Benzinga's Bulls And Bears Of Christmas Week: Airbnb, Apple, Netflix, Nike, Tesla And More

• Benzinga has examined the prospects for many investor favorite stocks over the past week.
• The week's bullish calls included big tech stocks and a telecom giant.
• A top electric vehicle maker and recent hot IPOs were among the bearish calls.

The big U.S. indexes ended the shortened trading week leading up to Christmas with marginal gains, despite word of a new strain of COVID-19 and the ongoing gridlock in Washington causing hopes for pandemic relief stimulus to fade again.

The leading electric vehicle maker began trading as an S&P 500 component this past week but also now faces rumors of a formidable new competitor. A retail colossus was sued for its alleged part in the opioid crisis, and a Chinese internet giant faces government scrutiny.

The week also saw a new SEC rule change that affects initial public offerings, muddled signs for a Santa Claus rally and a last-minute Brexit deal.

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: Cupertino's EV Ambitions Could Play Out With Partnership With Tesla, Chinese EV Brands" by Shanthi Rexaline examines the electric vehicle ambitions of Apple Inc. AAPL, both in its past and its potential future. Will the company choose a strategic partnership?

In "Short Sellers Fleeing Netflix, Alphabet And Other Tech Stocks Heading Into 2021," Wayne Duggan discusses the most covered shorts recently among Intel Corporation INTC, Netflix, Inc NFLX and other big tech stocks.

Priya Nigam's "Analyst Still Bullish On AT&T Despite Leverage, Dividend Concerns" focuses on why one top analyst still favors AT&T Inc T even though it has three main concerns about the telecom giant's financials. Are share repurchases in the offing?

Occidental Petroleum Corporation OXY will benefit due to its oil leverage now that there is upside to oil prices. So says Priya Nigam's "Occidental Petroleum Corporation." See how it has "paid the price" for its capital structure being "heavily weighted towards debt," according to the featured analyst.

In Jayson Derrick's "Is Nike's Stock Still A Buy At All-Time Highs? The Street Debates," see why analysts remain bullish after Nike Inc NKE posted better than expected second-quarter results and shares ran to new all-time highs. Is it an underestimated earnings growth story?

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

• 10 Things Apple Investors May Wish For In 2021
• Are Genomic Stocks The Next FANG Stocks?
• How To Invest In The Clean Energy 'Triple Crown' In 2021

Bears

In Shivdeep Dhaliwal's "Tesla Faces 'Formidable Bear Case' Over Apple's EV Plans, Says Morgan Stanley," see how reports of the iPhone maker venturing into electric vehicles creates a new "bear case" for Elon Musk-led industry leader Tesla Inc TSLA and for the big automakers.

"Paul Meeks Bearish On Airbnb, Calls Short On DoorDash" by Mohit Manghnani presents the bearish views of a famed tech investor on Airbnb Inc ABNB and DoorDash Inc DASH. See whether that sentiment extends to the broader tech sector for 2021.

Jayson Derrick's "BMO Steps To The Sidelines On FuboTV Following Big Run" argues that the bullish case for FuboTV Inc FUBO has come to an end. Check out the expectations for subscriber growth following the Super Bowl and into the college basketball season.

Investor sentiment on whether SmileDirectClub Inc SDC has upside potential in the next year is muted, according to "Will SmileDirectClub Stock Reach $20 By 2022?" by Henry Khederian. See what survey respondents believe will happen with the orthodontics business in the coming months, as COVID-19 vaccine use increases.

For another bearish take on Tesla, be sure to check out "Despite $38.2B In Losses, Tesla Short Sellers Ramp Up Bearish Bets."

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

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Photo courtesy Intel Corp.