(This is CNBC Pro’s live coverage of Wednesday’s analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to see the latest posts.) Analysts on Wednesday focused on reports from major companies technologies and potential obstacles for a fintech stock. Those covering Alphabet, Google’s parent company, and Microsoft reacted to the latest earnings reports from the megacap names, as both stocks tumbled in the wake of those reports. SoFi Technologies also came under pressure following Morgan Stanley’s downgrade. Check out the latest calls and chats below. All times ET. 6.23am: Baird sees near-term risks for Tesla but maintains his long-term bullish trend The near-term outlook for Tesla looks problematic, according to Baird. While the investment firm maintained its outperform rating for the electric vehicle maker, it also designated the stock a “new bearish pick” in a note Wednesday. As a catalyst for bearish sentiment, analyst Ben Kallo cited a ruling against Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s pay package. “We believe this will create a negative overhang on the stock until further clarity is provided and expect the stock to fall on this news,” the analyst wrote. He also expects disruptions on Red Sea shipping lanes to drive down Tesla’s deliveries in 2024. Tesla shares fell more than 2% after a judge struck down Musk’s $56 billion pay package. The stock has been under pressure recently, losing nearly 23% this month. On the other hand, Kallo remains bullish on Tesla in the long term, highlighting the company’s product pipeline, increased manufacturing capacity, future vehicle launches, recurring revenue potential, and expanded product capacity for energy storage. Kallo’s price target of $300 implies that Tesla shares could rise more than 56% from Tuesday’s closing price. “Our price target … is a premium to large-cap, high-growth peers, which we believe is justified given its growth and suite of technologies,” he added. — Lisa Kailai Han 6:15am: Advanced Micro Devices sell-off could be a good entry point, Wall Street analysts say Advanced Micro Devices’ post-earnings pullback could be a good entry point for investors. While the chipmaker’s fourth-quarter earnings and revenue were in line with analysts’ expectations, its first-quarter revenue forecast of $5.4 billion was lower than the $5.73 billion analysts had expected. AMD shares fell 6% on the back of these results. However, analysts at both Goldman Sachs and Citi saw the sell-off as a buying opportunity. “We reiterate our Buy rating on AMD and would view a near-term correction in the stock as an opportunity to increase exposure to an asset that has 1) increasing exposure to Gen AI and its infrastructure development; 2) a continued potential to increase market share in server CPUs; and 3) a significant step forward in terms of margin expansion and earnings growth,” wrote Goldman Sachs analyst Toshiya Hari. Hari raised his 12-month price target for the stock to $180 from $157. Citi analyst Christopher Danely also maintained his buy rating on the stock, raising his price target to $192 from $136. This updated target corresponds to a potential upside of 11.6% for AMD shares. Vivek Arya, an analyst at Bank of America, had one of the highest price targets of $195, implying that AMD shares could rise 13%. Like Hari and Danely, Arya also reiterated her Buy rating for the name. On the other hand, JPMorgan analyst Harlan Sur maintained his Neutral rating for the stock, although he raised his price target to $180 from $115. While Sur is optimistic about AMD’s ability to improve market share and revenue growth in the near term, he believes stock gains appear less certain in the long term, while the stock already appears to be fully valued. — Lisa Kailai Han 5:53: Barclays Downgrades Verizon Barclays is taking a backseat to Verizon. The bank downgraded the telecom giant’s shares from overweight to equal weight. Analyst Kannan Venkateshwar maintained his price target at $44, an upside of just 3.6%. “Verizon is on a much better operating trajectory than the past two years, but upside in numbers and valuation may be more limited than current levels,” Venkateshwar wrote. As the reason for the downgrade, the analyst pointed to Verizon’s reliance on price increases to boost its revenue, a lever that may be difficult to continue to use. Additionally, Venkateshwar expects the company’s free cash flow to take a hit as costs rise this year. Meanwhile, the integration of Verizon’s prepaid business, Tracfone, is taking longer than expected. “While the prepaid business is not as important to the story as the postpaid business, its integration path is an important data point to gain further conviction regarding the company’s improved execution story on the consumer side. It was also expected that this business had a small advantage in 2024 both in terms of subtrends and contribution to services revenue growth,” Venkateshwar said. He added that Verizon shares also no longer appear to be trading at a discount and now appear to be fairly priced. Verizon shares are up 12.65% over the past month. — Lisa Kailai Han 5.41am: Wall Street Analysts Back Alphabet After Fourth-Quarter Earnings Results Alphabet shares may be under pressure following mixed quarterly results, but analysts at major banks are backing the name. The company beat both earnings and revenue estimates for the fourth quarter, but reported advertising revenue of $65.52 billion, missing expectations. The stock subsequently fell 6%. Despite this short-term setback, Wall Street analysts at major banks are still bullish on the name. GOOGL 1D mountain GOOGL collapses “In total, we see this quarter as a combined mix of messaging with stable/strong digital advertising and media consumption trends, a solid upside surprise in terms of segment-level operating income margins, and some nuances on individual cases,” wrote Goldman Sachs analyst Eric Sheridan. Sheridan reiterated his buy rating on the stock by raising his 12-month price target from $164 to $171, implying that Google shares could rise 13% from Tuesday’s closing price. Similarly, Bank of America analyst Justin Post also reiterated his buy rating, but kept his price target at $173. Barclays analyst Ross Sandler also maintained his overweight rating on the stock, lowering his price target to $173 from $180. A price target of $173 corresponds to a potential 14.2% rally. “Bulls (like us) point to accelerating growth in search and YT, but skeptics are likely pointing to rising AI costs and limited upside in numbers. With shares up 59% last year and 10% so far in January, we are not surprised to see GOOGL take a temporary hiatus,” Sandler wrote. At $168, compared to $153, Citi analyst Ronald Josey had a lower price target. Josey also maintained his buy rating for Google, with his updated price forecast implying the shares could rise 11%. — Lisa Kailai Han 5:41: Morgan Stanley Downgrades SoFi Technologies Increasing near-term headwinds and execution risks to hitting 2026 earnings targets have led Morgan Stanley to recommend clients stay away from SoFi Technologies. Analyst Jeffrey Adelson downgraded the company to underweight to equal weight and cut his price target to $6.50 from $7. The new forecast implies a decline of 22.6% for the stock. Shares fell more than 3% in premarket trading. SOFI 1D mountain SOFI under pressure “Slowing earnings and execution risk on the way to 2026 EPS push us back to underweight,” Adelson wrote. “We had previously abandoned our underweight call 3 months ago as 1) the share price had fallen to our previous PT, reflecting a more balanced risk-reward tilt and 2) SOFI had announced a capital relief in the form of a new forward flow of $2 billion contract and other loan sales.” “However, with the shares now higher by more than 20% since then, and trading at [price to tangible book value] of ~2.4x, we believe the stock is pricing in excessive optimism about SOFI’s 2026 path to profitability, all while facing a worsening revenue growth outlook for 2024,” Adelson wrote. SoFi shares have risen more than 115% in 2023, marking their best year ever, but are down 15.6% year to date. — Fred Imbert