Guggenheim Downgrades Salesforce to Sell with $247 PT, HSBC Slashes AMD to $110 Amid Market Concerns

Guggenheim Securities has downgraded Salesforce Inc. (CRM) to 'Sell' from 'Neutral', setting a price target of $247. The downgrade reflects concerns over Salesforce's lack of innovation, particularly after the company's stock rallied approximately 30% in the four months following the introduction of Agentforce during its fiscal second-quarter conference call on August 28, 2024. In contrast, Needham has raised its price target on Salesforce to $400, naming it a top pick for 2025. Separately, Deutsche Bank has downgraded Adobe Inc. (ADBE) to 'Hold' from 'Buy', lowering its price target to $475 from $600, citing expectations that Adobe's stock will remain range-bound until it shows more tangible evidence of AI monetization. Deutsche Bank also downgraded Palo Alto Networks Inc. (PANW) to 'Hold' from 'Buy' with a price target of $130, and BTIG downgraded it to 'Neutral'. HSBC has downgraded Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) to 'Reduce' from 'Buy', slashing its price target to $110 from $200, due to concerns about AMD's competitiveness in the AI GPU market and its reliance on Samsung for high-end memory chips. AMD shares fell 1.7% in premarket trading following the downgrade. HSBC's concerns stem from AMD's AI GPU roadmap being less competitive than anticipated, with the MI325, MI350, and MI400 chips facing challenges against Nvidia's NVL rack platform and Blackwell line of AI-powering chips. AMD's MI300 sales are projected to reach $5 billion this year, with overall revenues expected at $7.5 billion. Analysts anticipate AMD's fourth quarter earnings to show a bottom line of $1.08 per share, with data center revenues of $4.15 billion, client sales of $1.95 billion, and gaming and embedded revenues totaling around $1.4 billion. Nvidia's fourth quarter earnings are expected to show a 73% revenue increase to $38.1 billion. Additionally, AMD faces challenges in China due to trade restrictions and the ban on exports of key rare minerals used in high-tech manufacturing.