Benzinga Bulls And Bears: Tesla, Apple, Airbnb And Doge Rockets Higher Thanks To Elon Musk

Benzinga examined the prospects for many investors' favorite stocks over the last week — here's a look at some of our top stories. 

Despite the S&P 500 experiencing a slight 0.1% dip this week, ending its winning streak of the past four weeks, the 30-stock Dow demonstrated resilience by climbing 0.6%. Meanwhile, the tech-focused Nasdaq faced a more significant setback, dropping by 1.1% during the same period.

On Friday, the Labor Department revealed that the U.S. economy added 236,000 jobs in March, falling just short of economists' predictions of 240,000 new positions. Year-over-year, U.S. wages saw a growth of 4.2%, while the unemployment rate dipped from 3.6% to 3.5%.

According to FactSet, analysts have lowered their first-quarter S&P 500 earnings forecasts by an average of 6.3% during the first three months of 2023. Consequently, they now anticipate a 6.6% decline in first-quarter S&P 500 earnings compared to the same period last year.

Benzinga provides daily reports on the stocks most popular with investors. Here are a few of this past week's most bullish and bearish posts that are worth another look.

The Bulls

"Jim Cramer Says GM, Ford Shares Would 'Double' If They Turned In Numbers Like Tesla: 'It's An Amazing Company, Just Own It,'" by Adam Eckert, details Jim Cramer's bullish reaction to Tesla Inc's TSLA delivery numbers, calling the EV maker the "gold standard." 

In "Dogecoin Skyrockets As Elon Musk Changes Twitter's Bird Logo To Doge Icon," Aaron Bry reports on the sudden replacement of the bird logo on Twitter's website with the Dogecoin DOGE/USD mascot, causing the meme crypto's price to spike above 10 cents.

"Apple Watch Users, It's Time: Big OS Interface Overhaul In The Works, Says Gurman," by Ananya Gairola, details Apple Inc's AAPL upcoming WatchOS 10 and what Apple Watch users can expect, according to Bloomberg columnist Mark Gurman.  

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

Billionaire Leon Cooperman Is Betting On These Oil Stocks: 'I Don't See How You Go Wrong'

Bard AI Nipping At ChatGPT's Heels: Analyst Highlights Google's Progress In Closing Performance Gap

Peter Schiff Believes Inflation-Hedging Assets Like Gold Set For A Breakout — But What About Bitcoin?

The Bears

"Airbnb Under Fire: Short-Seller 'The Bear Cave' Slams Platform Amid Guest 'Horror Stories,'" by Piero Cingari, outlines a short report from "The Bear Cave" aimed at Airbnb Inc ABNB, noting several scandals and "horror stories" impacting the platform's clients.

In "Ron DeSantis Draws Disney CEO's Ire Over 'Don't Say Gay' Law Retaliation," Shivdeep Dhaliwal reports on the escalating tension between Walt Disney Co. DIS and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, with CEO Bob Iger stepping up to defend the entertainment giant.

"Cathie Wood Trims Stake In This Chinese E-Commerce Giant – Loads Up On Butterfly Network Stock," by Bhavik Nair, details the number of JD.Com Inc JD shares offloaded by Cathie Wood-led ARK Investment Management this week, while the Chinese e-commerce giant's stock has lost almost 30% of its value since the beginning of 2023. 

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

Jim Cramer Trashes Palantir, C3.Ai, Says They Aren't Even 'Real Companies'

Bed Bath & Beyond Reaches New All-Time Low With Legal Woes Approaching

3 Signs A Recession Is Coming: Just 1 Is Left Before Bank Of America Sounds The Alarm

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