idea that iPhone 8 mania has been well priced in.

AAPL shares are down 2% in Monday’s premarket trade, tacking on to its nearly 4% loss on Friday.

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA)

Electronic Arts and Star Wars lovers are in for a treat.

While the first Battlefront game underwhelmed loyal fans of the series, Star Wars Battlefront II may actually meet expectations, and perhaps exceed them.

EA previewed the upcoming game at E3, and fans were shown a stunning version of the Star Wars universe as visuals were state of the art.

Star Wars Battlefront II can be played as a large-scale multiplayer game, which boasts more levels, weapons and thrice as much content as its predecessor. The game also will offer downloadable content “seasons” for free.

The EA title is slated for a Nov. 17, 2017 release.

EA shares aren’t moving much in Monday’s premarket trade, but are up just more than 40% for the year-to-date.

Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)

But the biggest announcement from E3 so far goes to MSFT, which gave gamers a glimpse into what’s in store with its new console.

The tech giant unveiled the Xbox One X, which will be released on Nov. 7 and retail for $499. Microsoft claims its new Xbox — which features up to 12GB of RAM and 326 GB/s of memory bandwidth — “the most powerful game console to date,” outdoing anything from Sony Corp (ADR)’s (NYSE:SNE) PlayStation line.

While the Xbox One X will have 4K capabilities, it will also utilize “supersampling” to make games look better on 1080 TVs.

It will also be the smallest Xbox so far, if only in size. Though the reach of the console will span several generations, allowing playback of Xbox One, Xbox 360 and even original Xbox titles.

The excitement from E3 wasn’t enough to lift shares out of their Friday, funk, however. MSFT stock is set to start Monday’s trade roughly 1% lower.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2017/06/3-stocks-to-watch-on-monday-apple-inc-aapl-microsoft-corporation-msft-and-electronic-arts-inc-ea/.

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