Benzinga's Bulls And Bears Of The Week: Apple, Coinbase, Starbucks, Virgin Galactic, Walmart And More

• Benzinga has examined the prospects for many investor favorite stocks over the past week.


• Last week's bullish calls included top growth and reopening stocks.


• Automakers and a leading cryptocurrency play were among the bearish calls seen.

The Dow Jones industrial average posted about a 1% gain last week, while the Nasdaq ended the week essentially flat and the S&P 500 was somewhere in between. Still, the markets hit all-time highs during the week, despite questions over whether the Delta variant will be a long-term or passing issue, inflation is peaking or gaining, and the Federal Reserve is turning hawkish or staying dovish.

The latest Consumer Price Index seemed to suggest that inflation was slowing, meaning the Fed was right about it being transitory and there was little cause for the central bank to change course now. Then the Producer Price Index upset that apple cart, and some Fed presidents seem ready to begin tapering the quantitative easing.

While earnings-reporting season is beginning to wind down, last week's encouraging results from the Magic Kingdom offered a signal for how the economic reopening has fared.

Overall, financials had a good week, as did steel and mining due to the progress in Congress on the $1 trillion infrastructure bill. Tech stocks lagged, as shown by the sluggish Nasdaq. Attention next turns to big retail, which posts results in the coming week. That will show how the revived pandemic has affected the sector.

Through it all, Benzinga continues to examine the prospects for many of the stocks most popular with investors. Here are a few of the past week's most bullish and bearish posts that are worth another look.

The Bulls

"8 Best Growth Stocks For The Second Half Of 2021" by Priya Nigam examines why Microsoft Corporation MSFT, Pfizer Inc. PFE and others may be the place for investors to be for the rest of the year. In "Tesla Analyst Upgrades The EV Maker's Stock And Ups Price Target By 20%: Here's Why," Shanthi Rexaline reveals some tailwinds for Tesla Inc TSLA and whether it is fairly valued.

Also read Why This Tesla Analyst Sees Giga Berlin As Step Forward For EV Stock.

Starbucks Corporation SBUX "looks amazing" and is one of the best bets on the economic reopening. So says Adam Eckert's "Why Starbucks And These 2 Stocks Are William Blair's Top 3 Reopening Plays." In Wayne Duggan's "5 Walmart Stock Catalysts Coming Before The End Of 2021," discover the potentially bullish catalysts ahead that could jump-start Walmart Inc WMT the stock. Could it outperform Amazon?

On the other hand, see Pete Najarian Says Target's Stock Is Going Higher, Taking Market Share From Walmart, Amazon.

Chris Katje's "Why 6 DoorDash Analysts Are Raising Price Targets After Q2 Earnings" discusses what impressed these analysts about the DoorDash Inc DASH second-quarter report.

The Bears

In Priya Nigam's "Apple App Store Growth Starting To Decelerate, BofA Says," find out why one Apple Inc AAPL analyst remains neutral in the face of tough comparisons and potential issues with China.

"Chip Shortage In Focus With US Automakers Like Tesla, Ford, GM But Cathie Wood Says Used-Car Data Points In Different Direction" by Rachit Vats explores why semiconductors may not be the biggest problem for Ford Motor Company F and other automakers.

The EV Era Is Coming Sooner Than Expected offers more on what is ahead for the auto industry.

Discover why one key Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc SPCE analyst is moving to the sidelines, according to "Why This Virgin Galactic Analyst Has Turned Bearish On The Stock" by Shanthi Rexaline. In "BofA Initiates Coverage Of Coinbase: 'We Await More Signs Of Progress'," Wayne Duggan looks at why cryptocurrency play Coinbase Global Inc COIN may have limited near-term upside.

Be sure to check out ARK Invest: Cryptocurrencies Now Trade More Volume Than FAANG Stocks as well. Mark Putrino's "Are The Bears About To Take Down Square?" shows why shares of Square Inc SQ have backed away from resistance at the current level twice so far this year and may be poised to do so again.

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

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