Benzinga's Bulls And Bears Of The Week: Amazon, Apple, Ford, GE, Palantir And More

• Benzinga has examined the prospects for many investor favorite stocks over the past week.
• The week's bullish calls included the iPhone maker, the e-commerce colossus and a top airline.
• A couple of vehicle makers and and a top solar play were among the more bearish calls.

December has arrived, and the big U.S. indexes were marginally higher in the past week. Yet, it was a tough week for big tech, which faced challenges from the president, mergers, former employees, regulators and more regulators.

Much of the focus on COVID-19 vaccines has shifted to distribution issues, and traders and investors are looking for clues on how the big retailers are faring so far as the holiday shopping season rolls out.

It also was a week that saw a disappointing jobs report, the return of a former Fed chief, yet another new video streaming platform, a troubled aerospace giant finally ready to fly and movie theaters taking another big hit.

Through it all, Benzinga continued to examine the prospects for many of 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.

Bulls

"Apple Analyst: iPhone Manufacturer Warrants Premium To The S&P 500" by Shanthi Rexaline examines why an analyst who sat on the sidelines for nearly two years has turned bullish on Apple Inc. AAPL. What do the iPhone build plans suggest, and will Mac and iPad sales see upside too?

In "Amazon Option Trader Makes $4.7M Bet On 42% Upside," Wayne Duggan discusses how at least one large option trader is betting the Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN stock rally will continue deep into 2021, even though growth stocks like Amazon have underperformed value stocks since Election Day.

New products and backlog growth in the GE Healthcare division have prompted a price target hike on General Electric Company GE stock, according to Priya Nigam's "General Electric Analyst Lifts Price Target After Health Care Segment Update." See how the pandemic has boosted this division.

Jayson Derrick's "Why United Airlines Is RayJay's Top Airline Pick For Travel Recovery" focuses on why one key analyst believes United Airlines Holdings Inc UAL is better positioned than its peers to take advantage of a post-pandemic recovery in travel. Are some smaller players worth a look too?

For additional bullish calls in the past week, also have a look at the following:

• Wall Street Analysts See These 4 Stocks As Winners Moving Into December
• 3 Stocks That Could Make You Richer In December
• Why BofA Is Upgrading Health Care REITs

Bears

In Wayne Duggan's "Bearish Ford Option Trader Bets $1.1M Stock Is Headed Lower Over The Next 2 Years," see why one large options trader is making a big bet that Ford Motor Company F shares are headed lower in the long term. Is the company's electric vehicle strategy to blame?

Shanthi Rexaline's "Morgan Stanley Downgrades Palantir, Says Risk/Reward Paradigm Shifts Decidedly Negative" shows what has changed for software company Palantir Technologies PLTR since its direct listing in September that requires a reassessment of its valuation.

The shifting political landscape has consequences for First Solar, Inc. FSLR. So says the analyst featured in "Barclays Downgrades First Solar As Tariff Tailwinds Subside" by Priya Nigam. Is there anything that might help offset near-term headwinds?

"This Nikola Analyst Sees More Pain Ahead For Investors" by Jayson Derrick makes the case that Nikola Corporation NKLA faces more downside ahead, even after the shares pulled back when General Motors Company GM declined to take an ownership stake in the electric truck maker.

Be sure to check out these additional bearish calls:

• Markets Risk Short-Term Correction On Overbought Stocks, Morgan Stanley Warns
• Canadian Cannabis Stocks Are Becoming Less Desirable Investments, Data Suggests

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

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