Benzinga's Bulls And Bears Of The Week: Apple, Ford, Merck, Uber And More

• Benzinga has examined the prospects for many investor favorite stocks over the past week.
• This week's bullish calls included pharmaceutical and ride-share leaders.
• The e-commerce colossus and the iPhone maker were among the week's bearish calls.

A July employment report that was better than feared helped the big U.S. indexes end last week higher, led by the Nasdaq's almost 4% gain. Earnings reporting season also has peaked and was not as bad as many expected, though have yet to step into the earnings spotlight.

It was also a week that saw a prominent CEO step down, trade wars resumed and an explosive surprise in the Middle East.

As usual, Benzinga continues to examine the prospects for many of the stocks most popular with investors. Here are some of this past week's most bullish and bearish posts that are worth another look.

Bulls

The long-term view on Uber Technologies Inc UBER "remains highly favorable," according to Jayson Derrick's "Should Investors Continue Riding With Uber? The Street Weighs In."

"Goldman Sachs Upgrades Merck On Cancer, HIV, COVID-19 Pipeline" by Priya Nigam outlines why the market seems to be underappreciating the potential of the pipeline assets at Merck & Co., Inc MRK.

In "Wall Street Loves Square's Cash App Growth," Wayne Duggan suggests that the Square Inc SQ second-quarter results show that the mobile payments company has long-term opportunity despite challenges in the second half.

Shanthi Rexaline's "JPMorgan Turns Bullish On Novavax After Phase 1 Coronavirus Vaccine Readout" focuses on the positive results from a Novavax, Inc. NVAX coronavirus vaccine candidate.

For additional bullish calls, also have a look at Gold At $3K? $50 Silver? BofA Raises Metal Price Targets and 3 Retail Stock Picks From BofA Ahead Of Earnings.

Bears

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: ) valuation has become less attractive. So says a top analyst in " Apple Analyst Goes Neutral, Cites Impending Risks And Valuation Concerns" by Shanthi Rexaline.

Wayne Duggan's "Bearish Amazon Option Trader Bets $2M The Stock Won't Hold $3,100" points out that at least one larger option trader has bet that the recent Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN rally may end soon.

"Why These 2 Traders Are Pumping The Brakes On Ford's Stock" by Jayson Derrick discusses why some are resisting the temptation to ride the recent momentum in Ford Motor Company F stock after the announced CEO change.

In Priya Nigam's "Tyson Foods Faces Slow Recovery In Poultry, Credit Suisse Says In Downgrade," see why Tyson Foods, Inc. TSN is likely to face a tough year ahead due to weak demand.

Be sure to check out Seth Klarman: 'Little Evidence Of Thought' Behind Stock Market Rebound and Cramer: Your Favorite Restaurant 'Can't Survive On Delivery Alone' for additional bearish calls.

At the time of this writing, the author had no position in the mentioned equities.

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