Irhythm Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: IRTC) dropped as much as 10.6 percent Wednesday after Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) announced FDA approval for an ECG scanner in its Watch Series 4.

But as Street experts see it, the jolt is far from lethal — it’s galvanizing.

The Rating

JPMorgan analyst Robbie Marcus maintained an Overweight rating on iRhythm with a $100 price target.

The Thesis

By JPMorgan’s assessment, Apple’s FDA-sanctioned feature poses no competitive threat to iRhythm’s Zio XT or AT technology.

“We don’t see Apple turning the iWatch into a regulated medical device approved for clinical diagnosis,” the analyst said in a note. (See Marcus’ track record here.)

“To be clear, the Apple Watch is approved for over-the-counter use and is not a continuous monitor.” 

The FDA said the Apple Watch is not a replacement for traditional diagnostic or treatment methods. Should Apple pursue such a label and place itself in direct competition with iRhythm, the process could slow Apple’s rate of innovation and subject its products to FDA regulation, according to JPMorgan.

At present, its specialty in preliminary, OTC screenings is seen to complement iRhythm technology.

“Instead, we expect that greater consumer preliminary screening for heart arrhythmias will only expand the number of patients seeking medical diagnosis, which, in turn, would benefit iRhythm,” Marcus said.

“If anything, this news could be seen as a win for the company, as more patients will be able to check their own heartbeat and then go into the office to be prescribed a Zio in order to get a more comprehensive analysis of their heart health.”

Price Action

At the time of publication, iRhythm shares

IMPINJ Inc (NASDAQ: PI) stock gained more than 30 percent Thursday following impressive earnings numbers and bullish comments from one Wall Street analyst.

The Analyst

Piper Jaffray analyst Troy Jensen reiterated an Overweight rating on Impinj and raised the price target from $26 to $31.

The Thesis

Impinj has pulled out of a downward spiral and appears poised to take advantage of an upswing in the RAIN industry, Jensen said in the Thursday note. (See the analyst’s track record here.)

Improving demand, a solid pipeline and relatively easy year-over-year comparisons may be the perfect storm for the stock, the analyst said. 

A new airline mandate issued by the International Air Transport Association in June requiring all airlines to use RAIN technology to track luggage should provide a significant growth opportunity, Jensen said. 

Impinj reported a 14-percent quarter-over-quarter increase in revenue to $28.5 million.

“We believe Impinj is seeing broad-based strength across verticals and geographies, and the company is likely entering a stage with better execution and the opportunity for more frequent upward revisions,” Jensen said.

In addition to the price target hike, Piper Jaffray increased its fiscal 2018 and 2018 revenue estimates from $110.6 million and $130.8 million to $120.6 million and $140.0 million, respectively. Jensen also dialed back 2018 and 2019 EPS loss estimates from $1.17 and 91 cents to 80 cents and 53 cents, respectively.

Price Action

Impinj stock is still down 33.1 percent overall in the past year.

Related Links:

Semi Execs Present Optimistic View At Morgan Stanley’s TMT Conference

Canaccord Upgrades IMPINJ After Q1 Report, Projects Long-Term Growth

NIO Inc (NYSE: NIO) notched a 10-percent pop in value shortly after its Wednesday debut on the U.S. markets. It continued to rise 2 percent ahead of the next trading session.

In just a few hours, the Chinese electric vehicle company raised $1 billion, but the Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ: BIDU) and Tencent-backed automaker wasn’t able to win all bulls.

“We’re skeptical NIO can achieve its volume targets,” Bernstein analyst Robin Zhu said Thursday in a note initiating coverage with an Underperform rating.

“There appears to be evidence (both from NIO’s F-1 and anecdotally via industry contacts) pointing to a reservations number that’s fallen over time. Longer-term, we question whether the premium EV segment will be big enough to support NIO’s volume ambitions.”

NIO targets 100,000 unit sales by 2020 and 300,000 by 2025, which suggests a double-digit share of a premium EV market already resting on bullish adoption forecasts.

As the firm only began delivering orders in June, Axiom said NIO makes Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) and “Elon Musk’s manufacturing output look prodigious.” Bernstein projects 50,000 unit sales by 2020 and 160,000 by 2025.

“NIO is the first of China’s EV start-ups to go public and will immediately become the most interesting company we cover,” Zhu said. “Many things intrigue us about NIO — from its impressive branding, to the ES8, to its massive volume ambitions, to its prodigious cash burn. But we’re unconvinced NIO’s shares represent a sound investment.”

Related Links:

Tesla Delays, GM Ramps Up: What’s The New Timeline For Autonomy?

The 35-Year Forecast For Electric Vehicles

Photo by Jengtingchen/Wikimedia. 

It’s too early for a bearish stance on Snap Inc (NYSE: SNAP), but the social media platform’s recent engagement and user trends are “not encouraging,” according to Jefferies.

The Analyst

Jefferies’ Brent Thill maintains a Hold rating on Snap with a price target lowered from $14 to $11.

The Thesis

The most recent third-party data analysis of Snap’s user engagement in multiple countries shows daily active users and time spent on the social media platform are trending in the “wrong direction,” Thill said in a Wednesday note. 

Third-party findings from SimilarWeb shows U.S. DAUs are near their lowest level since July 2017, and U.S. time spent on the platform peaked around July and has been trending lower on a month-over-month basis since then, the analyst said. 

Similar trends are being observed in key international markets including the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, France and Australia, Thill said. If these global trends continue to worsen as users churn to rival social media platforms, it could “cause a negative flywheel” effect, as remaining loyal users have less of a reason to remain on the platform themselves, he said. 

Snap’s efforts to offer a compelling Android experience remain a concern, as a full product has yet to be released, the analyst said. A proper platform on Android devices is vital for the company to fuel growth, especially in Android-dominated regions, he said. 

The general advertiser sentiment on Snap’s platform is “neutral to slightly positive,” and management has succeeded in shifting from large brands to smaller advertisers thanks to targeting, measurement and conversion tracking tools, Thill said. Yet if user metrics continue to trend negative, it is appropriate to ask how long advertisers will remain on the platform if user numbers aren’t growing, he said. 

Price Action

Snap shares were falling 9.44 percent to $8.96 at the time of publication Wednesday. 

Related Links:

Wedbush Turns Bullish On Snap, Expresses Increased Confidence In Corporate Governance

Snap’s Brain Drain Continues With Chief Strategy Officer’s Exit

Goldman Sachs is optimistic on the future of wind and solar power company TerraForm Power Inc. (NASDAQ: TERP) as regulatory and funding risks continue to fade.

The Analyst

Analyst Brian Lee upgraded TerraForm from Sell to Neutral and maintained an $11 price target. 

The Thesis

TerraForm warrants a Neutral rating based on the following factors, Lee said in the upgrade note:

• Tempered expectations following two quarterly misses.
• Subsided regulatory risk surrounding the return reduction potential of Spanish assets.
• A completed equity overhang to fund recent acquisitions.

After two company misses driven by new expenses and issues with asset availability, Lee said he anticipates less risk around estimates with the potential of incremental progress on cost initiatives in 2019.

Regulatory risks tied to TerraForm’s Spanish assets have been resolved, the analyst said.

The company’s European utility team has outlined new expectations for a cut of regulated returns in Spain, he said.

“We see strong visibility to hit growth expectations under the larger platform including Saeta and a host of existing organic opportunities such as cost savings [and] repowering.”

Price Action

TerraForm shares were up 4.17 percent at $11.50 at the time of publication Wednesday.

Related Links:

TerraForm Power’s Q2 Print Energizes Oppenheimer

Pattern Energy Vs. TerraForm Power: A Clean Energy Pair Trade From Goldman Sachs

More than a year in, the #MeToo movement continues to prove that no corporate leader is too big to be toppled.

What Happened

CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS) announced Sunday that CEO Les Moonves would immediately resign following new allegations of sexual assault.

The New Yorker’s Ronan Farrow, the journalist who helped catalyze the downfall of disgraced leaders across industries with his exposé of Harvey Weinstein, first reported misconduct accusations against Moonves in July. A Sunday follow-up added six allegations to the initial six.

In connection with Moonves’ departure, CBS settled to dismiss pending litigation with parent National Amusements over the firm’s continued autonomy; to replace five independent directors and one NAI-affiliated director with six new board members; to rescind a Class A share dividend; and to donate $20 million — deducted from Moonves’ severance benefits — to organizations supporting the #MeToo movement.

Why It’s Important

For CBS, the Moonves scandal, although immediately disruptive to the firm’s leadership, may bring longer-term stability to the greater organization. National Amusements has agreed to abandon board-opposed merger plans between CBS and Viacom, Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB).

“Today’s resolution will benefit all shareholders, allowing us to focus on the business of running CBS — and transforming it for the future,” Vice Chair Shari Redstone said in a press release.

For the private sector, Moonves’ departure demonstrates the continued force of the #MeToo movement.

What’s Next

CBS President and COO Joe Ianniello has been named interim CEO as the board explores permanent replacements. Fox sources said last week that Ianniello is not likely in consideration.

The CBS board said it also continues to support an independent investigation into claims of Moonves’ misconduct and will not pay him severance benefits until the investigation’s close. An 8-K filing will provide additional detail about the settlement.

The board will host an annual shareholder meeting no later than Nov. 30.

Related Links:

Howard Stern Piles Onto Les Moonves With Sketch Of Poor Character

Analysts: Moonves Trouble Creates Overhang For CBS Stock, Renders Viacom Merger ‘More Inevitable’

Photo by David Shankbone/Wikimedia. 

• Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan is set to speak in Dallas, Texas.
• Data on nonfarm payrolls and unemployment rate for August will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.
• Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren is set to speak in Boston at 8:30 a.m. ET.
• Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester will speak in Boston at 9:00 a.m. ET.
• The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

BMO Capital Markets cited valuation and concerns over the refrigeration market in a Friday downgrade of manufacturing conglomerate Dover Corp. (NSYE: DOV). 

The Analyst

Analyst R. Scott Graham downgraded Dover from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered the price target from $93 to $90.

The Thesis

The downgrade was fueled by lower sales and earnings guidance in the refrigeration and food equipment segment, led by a weakness in food retail capex, Graham said in the Friday note. (See the analyst’s track record here.) 

The stock has risen roughly 18 percent in the last year, the analyst said. 

The refrigeration segment, including glass doors and display cases, represents 17 percent of Dover’s sales, Graham said.

“This market-leading business performed reasonably well from 2010-17 despite building market pressures. Food retailing is structurally changing: non-traditional grocers are taking share from traditional; and capex is shifting toward digital — to support rising online purchasing — from brick-and-mortar,” the analyst said. 

“Dover is handling the former. But we and BMO’s food retail team believe the capex shifts toward digital will remain in force, which will continue to be difficult on refrigeration. Indeed, the shifting has accelerated in ’18 — likely from Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT) initiatives — and pressured the division’s sales.”

Graham said he remains confident in market stabilization — but not recovery — next year.

Price Action

Dover shares were down 1.29 percent at $85.23 at the time of publication Friday morning. 

Related Links:

5 Reasons Why Credit Suisse Turned Bullish On Whirlpool

Whirlpool: Why Goldman Sachs Is Turning Bearish On The Appliance Maker

Some of the stocks that may grab investor focus today are:

• Wall Street expects G-III Apparel Group, Ltd. (NASDAQ: GIII) to report quarterly earnings at $0.03 per share on revenue of $590.11 million before the opening bell. G-III Apparel shares gained 2.16 percent to $45.01 in after-hours trading.
• Analysts expect ABM Industries Incorporated (NYSE: ABM) to post quarterly earnings at $0.53 per share on revenue of $1.65 billion after the closing bell. ABM shares rose 1.66 percent to close at $31.92 on Wednesday.
• AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV) reported upbeat results for its first quarter on Tuesday. AeroVironment shares climbed 5.66 percent to $92.45 in the after-hours trading session.
• Before the opening bell, Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE: DCI) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $0.58 per share on revenue of $726.49 million. Donaldson shares gained 0.1 percent to $50.51 in after-hours trading.
• Analysts are expecting Navistar International Corporation (NYSE: NAV) to have earned $0.89 per share on revenue of $2.65 billion in the latest quarter. Navistar will release earnings before the markets open. Navistar shares gained 0.25 percent to $40.70 in after-hours trading.

Find out what’s going on in today’s market and bring any questions you have to Benzinga’s PreMarket Prep.

Choosing the best broker is an important part of being a successful trader or investor

• ProQR Therapeutics NV (NASDAQ: PRQR) reporting an offering of $75 million. ProQR Therapeutics shares dropped 12.82 percent to $15.30 in the after-hours trading session.
• Wall Street expects GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) to post quarterly earnings at $0.08 per share on revenue of $1.61 billion. GameStop shares gained 0.98 percent to $16.42 in after-hours trading.
• Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNT) reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its second quarter and raised its 2019 guidance. Verint shares jumped 12.18 percent to $52.95 in the after-hours trading session.
• After the markets close, Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO) is estimated to post quarterly earnings at $4.82 per share on revenue of $5.07 billion. Broadcom shares fell 0.01 percent to $221.40 in after-hours trading.
• Kalvista Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: KALV) reported a common stock offering. No size of the offering was disclosed. KalVista Pharma shares dropped 5.08 percent to $17.00 in the after-hours trading session.

Companies Reporting Before The Bell

• HD Supply Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: HDS) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $0.96 per share on revenue of $1.58 billion.
• Vera Bradley, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRA) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $0.16 per share on revenue of $113.14 million.
• SecureWorks Corp. (NASDAQ: SCWX) is estimated to report quarterly loss at $0.05 per share on revenue of $127.62 million.
• Duluth Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTH) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $0.14 per share on revenue of $106.56 million.
• Christopher & Banks Corporation (NYSE: CBK) is expected to report quarterly loss at $0.15 per share on revenue of $85.39 million.
• General Finance Corporation (NASDAQ: GFN) is estimated to report quarterly loss at $0.04 per share on revenue of $84.30 million.
• KNOT Offshore Partners LP (NYSE: KNOP) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $0.47 per share on revenue of $59.18 million.

Companies Reporting After The Bell

• Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNT) is estimated to post quarterly earnings at $0.62 per share on revenue of $296.07 million.
• Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE: GWRE) is expected to post quarterly earnings at $0.76 per share on revenue of $238.86 million.
• Ctrip.com International, Ltd. (NASDAQ: CTRP) is projected to post quarterly earnings at $0.2 per share on revenue of $1.06 billion.
• AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV) is expected to post quarterly earnings at $0.29 per share on revenue of $73.65 million.
• Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: OLLI) is estimated to post quarterly earnings at $0.36 per share on revenue of $284.63 million.
• REV Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: REVG) is expected to post quarterly earnings at $0.44 per share on revenue of $652.11 million.
• SeaChange International, Inc. (NASDAQ: SEAC) is projected to post quarterly loss at $0.12 per share on revenue of $14.17 million.
• DocuSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: DOCU) is expected to post quarterly earnings at $0.01 per share on revenue of $159.60 million.
• Cloudera, Inc. (NYSE: CLDR) is expected to post quarterly loss at $0.15 per share on revenue of $107.71