Honeywell Rises as Company Considers Aerospace Spinoff

58 minutes ago

Honeywell International (HON) shares advanced Monday as the conglomerate issued an update on its portfolio review begun earlier this year, noting that it is considering spinning off its aerospace unit. 

CEO Vimal Kapur said that since the company realigned its operations in January, "we have been moving swiftly and decisively to optimize the Honeywell portfolio to deliver superior growth and drive incremental shareholder value." Kapur added that Honeywell has also been "evaluating more transformational changes."

Kapur said that after "portfolio enhancements" that were initiated earlier this year, "Honeywell is now well-positioned for significant transformational alternatives, and we are continuing our deeper, more granular exploration of their feasibility and possible timing."

The company noted that a further update on the actions will be given in its fourth-quarter earnings release, which is likely in late January or early February.

Activist investor Elliott Investment Management reacted to the statement, writing that it welcomed the announcement of the ongoing review of strategic alternatives by Honeywell, “including the separation of its Aerospace business.” Last month, Elliott revealed it had taken a more than $5 billion stake in Honeywell and called for a breakup of the company.

Shares of Honeywell, which rose nearly 3% Monday morning to lead Dow gainers, hit an all-time high following the Elliott news last month. They've gained about 12% year-to-date.

–Bill McColl

Tesla Hits Record High as Wedbush Boosts Price Target Again

1 hr 38 min ago

Tesla (TSLA) shares traded at a fresh all-time high Monday after Wedbush again raised its price target, arguing the electric vehicle (EV) maker’s self-driving car and artificial intelligence (AI) efforts will get a boost from the new Trump administration. 

Wedbush lifted its price target to $515 from $400, and gave a “bull case” scenario of $650 next year. The move came about a month after Wedbush initially increased its price target to $400 from $300 for similar reasons.

Tesla shares were up 2.7% at around $448 in recent trading. The stock has gained 80% since the start of the year, far outpacing the S&P 500 (see chart below). Most of the increase has come since the presidential election, as investors hope that CEO Elon Musk's close ties with President-elect Donald Trump will benefit the EV maker.

Wedbush said in a note to clients that the "Trump White House the next 4 years will be a 'total game changer' for the autonomous and AI story for Tesla and Musk over the coming years."

They estimate that the full self-driving (FSD) and AI opportunity is worth at least $1 trillion alone, and they "fully expect" that the Trump administration will fast-track these initiatives "as the federal regulatory spiderweb that Musk & Co. have encountered over the past few years around FSD/autonomous clears significantly under a new Trump era."

The analysts argued that Tesla could have a $2 trillion market cap by the end of 2025, up from about $1.4 billion now, as the self-driving vision takes shape, and because of an expected jump in deliveries of EVs in China. Wedbush maintained an “outperform” rating on the stock.

–Bill McColl

Supermicro Slumps as Stock to be Removed from Nasdaq 100

2 hr 22 min ago

Super Micro Computer (SMCI) shares slumped Monday morning as the stock feels the impact of a pair of headlines that came out after the bell Friday.

The Nasdaq said Friday that Palantir (PLTR), MicroStrategy (MSTR), and Axon Enterprise (AXON) would join the index starting next week, replacing Supermicro, Moderna (MRNA), and Illumina (ILMN). Supermicro is being replaced on the index less than six months after it was added in July, as shares had lost 70% of their value entering Monday since closing at a record $118.81 in March.

Along with the index removal, Bloomberg also reported Friday that Supermicro has hired investment banking advisory firm Evercore (EVR) to assist the server maker in raising capital. The raise could involve equity or debt, or take the form of an investment from a private equity company, Bloomberg reported.

The hardware manufacturer has raised capital once this year, as it said in March that it would sell 2 million new shares as it looked to raise $2 billion.

Super Micro shares have fallen in the second half of the year as the company has seen earnings reports miss estimates, and has also been the subject of a short-seller’s report alleging accounting manipulation and other issues, along with the resignation of its last auditor. Super Micro also delayed the filing of its annual report for its last fiscal year, and last week received an extension for the filing to ensure the stock wouldn’t be delisted from the Nasdaq.

The stock was down 4% in early trading.

–Aaron McDade

Palantir Levels to Watch as Stock Added to Nasdaq 100

3 hr 46 min ago

Palantir Technologies (PLTR) shares are likely to remain in the spotlight after the Nasdaq announced late Friday that the analytics software provider, along with MicroStrategy (MSTR), and Axon Enterprise (AXON), had been added to the Nasdaq 100 Index.

The stock has continued to trend sharply higher after breaking out from a cup and handle pattern, though the relative strength index cautions overbought conditions that could lead to near-term price fluctuations.

The measuring principle, which calculates the percentage change to the cup and handle’s “cup” and adds it to the pattern’s top trendline value, projects a bullish price target of $140.07.

Investors should watch key lower levels on Palantir's chart at $45 and a zone of support between $33 and $29.

The stock was little changed at around $76 in recent premarket trading.

Read the full technical analysis piece here.

–Timothy Smith

Futures Tied to Major Indexes Move Higher

4 hr 29 min ago

Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures were up 0.2%.

S&P 500 futures also added 0.2%.

Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.4%.

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