Earnings season is not yet over, and Wall Street analysts are picking their winners looking out for the next 12-month period. Big gains often bring big adjustments to price targets and expectations ahead. Now investors just have to decide whether or not the positive momentum can remain.

Tactical Bulls always warns readers that analyst calls should never be the only reason to buy or sell a stock. And multiple upgrades and or price target hikes does not merit any guarantees that the stock will rise ahead. Some stocks even fall due to profit taking and digesting big moves, even on good news.

Four standout stocks have been highlighted for August 7, 2025. Investors should read the disclaimers before blindly chasing analyst price targets higher and higher.

WAS AMD’s EARNINGS REACTION WRONG?

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) fell by 5% on its day-one earnings reaction, but the day-two reaction (and efforts of chip companies investing the U.S.) was a gain of 6% to $173.00 in late-morning trading. The stock is now up 43% YTD. AMD is now being considered by Wall Street the next viable AI-chip player behind NVIDIA, but at much lower prices for its chips.

While Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated its $200 price target, many other analysts have now just aggressively hiked their target prices even higher:

• Benchmark to $210 from $170
• Barclays to $200 from $130
• Raymond James to $200 from $120
• Stifel to $190 from $161
• Piper Sandler to $190 from $140
• Wedbush to $190 from $170
• Evercore ISI to $188 from $144
• JPMorgan to $180 from $120
• Truist to $173 from $111

OVERSEAS BANK BACK IN FAVOR…

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE: BBVA) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays. Analyst Cecilia Romero Reyes hiked the overseas price target EUR 18 from EUR 14.70 in the call. Specifics for the upgrade of this European banking giant included: very reasonable valuations, strong earnings momentum, above average capital returns post-earnings and “strategic optionality” over peers.

The conversion of the EUR price targets to ADS shares implies upside potential of 18% before adding in the 4% dividend yield for total return investors if Barclays is correct in its views. Just keep in mind that this is not just a 52-week high already — it’s the highest stock price in years (like since the Global Financial Crisis!).

COMMSCOPE IS A NEW COMPANY…

CommScope Holding Company, Inc. (NASDAQ: COMM) has been in the “long and forgotten discount bin” at the investor supermarket for close to three years now. BofA analyst Tal Liani is now very bullish, upgrading COMM in a quadruple-upgrade: to Buy from Underperform; and quadrupling the price objective to $20 from 44. The upgrade follows CommScope’s decision to sell its flagship CCS segment (fiber-optic and copper connectivity cables) to Amphenol in a deal valued at more than $10 billion all-in. BofA is the most aggressive firm noting progress on paying down debt with the new deal averting default risk and with a conservative valuation on its remaining Ruckus and ANS segments that will remain.

Morgan Stanley also removed its negative stance here. The firm raised its COMM rating to Equal Weight from Underweight and jacked its price target up to $17 from $4 in its call.

SHOPIFY BACK TO HIGHS…

Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP) managed to blow away earnings this week with nearly a 22% gain in the single-day earnings reaction alone. The stock is now above $150 and is back to challenging its post-pandemic highs from 2021. The firm Benchmark has the highest seen price target so far, up to $190 from $140, based on it delivering 31% year-over-year gross merchandise value growth (strongest in 3 years).

While Benchmark had the highest price target seen so far, here are the price target hikes seen elsewhere with Buy/Outperform ratings:

• BofA to $185 from $110;
• JMP to $185 from $135;
• CIBC to $185 from $145;
• Oppenheimer to $180 from $145;
• BMO to $180 from $120;
• KeyBanc to $175 from $145;
• and Wedbush Morgan to $160 from $115.

Less aggressive ratings on Shopify also saw big price target hikes — Scotia (Sector Perform) to $150 from $115; Barclays (Equal Weight) to $120 from $94; Mizuho (Neutral) to $150 from $85; Truist (Hold) to $150 from $95.

DISCLAIMERS

The analyst ratings and price targets mentioned above have been credited to each form by name. Investors should keep in mind that analysts sometimes get their thesis and outlook wrong, and market/company fundamentals can change from positive to negative in an instant.

Tactical Bulls does not have any formal ratings and does not maintain any price targets of its own on the stocks mentioned above. Interpretations of how positive or negative the analyst calls are can also wildly vary from investor to investor.

No analyst ratings and their price targets, even those with the strongest conviction or strongest pessimism, ever come with any guarantees of profits. Analyst reports also never have money-back guarantees in the event that investors lose money.