Benzinga's Bulls And Bears Of The Past Week: Alibaba, Disney, NVDIA, Coinbase, Hubspot, JD.com And More

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

• Last week's bullish calls included China's biggest online retailer and a top U.S. computer systems company.
• A leading cryptocurrency exchange along with a software products marketer were among the bearish calls seen.

Stocks were higher in the holiday-shortened week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 196.67 points, or 0.55%, closing at 35,950.56 on Thursday. The S&P 500 rose 0.62% to 4,725.79 and closed at a record high. After sliding earlier in the month, the S&P 500 is up about 3.5% for December. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.85% to 15,653.37.

Concerns about the economic impact of the omicron variant remain on the minds of traders. A preliminary study released on Thursday from the U.K. Health Security Agency showed  omicron resulted in 50% to 70% fewer hospitalizations than the delta variant.

Although, it also indicated that vaccine boosters began to lose their effectivness after about 10 weeks.

The Food and Drug Administration, meanwhile, granted emergency use authorization for Pfizer Inc's PFE Covid pill, the first oral antiviral drug against the virus. The agency also approved the use of Merck & Co Inc’s MRK antiviral pill for Covid-19 on Thursday.

The Bulls

"Good Tidings For Alibaba And Other U.S.-listed Chinese Firms? Regulators Make Progress On Audit Inspection Talks To Avert Potential Delistings" by Shanthi Rexaline looks at how Chinese companies like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA may benefit as regulatory agencies from China along with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission are negotiating a cooperative method for audit supervision.

In "Is Now The Right Time To Buy Disney? Why BofA Analyst Says Stock Is Heading Higher," Phil Hall outlines the views of an analyst who is optimistic about the prospects for The Walt Disney Co DIS in 2022, primarily due to its Disney+ streaming service and near-future attendance at its theme parks.

Adam Eckert writes about a UBS analyst who anticipates a strong 2022 for NVIDIA Corp NVDA, which the analyst says will build more stable revenue streams around its GPU and software segments, in "Josh Brown Sees Catalysts Driving Nvidia Stock Higher In 2022 And Beyond."

For additional bullish calls of the past week, check out the following:

Nio Analyst Reiterates Bullish Stance And Hikes Revenue Estimates Following 'Nio Day 2021'

Cathie Wood Loaded Up On These 2 Cryptocurrency-Related Stocks On Tuesday

Stephanie Link On Coinbase: 'It Hasn't Performed Well, But I Still Like It A Lot.' Here Are Her Reasons Why

The Bears

"Lawsuit Alleges Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong 'Stole Ideas' From Blockchain Startup" by Samyuktha Sriram outlines a lawsuit filed against Coinbase Global Inc COIN CEO Brian Armstrong’s ResearchHub, alleging the platform stole the work of Knowledgr, a blockchain startup that was similar in design and function.

In "Kerrisdale Capital Shorts HubSpot, Says Company 'In A Tough Spot'," Wayne Duggan write about Kerrisdale Capital releasing a bearish report on the HubSpot Inc HUBS, saying the company has little chance of continuing its pandemic-era growth in the future.

"JD Tumbles 8% In Hong Kong As Tencent Cuts Stake, Hang Seng Extends Gains" by Madhukumar Warrier looks at how shares of Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com Inc JD tumbled after news that tech conglomerate Tencent Holdings Inc. TCEHY plans to cut its stake in JD.com.

For more bearish takes, be sure to see these posts:

Apple Faces iPhone Production Disruption Again In India — This Time Over Food Poisoning

Tesla Probed By Federal Traffic Regulator Over In-Vehicle Gaming: What You Need to Know

Is Carnival's Stock Overvalued Or Undervalued?

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