1. Apple (AAPL): More bark than bite? Or the beginning of the end? We think the former as I stand by my “own it, don’t trade it” mantra on the stock. Shares early Friday stabilizes after a two-day loss of more than 6% and nearly $200 billion in market value. The slide started after Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal report of a Chinese crackdown on iPhone use among government workers there. JPMorgan says risk to upside. Citi says worry about Huawei. I say accept the risk. Apple shares are still up nearly 37% year to date.
2. The Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are set for a mixed open. The Nasdaq enters Friday on a four-session losing streak. All three down for the week with one trading day left. Apple has been weighing on the overall market this week. Will that change Friday?
3. The blackout of Disney (DIS) channels, including ESPN and ABC, continues for subscribers of Charter’s (CHTR) Spectrum cable service. MoffettNathanson Research lays out a case that Charter has less to lose in this sudden and unanticipated fight. Charter wants ad-supported Disney+ and ESPN+ streaming to be free to Spectrum subs. The analysts think that video costs more than it’s worth and the programming can be found elsewhere. They call Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google the winner. The Club owns Disney.
4. Truist raises Broadcom (AVGO) price target to $995 per share from $942. Keeps buy rating. Numbers good at the Club semiconductor name. The analysts see AI revenue accelerating.
5. Barclays increases price target on Adobe (ABDE) to $620 per share from $540. Keeps outperform (buy) rating. Mizuho goes to $630 from $520 and upgrades to buy from neutral.
6. Barclays cuts Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) price target to $158 per share from $175. Pretty drastic but just above Thursday’s $160 close. Keeps equal weight (hold) rating. The plaintiffs’ bar in talc litigation hasn’t spoken yet. We exited J&J at the end of July. Didn’t want to deal with all that legal exposure.
7. William Blair starts Club name Procter & Gamble (PG) with a market perform (hold) rating. The analysts think P&G shares are not likely to exceed the overall market.
8. Lots of Kroger (KR) news: The supermarket chain agreed to pay as much as $1.2 billion to settle most nationwide opioid claims against it. Kroger to sell 413 stores. Enough to appease regulators reviewing the proposed deal with Albertsons (ACI).
9. Ryan Cohen in the hot seat: The Wall Street Journal reports the SEC is investigating the billionaire investor’s ownership and sale of Bed Bath & Beyond shares. Neither Cohen nor Bed Bath & Beyond responded to the Journal with comment.
10. RH (RH), formerly called Restoration Hardware, bought back 17% of total shares in its second quarter. But still slightly cautious, not as cautious as the stock acts though. Down nearly 8% early Friday. Could be a buy here. Bank of America lowers price target to $415 per share from $425 on macro and advertising. I disagree with this call. Many good things coming. Wells Fargo and Baird raise PTs.

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