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.

CrowdStrike Holdings -- CRWD-Nasdaq Buy -- $372.64 on March 25 by BTIG We are upgrading CrowdStrike Holdings from Neutral to Buy for two primary reasons. First, with the July 19, 2024, information-technology outage now eight months in the rearview mirror, we think that CrowdStrike has much better visibility on forecasts. And as we run through annual-recurring-revenue recapture scenarios, we see potential for growth to reaccelerate in second-half 2026 and anywhere from 2.5% to 8% upside to Street forecasts in fiscal 2027. More importantly, we see CrowdStrike emerging as the cleanest platform play across the security software space....

Based on what we think is a very reasonable product level build, we believe that CrowdStrike can grow total revenue to $9.5 billion-plus in calendar 2028/fiscal 2029 -- representing a 25%-plus compound annual growth rate over the next four years. This is well above Street expectations, which appear to be in the low 20s. As such, we think a premium valuation is warranted. Target price: $431.

McCormick -- MKC-NYSE Buy -- $80.34 on March 24 by TD Cowen First-quarter earnings per share of $0.60 missed consensus of $0.64 and declined $0.03 year over year, but organic revenue of +2.1% beat by 30 basis points. Management described results as in line with internal expectations for flat-to-down operating profit (act. -3% ex foreign exchange) and maintained guidance.

We expect the stock to be down today [March 25] on the magnitude of the EPS miss, but are looking for a significant profit recovery in the second quarter based on timing of stock-based comp expense. Target price: $92.

Comcast -- CMCSA-Nasdaq Neutral -- $36.60 on March 25 by BofA Global Research The broadband environment remains fiercely competitive. Competition from fiber operators continues to build, fixed-wireless-access providers are still capturing outsize share, and mobile substitution persists. Comcast is making several changes to address the challenging backdrop, including a heavier focus on convergence/leaning into mobile. However, these adjustments will likely take time, and we don't believe there will be a noticeable benefit in first-half 2025, as Comcast's new pricing and packaging will likely not hit the market until late second quarter.

As such, we are revising our first-quarter broadband net loss estimate to -180,000 (versus -155,000 prior)....For Comcast, 2025 will likely be a reset year as the company looks to improve its broadband results by leaning into mobile and converged offerings. Price objective $38.

Carnival -- CCL-NYSE Buy -- $21.26 on March 25 by Tigress Research We reiterate our Buy rating and increase our 12-month target price to $32 as Carnival continues to benefit from strong booking trends, increasing operational efficiency, opportunistic debt management, and refinancing and remains well positioned to benefit from ongoing strength in cruise demand and consumer spending on travel.

Carnival reported record first-quarter 2025 results driven by robust booking volumes, with cumulative advanced bookings for the remainder of 2025 aligning with the prior year's record levels. Pricing remained at historic highs, and booking volumes for 2026 and beyond reached unprecedented levels. Carnival reported that first-quarter 2025 revenue increased 7.47% to a first-quarter record of $5.8 billion....Carnival's upcoming Celebration Key opening will be a major game changer as Carnival and the cruise industry continue to benefit from its expanding land-based destinations.

MetLife -- MET-NYSE Hold -- $82.36 on March 24 by Deutsche Bank We are revising our first-quarter 2025 estimates downward from $2.10 to $1.98, reflecting headwinds from foreign-exchange movements, weaker-than-expected variable investment income, and modestly higher operating expenses, partially offset by better results in group benefits. We forecast variable investment income of $355 million for the first quarter, underpinned by annualized returns of 8% in private equity and 6% in real estate, amounting to a full-year VII projection of $1.7 billion (9.5% for private equity and 7.4% for real estate)....

We raise our price target from $81 to $87, reflecting updated valuation multiples aligned with peer comparisons.

Corning -- GLW-NYSE Outperform -- $49.89 on March 25 by Mizuho [Following Corning's March 18 investor day,] we raised our fiscal-2025 and fiscal-2026 optical sales targets and introduced the new solar segment after the springboard plan was updated by $1 billion of incremental annualized sales by December-quarter 2026. Display glass and other segments appear on plan. New foreign-exchange core rates will be provided along with March-quarter 2025 release. Corning also announced $100 million in share buybacks for March-quarter 2025.

We increased our 2025/2026 earnings-per-share estimates to $2.40/$2.75 from $2.35/$2.65...The direct impact of tariffs should be minimal, as Corning manufactures products close to customers with 90% of U.S. sales coming from locally sourced materials, and the remaining is USMCA-compliant. Price target: $58.

To be considered for this section, material should be sent to Research@barrons.com.

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 28, 2025 15:04 ET (19:04 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.