Stock Market Today: Roku’s CFO Stepping Down; Buy Microsoft?

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As far the broader market is concerned, it was a relatively quiet session in the stock market today. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:SPY) gained just 0.02% on Tuesday, but after so many consecutive sessions of new all-time highs, what more could bulls really ask for?

Stock Market Today

There are just eight full trading sessions left in the decade, and given how well the market has done this year, just take a moment to think of where stocks were this time last year.

C-Suite Swing

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) shares were under pressure Tuesday, slipping 2.2%. Of the recent strength in growth stocks — like Shopify (NYSE:SHOP) and The Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) — Roku hasn’t been the among the best.

On Tuesday, shares fell after the company announced the departure of CFO Steven Louden. He has been in the c-suite since 2015, navigated Roku through its 2017 IPO and has enjoyed the stock’s staggering gains over the past year. No word yet on who will replace him.

It’s not the only c-suite drama on Tuesday. Rumors were swirling around Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) co-founder, chairman and co-CEO Marc Benioff after a prediction surfaced that he will step down from his co-CEO role in 2020. Nothing has been confirmed, while CRM stock is down just 0.2% on the day. But it’s worth highlighting now that it’s out there.

Finally, shares of Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ:BBBY) stock ripped more than 11% on Tuesday after announcing it will restructure its management team. The move sends five officers on their way, including the chief merchandising officer, marketing officer, digital officer, legal officer and administrative officer. Now a search is underway to replace those in the shake-up.

Movers in the Stock Market Today

The good times continue to roll in the biotech space. Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) announced a 14.7% dividend increase, bringing its yield up to 2.4%. But beyond that, management also provided a robust full-year outlook.

They expect fiscal 2020 revenue in the range of $23.6 billion to $24.1 billion, vs. consensus expectations of $23.5 billion. Management is looking for earnings in the range of $6.70 to $6.80 per share, vs. estimates of $6.61 per share.

Did Uber (NYSE:UBER) finally catch a break? A judge would not order the company to reclassify its drivers as employees rather than independent contractors, saying that it is premature to do so. Further, this was a district judge in California, a state that has been stirring the pot when it comes to employee vs. contractor classification.

LogMeIn (NASDAQ:LOGM) will be acquired by a group consisting of Francisco Partners and Elliott Management’s Evergreen Coast Capital. The deal is for $86.05 per share in cash, valuing the company at roughly $4.3 billion.

Heard on the Street

The other day, Micron (NASDAQ:MU) received a massive price target of $85 from Susquehanna analysts. On Tuesday, analysts were out with another bullish call, as Wedbush analysts upped their price target from $44 to $65.

Micron stock climbed slightly on the day, but couldn’t take out its 52-week high from Monday. While the price target implies upside of roughly 22%, keep in mind that MU reports earnings on Wednesday after the close.

Wedbush analysts didn’t stop there though. They upped their price target on Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) from $170 to $185. That’s a new high on Wall Street, but yet, MSFT actually finished lower on the day.

CyrusOne (NASDAQ:CONE) was upgraded to “overweight” at KeyBanc and assigned a $70 price target.

D.R. Horton (NYSE:DHI) was downgraded to “underperform” at RBC and assigned a $51 price target.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) was upgraded to “outperform” at BMO and assigned a $17 price target. That implies upside of more than 30% From Tuesday’s closing prices.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was upgraded to “overweight” at Morgan Stanley, who assigned a $170 price target. While J&J stock has been disappointing until only recently — flat on the year through the first ten months of 2019 — the target implies upside of nearly 20%.

Bret Kenwell is the manager and author of Future Blue Chips and is on Twitter @BretKenwell. As of this writing, Bret Kenwell is long ROKU and TTD.

Bret Kenwell is the manager and author of Future Blue Chips and is on Twitter @BretKenwell.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2019/12/stock-market-today-roku-cfo-buy-microsoft-stock/.

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