Benzinga's Bulls And Bears Of The Week: Amazon, Exxon, GM, Netflix, Tesla And More

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

The past week's bullish calls included oil, automaker and semiconductor giants.

E-commerce and electric vehicle leaders and a FAANG stock were among the bearish calls seen.

The second quarter ended this past week, with the S&P 500 in record territory and possible movement on the infrastructure bill, but investors were in wait-and-see mode ahead of Friday's big jobs report and the upcoming holiday, and they were looking ahead to second-quarter earnings and second-half forecasts.

Cryptocurrency and meme stocks continued to draw attention. Some positivity for tech and travel stocks did not carry over to energy or small caps midweek. Inflation remains a concern as well. Even with low volume, the markets didn't react much to economic news, such as initial jobless claims at a new pandemic low, and even to the overall strong employment numbers released on Friday.

The Nasdaq ended the week about 2% higher, leading smaller gains in the S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrials. For the second quarter, the Nasdaq was up almost 10%, again leading the other indexes, but for the first half, the S&P 500 was ahead with a more than 14% rise.

Through it all, Benzinga continued to examine the prospects for many of the stocks most popular with investors. Here are a few of this past week's most bullish and bearish posts that are worth another look.

The Bulls

Tyler Bundy's "Is Exxon Mobil Getting Ready To Breakout?" discusses why the technical charts last week suggested that shares of Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) were ready to head higher. This after news of a rival abandoning a joint venture.

Also read Where Exxon Mobil Stands With Analysts.

One strategist expects General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) to trend higher in the second half of 2021 for six stated reasons. So says Adam Eckert's "Why Jim Lebenthal Thinks GM Will Reach An All-Time High This Year."

For another bullish take, see US Automakers — Ford, GM — Stare At Lowest Inventory In 12 Years But Here's Why They Could Still See Major Jump In Q2 Sales.

In "Why This Plug Power Analyst Is Bullish On Hydrogen Stock's Growth Potential," Shanthi Rexaline reveals how Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG) aims to become "a one-stop hydrogen shop."

In Nikhil Dayal's "Supply-Demand Imbalance In Memory Chips Triggers Analyst's Micron Upgrade," discover why one Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) analyst has turned bullish on the stock.

Be sure to check out Micron, Nvidia, AMD, TSMC, Or Intel? One Semiconductor Stock Emerged As Clear Winner In 2021 First-Half Gains.

"Why FedEx Is A Top Transportation Stock Pick" by Wayne Duggan examines why a top analyst named FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) as a top transportation stock pick. Does it actually need to keep up with its main competitor?

The Bears

"Amazon Remains Dominant Player In Cloud, But It's Losing Grip To Rivals" by Rachit Vats explores how the cloud infrastructure market is growing fast but Amazon.com, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:AMZN) share of it is shrinking, though still huge.

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) has recalled almost all the cars it sold in China in recent years, according to "Why Tesla's China Recall Is A 'Black Eye' Moment For The EV Maker In The Key Region" by Shanthi Rexaline.

Elon Musk Praises 'Economic Prosperity' Achieved By China, Encourages 'People To Visit And See For Themselves' offers a look at how Elon Musk is trying to make nice with China.

In Mark Putrino's "This 'Perfect' Indicator Says It Might Be Time To Sell Netflix Stock," find out what signal suggests it may be time to part with Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) shares.

On the other hand, check out Cathie Wood Loads Up Further On Netflix, Coinbase; Trims Palantir.

Wayne Duggan's "Boeing Analyst: CFO Faces 'No Shortage Of Challenges' In New Role" shows the many demands awaiting the new Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) chief financial officer.

See A Big Bet On Travel: United Announces Plan To Buy 200 Planes From Boeing for more on what is up with this aerospace giant.

In "ContextLogic Shares Drop Following Rating Downgrade, CFO Departure," Anusuya Lahiri looks at how an analyst downgrade and the abrupt departure of a top executive affected ContextLogic Inc (NASDAQ:WISH) shares last week.

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

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