(This is CNBC Pro’s live coverage of Wednesday’s analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) A hotel giant and an apparel name were among the stocks being talked about by analysts on Wednesday. Goldman Sachs initiated Marriott International with a buy rating. Meanwhile, Barclays upgraded VF Corp to overweight from neutral. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 7:42 a.m.: Needham says Super Micro Computer is a ‘value play on AI’ Super Micro Computer’s fundamental growth story appears to still be intact and the stock could soon resume its rally, according to Needham. Analyst N. Quinn Bolton said in a note to clients that Super Micro is a “value play on AI” and has a solid path for growth ahead of it. “Supermicro is currently involved in the deployment of some of the largest AI clusters in the world and entered FY25 with record high backlog. Though we model a [gross margin] recovery more conservative than management’s forecast, we believe the bear case that GM will trend towards the single digits is too pessimistic,” the note said. Bolton set a price target of $600 per share on Super Micro, which is roughly 37% above where the stock closed Tuesday. The stock is up more than 50% for the year, but it is down over 60% from its high in March. That could be in part due to a review by the board of directors of internal controls and delayed annual report. “We believe much of this overhang is already reflected in the share price,” the Needham note said. — Jesse Pound 7:40 a.m.: William Blair initiates coverage on Nvidia, says there’s ‘still room on this train’ Key tailwinds could spell even more growth for Nvidia over the next couple of years, according to William Blair. This year, the stock has rocketed more than 133%, and analyst Sebastien Naji is taking a bullish view. He initiated coverage on the AI darling with an outperform rating, saying there’s “still room on this train” despite rising competition. “Nvidia remains in the earliest stages of monetizing its software prowess (software revenue surpassed a $1 billion revenue run-rate in January 2024),” the analyst wrote in a Wednesday note to clients. “New advancements on the software side like Nvidia Inference Microservices (NIMs) only help increase the value of its software stack and ecosystem and should buttress these higher gross margins for longer, even as competition ramps up.” The analyst pointed to a strengthening data center business over the next couple years due to continued end-demand and use cases for AI. Not only that, he believes the company’s robotics and digital twins capabilities through its Omniverse platform could become “massive” businesses in themselves and lead to more direct competition with Azure, AWS and Google Cloud. As a result, Naji sees Nvidia having 106% revenue growth year-over-year for fiscal 2025 and 40% revenue growth for fiscal 2026. Meanwhile, the firm also initiated coverage on Broadcom with an outperform rating, given the AI tailwinds for semis. Shares of that chipmaker have jumped more than 45% in 2024. — Sean Conlon 7:02 a.m.: JPMorgan hikes Roku price target Roku’s focus on monetization for its Platform segment may spell good news for the stock. Analyst Cory Carpenter kept his overweight rating on the stock but upped his price target by $10 to $90. That implies more than 20% upside from Tuesday’s close. With Platform specifically, the analyst cited revenue acceleration through the end of next year as one of the key drivers. “Roku could not have been more clear that its top priority is Platform monetization, with mgmt reiterating its expectation for Platform revenue growth to accelerate in 4Q/2025 driven by third- party DSP partnerships, home screen changes, and subscriptions,” the analyst wrote. Adding to this impact, Carpenter also sees Roku adding more partnerships under its belt beyond its existing one with The Trade Desk. “In terms of other DSP partnerships, Roku reiterated its relationship with TTD is not exclusive and that mgmt plans to partner with all major DSPs over time, but in a methodical way that ensures data protection and limits the cannibalization of existing revenue streams,” the analyst also wrote. “We continue to believe it’s a matter of when, not if, Roku announces partnerships with Google & Amazon DSPs.” While shares have plunged more than 18% this year, they’ve soared more than 42% in the past three months. ROKU YTD mountain ROKU year to date — Sean Conlon 6:40 a.m.: Wolfe Research downgrades Resmed Wolfe Research believes disruption risks to Resmed’s business could send shares lower. The investment firm downgraded its rating on the stock to underperform from peer perform, and its target of $180 implies more than 28% downside from Tuesday’s close. Year to date, shares have already risen nearly 46%. RMD YTD mountain RMD year to date Analyst Mike Polark expects revenue growth to likely decelerate over the next couple of years, seeing increased competition from Eli Lilly in particular in 2025 and 2026. “We believe Lilly’s launch of an obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) indication for its GLP-1 medication tirzepatide poses significant patient funnel disruption/distortion risks,” the analyst wrote. “We see risks poised to mount in 2025 following expected FDA approval for a sleep apnea indication during 4Q24.” — Sean Conlon 6:29 a.m.: Bank of America raises Starbucks price target A shift in Starbucks’ China strategy could mean more upside ahead, according to Bank of America. Analyst Sara Senatore upped its price target by $6 to $118, which implies more than 22% upside from Tuesday’s close. She also reiterated a buy rating on the stock, which has only gained about 0.5% this year. With licensing, Senatore believes that lower asset intensity in China would “buoy SBUX returns and its multiple.” “Licensing China would also allow SBUX management to train its focus on the US (73% of 2023 EBITDA before corporate expenses),” the analyst wrote in a Wednesday note. “Because new CEO Brian Niccol’s experience includes YUM’s highly franchised model and CMG’s more selective licensing approach (Middle East), he may be receptive to licensing.” — Sean Conlon 5:53 a.m.: Goldman Sachs says buy Marriott A bullish industry outlook may send shares of Marriott higher, according to Goldman Sachs. The firm initiated coverage on the stock with a buy rating and a price target at $267, implying more than 13% upside, as of Tuesday’s close. “With most companies lowering 2H outlooks and some pockets of consumer weakness in travel, the backdrop for Lodging in 2024 remains choppy, drawing late-cycle concerns and debate about whether the stocks are priced for perfection,” analyst Lizzie Dove wrote in a note to clients. “As a result, C-corps have increasingly been viewed as less of a safe haven for investors within consumer discretionary, which we believe is unjustified.” She believes that a material deceleration in revenue per available room — a key metric for hotels — isn’t likely, citing an above-consensus U.S. GDP growth forecast and acceleration of RevPAR domestically heading into 2025 and 2026. The analyst anticipates that ongoing business recovery, as well as a compressing valuation gap to Hilton, may provide upside for Marriott specifically. Shares of the hotel giant are up more than 4% year to date. MAR YTD mountain MAR in 2024 “We like MAR’s business segmentation which skews a little more towards higher-end leisure (43% of rooms), which we expect to be relatively resilient at the lower end if we continue to see the consumer weaken,” the analyst continued. Dove also likes Hilton and Wyndham, initiating coverage with a buy rating for those two names with targets of $245 and $96, respectively. That implies more than 11% upside for Hilton and more than 22% upside for Wyndham from Tuesday’s close. In 2024, Hilton’s shares have surged around 21%, while Wyndham’s have fallen more than 2%. — Sean Conlon 5:53 a.m.: Barclays upgrades VF Corp to overweight There are plenty of reasons to get bullish on VF Corp , according to Barclays. Analyst Adrienne Yih upgraded the parent company of Timberland and North Face to overweight from equal weight. Her price target of $22, up from $19, implies upside of nearly 20%. “We believe the risk-reward is attractive at current levels. We believe we will begin to see incremental sequential improvement in company fundamentals over the next four to six quarters beginning modestly in the fall season of 2024,” Yih wrote. To be sure, the analyst pointed to Vans as possible negative catalyst for the stock. “The biggest driver of the turn at VFC is a turn in Vans, which has been in a multi-year slump. We could underestimate the difficulty in recapturing brand equity at the core Vans brand.” VF Corp shares are down 2% year to date. However, they have rallied 36% this quarter. VFC YTD mountain VFC year to date — Fred Imbert