Bulls And Bears Of The Week: Apple, Netflix, McDonald's, Visa, More

Benzinga has examined the prospects for many investor favorite stocks over the past week.

Bullish calls included a payments giant, a leading pharmaceutical and a toymaker.

Bearish calls included the iPhone maker, a video streaming leader and a fast-food giant.

The big U.S. indexes ended the past week in the red again, this time led by the Nasdaq with its 2% or so retreat. It was a week when the turmoil in Washington ratcheted up even more.

Some companies received good news, while elsewhere a big merger collapsed. One beleaguered company found a new CEO, while another renowned CEO received some bad news. Oh, and the Brexit drama dragged on as well.

Bulls

Payments giant Visa Inc V is positioned to withstand an economic slowdown, according to an analyst featured in Jayson Derrick's "Wedbush Remains A Visa Bull After Chat With Management."

In "Citi Bullish On AbbVie As Allergan Deal Provides An Earnings Floor," Shanthi Rexaline looks at how AbbVie Inc ABBV could extract significant shareholder value from its proposed acquisition.

"Guggenheim Upgrades Snap, Says Long-Term Revenue Potential Is Underappreciated" by Brett Hershman shows why Snap Inc SNAP could provide a return of nearly 30% over the next 12 months.

Dave Royse's "Video: Mattel's Fisher Price Makes Us Feel Young Again With John Goodman 'Let's Be Kids' Ad" shares a new nostalgic Mattel Inc. MAT ad that first aired during the Emmy awards show.

For additional bullish calls, also have a look at "Wells Fargo Initiates On Media Stocks, Disney Among Top Picks" and "Tilson: Fannie Mae 'Reminds Me Of My Best Investment Ever.'"

Bears

Shanthi Rexaline's "Analyst: Apple's Services Narrative Is Largely Priced In; Stock No Longer Attractive" takes a look at how Apple Inc. AAPL has failed to overcome some fundamental weakness.

In Jayson Derrick's "Netflix Analyst Eyes Complications Of A 'Hit-Driven Business,'" see why Netflix Inc NFLX may have a headwind on its hands. Will big investors stick with it?

"A McDonald's Analyst On The Chain's Meatless Prospects" by Brett Hershman examines reasons one analyst was not impressed with McDonald's Corp MCD testing meat alternatives in some stores.

Uncertainty about the specialty retailer's potential for success could hold back shares of Wayfair Inc W. So says "UBS Needs More Clarity On Wayfair's Profitability For A Bullish Stance" by Priya Nigam.

Be sure to check out "Report: The 16 Most Shorted ETFs" and "Bank Of America Downgrades Canopy Growth, Projects 26% Revenue Miss" for additional bearish calls.

At the time of this writing, the author had no position in the mentioned equities.

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