Morgan Stanley said a series of tech stocks with overweight ratings are worth buying ahead of earnings. CNBC Pro combed through the company’s research to find the top contenders for quarterly results. These include Fortinet, Microsoft, Apple, and Atlassian. Microsoft Morgan Stanley analyst Keith Weiss is sticking with the tech giant ahead of earnings. In fact, Microsoft stock is set to rise nearly 14% in 2024, but the company said its stock price is too attractive to ignore at current levels. “Investor sentiment has become even more negative due to a ‘wall of uncertainty’ surrounding gross margins, capital spending, GenAI monetization, and the relationship with OpenAI.” [builds]Weiss writes: The analyst said he remains bullish on the company’s Azure cloud computing service and reminded investors that Microsoft’s artificial intelligence tailwinds are huge. “Atlassian’s stock price has increased as investors have increased confidence in the acceleration of F2H Azure,” he added. The company reported its quarterly results on October 30th. Atlassian Weiss also said its software development stock remains “attractive.” Growth concerns have plagued the company’s stock price recently, but Weiss said it “sees a path back to growth of 20% or more, supported by an expanded product portfolio and increased cross-trading.” . In addition, the company’s findings show that “the demand environment for TEAM is generally stable, with partners generally meeting or exceeding expectations,” Weiss said. The company called Atlassian a “unique software asset” poised for margin expansion, adding that investors should continue to buy on the bullshit. Atlassian is scheduled to release its quarterly results on October 31st. Apple The company is also backing front-runner Apple ahead of quarterly results on October 31, despite reports of mixed demand for the iPhone 16. Analyst Eric Woodring said: “We haven’t seen any iPhone production cuts yet, but the below-consensus December Q forecast reflects conservatism amid mixed iPhone data points. ” he said. Still, the analyst said investors should buy the stock ahead of the quarterly report. “We expect Apple to post strong sales and bottom line growth in the September quarter,” he added. Woodring acknowledged that the structure could be unstable in the short term, but said the results were unlikely to sway shareholders anyway. “Near-term developments are unlikely to change the bulls’ or bears’ view of AAPL or Apple Intelligence, so we don’t think the stock’s underperformance will last long,” he said. Apple stock will rise 20% in 2024. Microsoft: Investor sentiment has become even more negative due to ‘walls of uncertainty’ around gross margins, capital expenditures, monetization of GenAI, and building a relationship with OpenAI…On net, we outperformed our first quarter performance. , we expect to see modest upside.”But consider that a big driver of the stock’s outperformance will be investors’ increased confidence in F2H Azure’s acceleration. ” Apple: “While we have not seen any iPhone production cuts yet, our below-consensus December Q forecast reflects conservatism amid mixed iPhone data.…Apple expects September Q sales We expect the company to deliver strong earnings and bottom line performance…in the near term.”This move is unlikely to change the views of bulls or bears on AAPL or Apple Intelligence, so we expect the stock to underperform. I don’t think the form will last long. ” Fortinet “Top Pick: FTNT – Strong upside with refresh cycles and upsells to large installed base.…In the short term, our CQ3 checks show steady demand and no sign of a large-scale refresh Looking ahead, however, sales should accelerate with stronger budget flash in Q4 and easier comps through the first half of next year. , the refresh activity should ramp up starting in the second half of 2025.” Atlassian “…supported by an expanding product portfolio, increased cross-selling/upselling with marketing refocus, and sustained pricing power. …with the stock trading at 26x EV/CY26 FCF, we believe we have a unique path to sustainable growth of 20% with margin expansion. We expect attractive risk/reward pricing for our software assets, and our pre-preview research indicates that the demand environment for TEAM is generally stable, with partners generally meeting or exceeding expectations. It has been shown that…
