Week Ahead: Hims & Hers, Applied Materials, Cisco Systems | Stock Movers

Added: 2026-05-10

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[00:00:16]Let's take a look now at some stocks making news in the week ahead. I'm Nathan Hager, joined by Bloomberg Markets Live managing editor Christine Aquino with more earnings on tap this week starting Monday with Hims & Hers Health. Weren't they in a beef with uh Novo Nordisk recently, Christine? How are things in telehealth these days?

[00:00:35]That beef though is a thing of the past cuz they're cooperating with each other now, right? And so that is one of the reasons why the likes of JP Morgan initiated a stock with an overweight rating because of that deal. So now, before they had a beef, now they have a partnership. And so Hims & Hers will be selling Wegovy on its platform. And JP Morgan is saying that that deal could mark a turning point and remove a significant legal overhang. So that bodes well for its earnings potentially.

[00:01:05]And you know, we have options of course starting to price that uh potential move there. We could see it potentially a 13% move in the share after the company reports earnings. And so if that is all fine and dandy, they meet or beat estimates, then that could be a 13% share move higher. But otherwise, it could be a 13% share move lower. So we'll see about that. Yeah, well, I mean, this stock has already been doing pretty well so far this year, hasn't it?

[00:01:31]I mean, uh where is the bar when it comes to uh what investors want to see from Hims this time around? Yeah, I mean, of course the demand for the GLP-1s uh very much still sustaining uh the business model here. And I think the fact that you know, they are able to pivot because potentially, you know, they're now in cooperation with uh Novo.

[00:01:54]And so they're kind of turning themselves from a competitor into a retailer uh in that space. And so, you know, I think investors will want to see is that business model working? How much kind of gains could they expect from that sort of partnership? Is it something that could potentially also open up opportunities with other GLP-1 manufacturers and sellers in the market, right? And so, yeah, for Hims & Hers it's it's it's going to be a question of how well are they able to pivot after this initial legal setback. I guess we could call Hims & Hers sort of tech adjacent, right? Cuz this is going to be kind of a busy week for tech earnings overall. We're going to hear from Applied Materials on Thursday.

[00:02:37]This has been a pretty crazy quarter for for chip makers. Where are we expecting chip equipment makers to stack?

[00:02:44][laughter] Well, based on the movement in the semiconductors index that we've seen, I mean, I think it's all going to be positive. So, potentially high expectations for the earnings for Applied Materials here. And, you know, the options data that we're seeing at the moment implying about a 6% move after those results. We have seen a spate of analyst moves for the stock.

[00:03:07]UBS raising its price target to 480 from 430 previously. Seaport Global Securities giving Applied Materials a new buy rating and a $500 price target.

[00:03:19]So, looks like a lot of expectations very positive, especially because of all the optimism that we've seen in the chip space. And our own Bloomberg Intelligence analysts weighing in as well, and they're looking for sales in fiscal second quarter finishing higher and also similar gains for operating profit. So, looks like there's going to be a lot of positivity baked in. We'll see if they can deliver on that. I mean, you could say that there's a lot of positivity baked in already. I mean, this stock is up serious double digits on the year so far. Is it priced to perfection? I mean, that is definitely the worry. Every time we see such big gain like these, Nathan, I you always have the naysayers in the market, right? Saying that this can't possibly keep going ad nauseam, but just, you know, if you look at kind of the plans of the biggest hyperscalers when it comes to their CapEx, right? The likes of your Alphabets, your Amazons, your your Apples, it seems like there is never-ending demand at the moment for any equipment, any infrastructure related to AI and the data center build-out. And so, you know, in some ways it could be priced perfection, but it may be a while yet before we actually see that pullback in stock. Speaking of the AI build-out, we are going to hear from another beneficiary of that phenomenon on Wednesday when Cisco Systems reports. What are we expecting from Cisco? Absolutely, Nathan. Well, you know, similarly positive things. Our Bloomberg Intelligence analysts saying that they're focusing primarily on Cisco's optical and high-capacity networking products, and that has benefited from the AI infrastructure ramp-up, as you've mentioned. The expectation is for that to keep benefiting from that. And specifically for Cisco, that could result in an increase to about $5 billion in its AI order outlook. So, not too shabby for the stock. And that's really helped shield it as well from the software pessimism that we've seen in in the start of the year, right?

[00:05:19]Because they're very much levered to that build-out that we've seen. And given the demand for anything related to that, both hardware and software, seems like it could be a positive season for Cisco once again. I guess one other question is whether Cisco is shielded from the the hit we've seen from memory costs from so many of these companies that have reported so far. Yeah, absolutely. Definitely something that investors are going to be watching out for. You know, how much of their margins are they going to be able to protect as costs rise and whether that a shortage is a set to continue.

[00:05:57]Is their supply chain something that is relatively insulated from that dynamic or is it something that they're going to have to contend with as well. So, I'm sure that investors going to be looking out for any comments from the company from their CEO during the analyst call for sure.

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