Bulls And Bears Of The Week: Apple, Citigroup, Southwest, Walgreens And More

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

Bullish calls included the iPhone maker, a top bank and two oil plays.

Bearish calls included the electric vehicle leader, an airline and a retailer.

The major U.S. indexes ended last week with marginal gains, despite the ratcheting up of tensions with Iran earlier in the week and a slightly disappointing jobs report to end the week.

In fact, the Dow Jones industrial average topped 29,000 for the first time, in a week that also saw soft holiday sales numbers and the Consumer Electronics Show.

Benzinga continues to examine the prospects for many of the stocks most popular with investors. The following are just a few of this past week's most bullish and bearish posts that are worth another look.

Bulls

In Shanthi Rexaline's "7 Reasons Why Apple Is Staying On Needham's Conviction List In 2020," find out why, despite some short-term concerns, Apple Inc. AAPL remains a long-term pick.

For one top analyst, Citigroup Inc C rises above some rivals ahead of big bank earnings season, according to Wayne Duggan's "Citigroup Is BofA's Bank Stock Pick Of The Decade."

"Mizuho Upgrades Occidental Petroleum, Says Worst Is In The Rear View Mirror" by Priya Nigam points out how Occidental Petroleum Corporation OXY is set up for sustainable dividend growth in 2022 and beyond.

Dave Royse's "Apache Stock Settling After Huge Spike On Suriname Oil Find" takes a look at why the recently announced discovery raises "incremental confidence" in Apache Corporation APA.

For additional bullish calls, also have a look at "Gold's Santa Claus Rally Followed By Surge On Iranian Tension" and "Tyson Foods Crowned A Potential Trade War Winner By Cramer."

Bears

In "CFRA Research Downgrades Tesla, Sees Risks Ahead After Huge Run," Wayne Duggan looks at why the number of Tesla Inc TSLA bears is growing after the six-month rally.

"Bank Of America Downgrades Southwest Airlines Amid Boeing Concerns" by Jayson Derrick examines why 737 Max headaches for Southwest Airlines Co LUV are expected to continue for now.

Priya Nigam's "Credit Suisse Needs Better Visibility Into Walgreens Earnings Growth" offers a look at what the recent Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc WBA quarterly results portend.

Two more sell-side analysts have turned bearish on Aurora Cannabis Inc ACB. So says "Aurora Cannabis Downgraded By Piper Sandler, BofA" by Nina Zdinjak. Balance sheet risk is in part the reason for the change in sentiment.

Be sure to check out "The Challenges Boeing's New CEO Is Facing" and "US Economy Will Slow Down In 2020: Corporate CFOs" for additional bearish calls.

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

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