These reports, excerpted and edited by Barron's, were issued recently by investment and research firms. The reports are a sampling of analysts' thinking; they should not be considered the views or recommendations of Barron's. Some of the reports' issuers have provided, or hope to provide, investment-banking or other services to the companies being analyzed.
Boeing -- BA-NYSE Buy -- $216.44 on Dec. 26 by Tigress Financial Partners We reiterate our Buy rating on Boeing, as its industry-leading commercial jet franchise, expanding defense and space platforms, and multidecade sustainability road map position it as a uniquely leveraged global aerospace and national-security growth engine with outsize long-term value-creation potential....
Boeing's record $600 billion backlog across all key business lines, representing more than 5,900 aircraft orders, provides multiyear revenue visibility and operational leverage as delivery volumes normalize amid a 20-year forecast for over 44,000 new aircraft and a near-doubling of the global fleet by 2044....
Our 12-month target price of $275, based on a 20 times forward Ebitdar multiple, represents a potential return of over 25% from current levels.
Nvidia -- NVDA-Nasdaq Outperform -- $187.90 on Dec. 30 by Mizuho Nvidia recently announced a "semi-acquisition" nonexclusive licensing $20 billion deal with Groq. Key takeaways: 1) The deal gives Nvidia access to Groq's inference language processing units, with Groq founder Jonathan Ross, also Tensor Processing Unit founding member, joining Nvidia; 2) Groq recently lowered its estimated 2025 revenue outlook to $500 million from $2 billion prior, valuing it at about 40 times calendar-year 2025 P/S; 3) the deal highlights Nvidia shifting focus to inference (60% to 80% of workloads over the LT) as key to artificial intelligence driving return on investment/revenue; and 4) validates SRAM on-chip to drive faster token generation speeds and lower costs with we estimate potential Nvidia inclusion on Feynman in 2027-28 with NVLink Fusion....We see this deal as a benefit to Nvidia in the long run as it adds key intellectual property to its engineering team to build its inferencing capabilities. Price target $245.
Aflac -- AFL-NYSE Outperform 2 -- $109.90 on Dec. 30 by Raymond James We are updating earnings-per-share estimates for Aflac. Our higher 2026 and 2027 EPS estimates reflect Aflac's assumption update in third-quarter 2025, resulting in stronger earnings power in 2026 and beyond, and appreciation of the Japanese yen. In Japan, Aflac updated 2025 guidance to benefit ratio (B/R) of 58% to 60% vs. prior 64% to 66% and pretax profit margin of 35% to 38% vs. prior 30% to 33%; in the U.S., Aflac reiterated its previously stated targets for 2025. We are raising our target price to $119 versus prior $110, based on a price/earnings analysis, which applies an about 13 times multiple (in line with comparable supplemental insurance companies) to our 2027 EPS estimate. Additionally, we give Aflac credit for its strong excess capital position and ability to free up incremental capital via Bermuda reinsurance.
Genius Sports -- GENI-NYSE Buy -- $10.94 on Dec. 30 by Benchmark Equity Research We are naming Genius Sports as a 2026 Entertainment and Digital Media Top Idea, supported by accelerating media monetization, structurally improving data-driven engagement, and expanding operating leverage as the company transitions into a durable cash flow compounder.
Media has emerged as the core upside driver, with third-quarter revenue up about 90% year over year, validating the scalability of FANHub, augmented ads, and BetVision as real-time, performance-oriented advertising platforms, and management outlining a path to about $300 million in media revenue by 2028 on about $500 million of ad spend with rising self-serve mix and near-100% incremental margins. Underpinning this opportunity is GeniusIQ, the company's core data and AI platform, which enables real-time monetization of live sports engagement across betting and media.
Price target: $16.
Adeia -- ADEA-Nasdaq Buy -- $16.94 on Dec. 29 by BWS Financial Adeia reaching a settlement agreement with Walt Disney helps set forth a new baseline revenue that should further enhance shareholder value. Adeia updated its 2025 full-year guidance that reflects revenue rising by approximately $60 million from their prior guidance. While Adeia makes no reference to Disney being the reason, we believe that Disney played the primary role in helping Adeia reach such a level.
A higher revenue projection for 2026 leads us to assume that free cash flow would also increase. Adeia is now poised to generate approximately $175 million in free cash flow in 2026. The free cash flow that Adeia is generating supports a higher stock price given the company's diversified revenue stream and lower dependency on legacy pay TV. Our price target is now $24, up from $18.
PennyMac Financial Services -- PFSI-NYSE Buy -- $133.98 on Dec. 29 by BTIG We're raising our price target to $150 per share, mainly to reflect the improved visibility for GAAP book value to get up near $100 per share by the end of 2026 if low interest-rate volatility helps contribute to more-moderate and predictable hedging costs....Most mortgage lenders and servicers should expect earnings upside from low(er) rate volatility, but we think the benefit can show up more meaningfully for PennyMac because it tends to emphasize an active approach to hedging its mortgage servicing rights portfolio.
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January 02, 2026 19:43 ET (00:43 GMT)
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