Bulls & Bears Of The Week: AT&T, Facebook, GE, Microsoft And More

• Benzinga has featured looks at many investor favorite stocks over the past week.
• Bullish calls included social media and cloud computing giants.
• Bearish calls included a crumbling conglomerate and a top drugmaker.

Last week, the partial federal government shutdown ended, but just in time for a large portion of the nation to be shut down by record cold temperatures. Also, some corporate powerhouses, including nearly half of the Dow Jones industrials, stepped into the earnings spotlight.

Midweek, the Federal Reserve declined to raise rates, and the end of the week brought a better-than-expected employment report. The major U.S. exchanges saw a 2 percent or so rise for the week.

As usual, Benzinga continues to feature looks at the prospects for many investor favorite stocks. Here are just a few of this past week's most bullish and bearish posts that may be worth another look.

Bulls

Jayson Derrick's "Here's What Wall Street Thinks About Facebook's Big Earnings Beat" shows how several analysts reacted to last week's quarterly results from Facebook, Inc. FB.

Microsoft Corporation MSFT should reach the trillion dollar market cap threshold this year, according to Dave Royse's "Azure Skies Ahead For Microsoft? Analysts Like Continued Cloud Computing Growth."

"Analysts: AT&T Earnings Weren't That Bad" by Wayne Duggan reveals some encouraging signs for AT&T, Inc. T investors. Check out why the recent quarterly report may represent a buying opportunity.

In "Analysts: Put Your Chips On Mastercard," Elizabeth Balboa points out international expansion as just one of the tailwinds for Mastercard Inc MA that should lead to solid revenue growth over the next few years.

For additional bullish calls, also have a look at Raymond James Raises Southwest Airlines Price Target, With Cost Concerns Dispelled and Dell Wins Over A Sell-Side Bull On Market Share Gains, Balance Sheet Delevering.

Bears

In Wayne Duggan's "Analyst: General Electric Just Took A 'Couple Of Steps Backward'," see why investors pleased with the Wabtec transportation spin-off from General Electric Co. GE may be missing the big picture.

Raymond James Downgrades Square, See Nearly 30% Downside Potential" by Jayson Derrick discusses why the valuation of Square Inc SQ is difficult to justify and there is no clear path for it to deliver material upside.

Analyst price target cuts and lowered sales estimates for AbbVie Inc ABBV are reviewed in "Analysts Cut AbbVie Price Targets After Earnings Miss" by Elizabeth Balboa. See how much Humira is to blame.

Shanthi Rexaline's "Symantec's Stellar Q3 Fails To Pull Analysts From The Sidelines" discusses Wall Street's continued skepticism about Symantec Corporation SYMC after its earnings report.

Be sure to check out Morgan Stanley Loses Confidence In Allergan's Pipeline Optionality and H&R Block Falls After Goldman Sachs Downgrades Stock To Sell for additional bearish calls.