Apple, Nvidia, Analog Devices and MongoDB were among the companies drawing significant analyst attention this week as Wall Street reassessed opportunities and risks across the artificial intelligence (AI) industry.
Analyst actions ranged from bullish upgrades and higher price targets to more cautious downgrades, reflecting expectations around AI spending, semiconductor demand, new product launches and the pace of enterprise adoption.
Salient points
- Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Apple to Buy from Neutral and raised its price target to $400 from $260.
- Apple’s planned foldable iPhone is a major part of the bullish case, with Redburn forecasting 14 million iPhone Ultra sales in fiscal 2027.
- Wolfe Research named Nvidia its top AI semiconductor pick, citing strong capital expenditure trends and supply-chain indicators.
- Analog Devices was upgraded to Outperform by Bernstein, with its price target raised to $465 from $430 following stronger-than-expected results and guidance.
- Goldman Sachs maintained a Buy rating on MongoDB, expecting Atlas growth to approach 30%.
- Deutsche Bank downgraded SentinelOne to Hold, despite raising its price target to $24 from $17, after a sharp rally in the stock.
Apple upgrade driven by foldable iPhone and AI strategy
Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Apple to Buy from Neutral, raising its price target by $140 to $400.
Analysts led by Timm Schulze-Melander said the bullish outlook was supported by Apple’s expected entry into the foldable smartphone market and a potential shift in its AI strategy.
Apple Intelligence has so far fallen short of expectations, according to the analysts. The company is reportedly relying on a customised version of Google’s Gemini at an estimated cost of about $1 billion a year, while continuing to receive around $27.5 billion annually from Google for search placement on its devices.
Redburn believes Apple could reduce its dependence on Google by adopting open-source AI models, potentially working with Nvidia.
The analysts described the approach as “Fast Follower 2.0”, pointing to Nvidia’s Nemotron models as potentially capable of matching closed frontier models while giving Apple greater control over its AI technology.
The firm also sees significant potential in Apple’s expected foldable iPhone launch in September. It forecasts 14 million iPhone Ultra units in fiscal 2027, with only four million representing sales that would otherwise have gone to conventional iPhones.
The device is expected to cost about $2,199, representing an estimated 83% premium over the iPhone 17 Pro Max.
Redburn also expects the foldable model to increase Apple’s iPhone average selling price by 11% by June 2027, citing the company’s previous success with AirPods and Apple Watch in generating incremental demand.
Nvidia remains Wolfe’s top AI semiconductor pick
Wolfe Research remains bullish on AI semiconductor stocks ahead of earnings, with Nvidia as its preferred name.
Analyst Chris Caso said the firm had maintained its estimates because they were already above consensus, while recent capital expenditure revisions and supply-chain data continued to support expectations for strong AI infrastructure spending.
Caso also pointed to financing arrangements involving Nvidia and Broadcom, which could help AI laboratories fund multi-gigawatt agreements despite limited access to conventional debt markets.
Although he described the companies’ decision to backstop such deals as less than ideal, he argued that the arrangements demonstrate the potential for upside to existing forecasts.
Nvidia remains Wolfe’s preferred stock partly because disclosures have so far been limited, leaving room for results and guidance to exceed consensus expectations.
Caso said investors should focus particularly on longer-term guidance, as upcoming quarterly results are unlikely to provide much visibility into AI spending during 2027 and 2028.
Marvell Technology was another highlighted name, with Caso describing its newly announced Google agreement as potentially transformational. The deal’s warrant structure implies as much as $120 billion in incremental revenue potential through fiscal 2033, according to the analyst.
Bernstein turns positive on Analog Devices
Bernstein upgraded Analog Devices to Outperform from Market Perform and raised its price target to $465 from $430 following stronger-than-expected quarterly results and guidance.
Analog Devices reported third-quarter revenue of $4.022 billion and earnings per share of $3.45, beating Wall Street expectations of $3.922 billion and $3.35 respectively.
The company’s performance was broad-based, with automotive leading the upside while industrial, consumer and communications markets also exceeded expectations.
The fourth-quarter outlook was even stronger. Management expects revenue of approximately $4.3 billion and EPS of $3.86, compared with Street estimates of $4.085 billion and $3.55.
Gross margin is expected to reach about 74%, around 150 basis points higher sequentially and well above the 72.3% expected by analysts.
Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon said the company’s execution remained strong amid an industrial recovery, while its differentiated market exposure and channel management were supporting growth.
The firm’s data-centre business is also gaining traction, helping drive growth in the communications segment while contributing to improved margins.
Goldman sees further upside for MongoDB
Goldman Sachs reiterated its Buy rating on MongoDB ahead of the company’s fiscal second-quarter results on September 1.
The investment bank sees Atlas revenue growth potentially reaching 29% or higher, compared with company guidance of 26%.
Goldman expects MongoDB could also raise its second-half outlook, with fiscal third-quarter growth potentially reaching the mid-20s or higher, compared with Street expectations of 22%.
The analysts cited growing enterprise workloads and an expanding customer base among AI-native companies and model laboratories.
MongoDB shares have risen more than 40% over the past month, significantly outperforming the IGV software index. The strong rally has raised the bar for the company’s upcoming results, with investors looking for evidence that Atlas growth is accelerating.
Goldman also highlighted npm download growth, a measure of developer activity, which accelerated to more than 80% year-on-year in the fiscal second quarter from about 55% in the first quarter.
The bank views MongoDB as a later-cycle beneficiary of the AI spending cycle and expects AI-related workloads to increasingly contribute to growth.
Deutsche Bank turns cautious on SentinelOne
Deutsche Bank downgraded SentinelOne to Hold from Buy, although it increased its price target to $24 from $17.
The downgrade followed an approximately 90% rise in the company’s shares since April lows, with analyst Brad Zelnick arguing that the market is already pricing in a significant demand improvement from SentinelOne’s Mythos platform.
Recent cybersecurity reseller survey results and fieldwork at Black Hat 2026 also tempered Deutsche Bank’s near-term enthusiasm.
Zelnick said SentinelOne would need to demonstrate clear evidence of Mythos-driven new business, stronger AI security demand or sustained market-share gains to justify further investor support.
He stressed that the downgrade was not a judgement on SentinelOne’s technology or long-term prospects, but rather reflected the stock’s valuation following its sharp rally.
SentinelOne and Netskope were described as “show me” stories at current valuations, while Zscaler was viewed as better positioned to establish itself as a scaled cybersecurity platform.
Overall, this week’s analyst moves highlight a market still strongly focused on AI spending, but increasingly demanding evidence of sustainable growth, profitability and tangible returns from the industry’s enormous investment cycle.
Apple’s AI strategy and foldable hardware ambitions, Nvidia’s position at the centre of AI infrastructure spending, Analog Devices’ improving industrial and data-centre exposure, MongoDB’s AI-driven developer growth and SentinelOne’s valuation concerns illustrate the increasingly divergent opportunities emerging across the AI ecosystem.
