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.
Chewy -- CHWY-NYSE Outperform -- $23.45 on March 25 by Mizuho All of the drama around a conservative guide from Chewy didn't materialize. Shares are seeing a breakout move, up over 10%.
Management sounded increasingly confident on our callback: 1) Incremental Ebitda margins of about 18% seem durable beyond fiscal-year 2026, with potential for L-T targets to be achieved faster than plan, helped by $50 million-plus from AI-related cost savings; 2) Management opened the door to "inorganic" growth within the vet business, ahead of a more detailed segment update slated for April; 3). The SmartEquine revenue contribution is only $80 million this year (buy-side expectations closer to about $130 million), implying organic revenue growth of 8.5% at the high end of guidance; 4) The lighter first-quarter revenue range strictly reflects comparison issues...and 5) The first quarter also embeds a "lower-single digit-millions" impact from higher freight costs.
We'd buy into strength. Target price: $50.
Quanta Services -- PWR-NYSE Outperform -- $578.44 on March 25 by Evercore ISI We are bullish on Quanta Services shares, as power and the associated infrastructure buildout remains top of mind for the industry with AI players continuing to cite power availability as the primary gating factor for AI infrastructure deployment.
While we continue to believe the need for incremental generation and transmission in the U.S. to support the large load community is clear, there has been a recent emphasis on improving the efficiency of existing infrastructure through incremental investments in the grid and generation assets, which suggests a longer growth runway for utility-scale engineering, procurement, and construction, or EPC, providers.
We continue to believe that the magnitude of Quanta's opportunity to capitalize on the increasing tightness within the EPC market is relatively underappreciated, given the company's ability to continually see around corners and understand the next leg of demand from its customers. Target price/base case: $604.
Arm Holdings -- ARM-Nasdaq Buy -- $134.96 on March 25 by Seaport Research Partners Arm Holdings just announced its long-anticipated AGI CPU, marking its entry into the merchant chip market. In some ways, this marks a major departure from the company's history as a provider of intellectual property.
But in other ways, it is just a continuation of its evolution. Arm guided to fiscal-year 2031 revenue of $25 billion and PF earnings per share of $9 (from $5 billion and $1.78 this year). We see this as risky, but a highly compelling opportunity for the company to greatly enhance its earnings power in a rapidly growing market.
We maintain our Buy rating. Target price: $185.
Braze -- BRZE-Nasdaq Outperform -- $18.02 on March 25 by Oppenheimer We reiterate our Outperform rating, but reduce our price target to $30 (on lower software multiples) from $40, after Braze's cloud-based software business generated a strong finish to fiscal 2026. Fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 results show impressive bookings growth and continuing organic revenue acceleration driven by broad-based strength. Additionally, the top-line outperformance in fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 flowed through to a record operating margin. This demonstrates the company's ability to grow fast and improve efficiency, while investing aggressively in its AI product suite. Negatively, the initial fiscal-2027 guidance implies business deceleration.
Brinker International -- EAT-NYSE Buy -- $151.59 on March 24 by Stifel We reiterate our Buy rating, as Brinker International remains poised to sustain comp sales momentum despite temporary fiscal-third-quarter weather disruptions. While winter storms pressured Chili's near-term sales and margins, mobile location data indicates that underlying traffic trends remain robust.
A mid-April chicken sandwich relaunch on the "3 For Me" value platform serves as a near-term catalyst, introducing innovation with a strategic menu redesign. Execution of the operational playbook continues under CEO Kevin Hochman, with a focus on handheld tablet simplification and culinary quality improvements to bolster server retention and guest satisfaction.
Ultimately, a reinforced operational foundation and revitalized culinary program are fueling a powerful marketing flywheel, positioning Chili's for durable growth.
Freshpet -- FRPT-Nasdaq Buy -- $53.27 on March 24 by Benchmark Equity Research Freshpet continues to enjoy about 94% market share of fresh dog food through the grocery and mass merchant channel, and the model was built to support these channels first (largely through a network of 39,000-plus branded coolers).
[While noting the recent announcement by the Farmer's Dog of a distribution arrangement with Walmart.com, effective as of April,] we foresee challenges for new competitive entrants, especially those with direct-to-consumer models and product offering focused on "customized" food solutions for your dog, to be able to build a material beachhead with a bricks-and-mortar product offering.
Target price: $93.
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March 27, 2026 18:32 ET (22:32 GMT)
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