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As pay transparency laws have come into effect, employers are lowering advertised salary bands.
A majority of firms are complying with the new laws. Some, however, are not, while others are posting pay even when not required.

State and local pay transparency laws enacted over the last few years have more employers disclosing salary ranges in job descriptions.
Yet, wages aren’t growing as expected. The growth of advertised wages for new hires is slowing, according to a report from job posting service ZipRecruiter — and in some cases, it’s reversing, with companies now posting lower pay ranges.

Some jobs go unfilled as employers lower pay ranges

After two years of increasing wages, some companies are now leaving some jobs unfilled because candidates want more pay than the company is prepared to offer. Still, nearly half, 48%, say they have lowered pay bands for some roles in the past year, ZipRecruiter found. The site surveyed more than 2,000 recruiters and hiring managers this summer. 
“Employers are trying to reset candidate expectations,” said Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter.
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When labor shortages were acute during the Covid-19 pandemic, employers were emphasizing the top of their salary ranges and paying signing bonuses, but that caused issues with existing employees. 
“While they were being very competitive externally, they were threatening internal equity and internal incentives,” Pollak said. “There needs to be some [salary] growth year after year to keep people around and to keep them engaged.”

Some employers don’t follow pay transparency rules

Sturti | E+ | Getty Images

About 30% to 40% of employers are not complying with new state pay transparency laws, according to Revelio Labs, a workforce analytics firm. The compliance rate sits near 70% in the states that have had laws in place since 2021.
In Washington state, job applicants and current employees can file a complaint or bring a civil lawsuit if a company doesn’t comply with the law. The state Department of Labor & Industries says it has received 307 complaints so far this year and has 39 currently under investigation.
Companies in Washington that are allegedly not in compliance also face numerous class action lawsuits. Attorney Timothy W. Emery, partner at Emery Reddy, a Seattle-based workers’ rights law firm, has filed dozens of lawsuits against employers in the state.
“We have had so many clients reach out to us who are still facing pay inequality,” said Emery. “We felt now was the time to take action on their behalf and put an end to these illegal practices once and for all.”

Other companies post pay even when not required

But there has also been a spillover effect with companies that have complied with pay transparency laws. Nearly 40% of firms post salaries for jobs even in states that don’t have a requirement, according to Revelio Labs data.
“With the rise of remote work, it’s just too much hassle for employers to figure out” how to adjust their postings to comply with varying state and local requirements, said Lisa Simon, chief economist at Revelio Labs.

SalesLoft, a revenue workflow platform based in Atlanta, publishes pay for all of its jobs posted in the U.S.
“We don’t want to waste anybody’s time [by taking] them through a whole interview process,” said Katie Cox Branham, vice president of people at SalesLoft.
The company also benchmarks salaries on an annual basis.
“We assess existing employees’ salaries during our once-a-year merit increase and make adjustments to make sure that we have pay equity between existing employees and anybody that we bring in,” Branham noted. 

Talking about pay is no longer taboo

In addition to the states and local jurisdictions requiring employers to post salary ranges in job postings, employees have become more open to talking about their pay with their peers. 
“Gen Z, the newest generation entering the workplace, are really starting to demand pay transparency,” said Erica Keswin, a workplace strategist, speaker and author.
She advises companies to have a comprehensive strategy to address pay and to understand what will motivate their workers, from flexible work arrangements to family-care benefits and the ability to develop and grow on the job.
“It’s not really a one-size-fits-all kind of thing,” Keswin said.Don’t miss these CNBC PRO stories: More

Many Americans fear Social Security benefits won’t be there for them when they retire, yet those worries are largely unfounded.
“It’s a long way from not having any money to pay for any benefits,” Stephen Goss, Social Security’s chief actuary, said last week of the program’s funds.
Here’s what may happen in the worst-case scenario, and how you can find out how much you could be eligible for in retirement.

Thomas Barwick

What may happen in the worst-case scenario

Yet it is possible benefits may be reduced.
In the worst-case scenario, Social Security may reach a point within 10 years where the program may only be able to pay about 80% of scheduled benefits, Goss said.
Today, Social Security has two trust funds that have a total of $2.8 trillion in reserves and function like savings accounts for the program, according to Goss. The trust funds collect any extra money that comes into the program. When more money is needed to pay benefits beyond what is coming in through payroll taxes, the trusts funds are available.
But projections show the $2.8 trillion reserves will be used up around 2033 or 2034, Goss said. At that point, the income coming into the program will be less than what is required to pay benefits under current law.

Social Security’s actuaries are responsible for estimating the future costs of benefits that must be paid and comparing that with the amount of revenue projected to come in, according to Goss.
When there is an imbalance, as with the current projected shortfall, it is up to Congress to make changes.
Some lawmakers have started to propose potential ways of approaching the problem. Both Republicans and Democrats will have to approve any changes for them to become law.
Yet even with looming benefit cuts, most experts say it’s generally best to wait to claim retirement benefits.

The decision to wait is really buying longevity insurance from Social Security.

Laurence Kotlikoff
Boston University economics professor and creator of Maximize My Social Security

By waiting to age 70, retirees stand to get the biggest monthly benefit checks, according to research from experts including Laurence Kotlikoff, a Boston University economics professor and creator of Maximize My Social Security, a claiming software tool.
Retirement benefits taken at age 70 are 76% higher, adjusted for inflation, than retirement benefits taken at 62, Kotlikoff’s research found. This holds true even as the retirement age gradually climbs higher, to 67.
“The decision to wait is really buying longevity insurance from Social Security,” Kotlikoff recently told CNBC.com.

How to check your benefit eligibility

Even if you’re many years away from retirement, you may be able to get an estimate now of how much your Social Security benefits may be in retirement.
By signing up for a My Social Security account online, you may access your record that shows your personal earnings history beginning with your first job, according to Goss.
With that information, the Social Security Administration provides estimates of how much in benefits you may receive if you become disabled, retire or die, thus leaving benefits to eligible survivors.

“The benefits that are indicated here are the benefits that are expected to be provided under current law with sufficient financing to pay for them,” Goss said.
“These give a very, very good indication to individuals of what they might get in the future,” he said.
Importantly, those estimates are expressed in today’s dollars, such as the current value of your earnings today or the cost of shopping at the grocery store. So if you’re 35, with another 30 years to your anticipated retirement, the estimate you see will change.
“The amount that you would actually get 30 years from now will, of course, be much higher as the cost of living in general will be rising,” Goss said. More

Despite inflation concerns, most middle-income Americans still aren’t leveraging higher interest rates for savings.
Some 64% of middle-income Americans are currently earning less than 3% on their primary savings account, according to a new survey.
Many savers aren’t aware of their current rates or don’t believe moving accounts is worthwhile.

Despite inflation concerns, most middle-income Americans still aren’t leveraging higher interest rates for savings.
That’s according to a new Santander survey of roughly 2,200 middle-earning U.S. adults, conducted in early September.

Some 64% of middle-income Americans are earning less than 3% on their primary savings account, the findings show. By comparison, the top 1% average of high-yield savings accounts offer close to 5%, as of Oct. 30, according to DepositAccounts.
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The bank was surprised that 22% of consumers still don’t know how much they are earning on savings, said Tim Wennes, CEO of Santander U.S.
But a lack of awareness isn’t the main reason why Americans aren’t taking advantage of higher rates, according to the survey. The top reason for not moving funds — applying to some 37% of respondents — was because they either don’t have any savings or don’t have enough to “make it worthwhile.”
However, some 36% of those surveyed have at least $10,000 in savings, Wennes pointed out.

“I would argue it is worth their while” to explore higher-yielding options, he said. “Become aware, look at your statements and then take action.”

The survey also uncovered a lack of knowledge about the definition of savings products such as certificates of deposit, high-yield savings accounts or money market accounts.

Certificates of deposit can lock in higher rates

As Americans brace for another interest rate update from the Federal Reserve this week, experts say savers may consider opening a CD to secure higher rates for a set period of time. While the central bank isn’t expected to raise rates, future policy shifts are still unclear.
Currently, the top 1% average of CDs are offering nearly 5.75% for a one-year term, as of Oct. 30, according to DepositAccounts.
“More and more of our customers are asking about higher interest rates,” said Wennes, noting there’s been a decade-high uptick in CD interest.
Compared with options such as high-yield savings or Series I bonds, top rates for one-year CDs could be a better deal, according to Ken Tumin, founder and editor of DepositAccounts.com.
Of course, the right savings option largely depends on your goals and timeline. If you need to tap the funds in less than a year, CDs typically have an interest penalty, which lowers your overall yield. More

The national average credit score hit a fresh high of 718, according to a new report from FICO.
Credit scores improved year over year despite the high cost of living, which has caused more consumers to fall deeper in debt.
As of April, the average credit card utilization was 34%, up from 31% a year earlier.

Credit scores rose as consumers took on more debt

As higher prices weighed on most Americans’ financial standing, consumers, as a whole, have fallen deeper in debt, causing an increase in credit card balances and an uptick in missed payments.
As of April, the average credit card utilization was 34%, up from 31% a year earlier.
Your utilization rate, the ratio of debt to total credit, is one of the factors that can influence your score. Credit experts generally advise borrowers to keep revolving debt below 30% of their available credit to limit the effect that high balances can have.

Still, delinquency rates are low by historical standards, said Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate. “People are working and keeping up with their bills.
“Even if they are not saving more, they are keeping up, for the most part.”
A strong labor market and cooling inflation have helped offset high interest rates and consumer prices, FICO found, and so has the removal of certain medical collections data from consumer credit files.

However, “FICO scores are a lagging, not a leading, indicator,” Dornhelm said. The possibility of a recession coupled with rising unemployment could weigh on scores going forward, he added.
Experts also expect the resumption of student loan payments to take a bite out of household budgets, while elevated gas prices and geopolitical tensions are hitting confidence levels.  

What is a ‘good’ credit score?

Generally speaking, the higher your credit score, the better off you are when it comes to getting a loan. You’re more likely to be approved, and if you’re approved, you can qualify for a lower interest rate.
A good score generally is above 670, a very good score is over 740 and anything above 800 is considered exceptional.

An average score of 718 by FICO measurements means most lenders will consider your creditworthiness “good” and are more likely to extend lower rates.
Average nationwide credit scores bottomed out at 686 during the housing crisis more than a decade ago, when there was a sharp increase in foreclosures. They steadily ticked higher until the Covid-19 pandemic, when government stimulus programs and a spike in household saving helped scores jump to a historical high.
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The Education Department announced it would penalize student loan servicer Mohela for its failure to send timely billing statements to 2.5 million borrowers.
As a result of the error, more than 800,000 borrowers were delinquent on their loans, the department said in a statement.

The U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C.
Caroline Brehman | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images

The U.S. Department of Education will penalize student loan servicer Mohela, or the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority, for its failure to send timely billing statements to 2.5 million borrowers.
As a result of Mohela’s errors, more than 800,000 borrowers were delinquent on their loans, the Education Department said in a statement Monday.

The department is withholding $7.2 million in payment to Mohela for October, and has directed the servicer to place all affected borrowers in forbearance until the issue is fully resolved, it said.
“Our top priority is to support borrowers as they return to repayment and fix the broken student loan system, and we will not tolerate errors from loan servicers that cause confusion and unwarranted financial instability for borrowers and families,” said Rich Cordray, the chief operating officer of federal student aid.
Higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz said he believed this was one of the first instances of the government withholding payment from a student loan servicer.
“Borrowers are penalized for making late payments,” Kantrowitz said. “It is only fair for the loan servicer to be penalized for mailing late statements.”
Mohela did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Federal student loan payments were on pause since March 2020, but resumed this month.
The Education Department contracts with different companies to service its federal student loans, including Mohela, Nelnet and EdFinancial. The government pays the servicers a total of more than $1 billion a year to do so, Kantrowitz said.
In a September letter to the student loan servicers, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and other lawmakers wrote that they were “deeply worried about your preparedness for this unprecedented return to repayment.”
In response, the servicers admitted that they were concerned, too.
Mohela wrote that when payments restart it is “anticipating extended wait times and servicing delays.”
Yet the servicers had months to prepare for the transition, said Braxton Brewington, press secretary for the Debt Collective, an organization that advocates for debt cancellation.
And, long before the pandemic, the companies had a record of mishandling borrowers’ accounts, Brewington said.
“At what point do you start to question why the Biden administration is still contracting with Mohela and servicers who have financial incentives to do the wrong thing?” he said in a recent CNBC interview.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates. More

“By all expectations, the mood for 2024 is radically different than what it was going into 2023,” said Aaron Terrazas, Glassdoor’s chief economist.
Employers are still budgeting more money for their compensation budgets next year as the economic environment evolves — even if it’s not as big an uptick as in 2023.
With more conservative salary budgets forecasted, inflation will continue to be salient in creating frustration among workers.

Workers operate a drilling rig for an EBR Energy LP natural gas well near Columbus, Texas.
Scott Dalton | Bloomberg | Getty Images

What kind of pay increases workers may see in 2024

Employer compensation budgets remain high compared to before the pandemic. That’s still true for 2024 — even if figures are smaller than this year as the economic environment evolves.
In June, employers surveyed by consulting firm WTW said they were planning to increase salaries by about 4% in 2024, compared to 4.6% in 2023. A Mercer survey in September found that organizations were forecasting a 3.9% increase in overall compensation budgets, compared to 4.1% in 2023.

“We’re not there yet, but I think we are seeing it shift a bit” to an employer market, where workers have less power to demand higher pay, said LaCinda Glover, a senior principal consultant at Mercer. “If we see more cooling [in the job market], those budget numbers will come down a bit.”

Wage growth has ‘come down pretty steadily’

Employees are entering a tighter job market, which has affected wage predictions, said Terrazas. A recent Glassdoor report noted that the rates of employees quitting or entering jobs has returned to pre-pandemic levels.
“We should expect less turnover to continue to tamp down wage growth in coming months,” according to the report.
Career site Indeed, like other groups, has already been monitoring a slowdown across sectors. At the current rate, Indeed’s tracker forecasts posted wage growth to reach the 2019 average of 3.1% in late 2023 or early 2024. It found that posted wages grew 4.5% year over year in August — compared to 9.3% in January 2022.

Wage growth has “come down pretty steadily” since that pandemic high, Indeed economist Cory Stahle said.
Indeed’s tracker precedes government-released data on wages by looking at what employees are actually posting in their job descriptions.

What pay raises mean stacked against inflation

Workers seeking salaries that will match the ongoing rise in the cost of living are likely to find 2024 a challenging environment.
“The average American has only kept pace with inflation, and maybe feels like they’ve lost ground relative to the pre-pandemic trend,” said Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter.
The data supports that: Growth in the consumer price index surpassed wage growth for full-time workers in 2021 and has not come down since, up 18.2% since the beginning of 2020.

As a result, employees on average are continuing to see negative nominal wage gains, Terrazas said. This creates a perception gap between income and the cost of daily goods, allowing “friction and resentment” to build up and push people to leave their job for another opportunity.
With more conservative salary budgets forecasted, inflation will continue to be salient and contribute to rising frustration among workers, Pollak said.

How job seekers can maximize wage growth

There are a number of steps that job seekers can take to position themselves for wage growth, despite the tightening labor market.
Those on the hunt for a job should acknowledge their “red lines” and only focus on postings that list a salary within that range, Pollak said.
If condensing your search based on your desired salary only turns up postings outside of your current skill set and experience, Pollak said workers ought to focus on polishing needed skills through freelance work, building a portfolio that showcases work relevant to their desired job, and highlighting on their resume what training they already have.

“Employers often just lack information about candidates and are very uncertain and very risk averse about making the wrong hire,” Pollak said. “Even small bits of information like a recent certification … is a great signal to employers that shows that you’re capable and you’re doing things right now.”
Employer demand is still strong in multiple sectors, Indeed’s Stahle noted, including jobs that are fully in-office and health-care jobs. Employees should use their bargaining power and be open to negotiating, he said.
“Just because we see wages coming down at home, doesn’t mean that an individual worker can’t necessarily get a larger raise than average,” Stahle said. More

President Joe Biden has managed to cancel $127 billion in student debt so far, more than any other president in history.
Consumer advocates praise the president for his actions but are pressuring him to do more.
Here’s what to know about those relief options he has utilized.

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on new efforts to cancel student loan debt at the White House on Oct. 4, 2023.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images

Income-driven repayment plans

Income-driven repayment plans, which date back to 1994, allow student loan borrowers to pay a share of their earnings toward their debt each month, and to get any remaining debt forgiven after a set period. There are four different plans.
Yet, many borrowers paid into the system for years without getting that promised cancellation, said higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.

“The loan servicers weren’t keeping track of the number of qualifying payments,” Kantrowitz said.

The Biden administration has evaluated millions of borrowers’ loan accounts to see if they should have had their debt cleared.
As a result, it has cleared nearly $42 billion for more than 850,000 people enrolled in these plans.
Most people with federal student loans qualify for income-driven repayment plans, and can review the options and apply at Studentaid.gov.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness

Navigating the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program has been famously difficult. 
The program, signed into law by former President George W. Bush in 2007, allows certain not-for-profit and government employees to have their federal student loans discharged after 10 years of on-time payments. In 2013, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau estimated that one-quarter of American workers may be eligible.
Yet, after getting wrong information from their servicers about the program’s requirements, millions of borrowers hit walls. People frequently found that some or all of their qualifying payments didn’t count because they had a loan or were enrolled in a payment plan not covered under the initiative.

Paul Morigi | Getty Images

The Biden administration has tried to reverse the trend of borrowers being excluded from the relief on technicalities. It has broadened eligibility and allowed people to reapply for the relief, as long as they were working in the public sector and paying down their debt.
Some 715,000 public servants have gotten their debt erased as a result, amounting to $51 billion in relief.
With the PSLF help tool, borrowers can also search for a list of qualifying employers under the program and access the employer certification form. They can also learn about all the program’s requirements at Studentaid.gov.

Total and Permanent Disability discharge

The Biden administration has also forgiven the student debt of more than 500,000 disabled borrowers. The $11.7 billion in aid was delivered under the Total and Permanent Disability discharge.
The U.S. Department of Education has gotten better at identifying borrowers who are disabled and in need of this relief by accessing information from the Social Security Administration, Kantrowitz said.
Borrowers may qualify for a TPD discharge if they suffer from a mental or physical disability that is severe, permanent and prevents them from working. Proof of the disability can come from a doctor, the Social Security Administration or The Department of Veterans Affairs.

Borrower defense

Another 1.3 million borrowers have walked away from their debt over the past few years thanks to the Borrower Defense Loan Discharge. These people received $22.5 billion in relief.
Borrowers can be eligible for the discharge if their schools suddenly closed or they were cheated by their colleges.
The Biden administration has more swiftly processed these applications and has started considering cases in a group rather than requiring each attendee of a school to prove they were misled.

“Borrowers who were affected by similar circumstances should have their loans discharged as a group,” Kantrowitz said.
Those who think they might qualify can apply with the Education Department.
Consumer advocates praise the president for his actions but are pressuring him to do more. On the campaign trail, Biden vowed to cancel at least $10,000 of student debt per person.
“Student debt cancellation tipped the balance in Democrats’ favor in the midterms,” said Astra Taylor, co-founder of the Debt Collective, a union for debtors. “Failing to deliver will demoralize and demobilize young people whose votes they cannot afford to lose.” More

The Netflix logo is seen on a TV remote controller in this illustration taken Jan. 20, 2022.
Dado Ruvic | Reuters

As the earnings season rolls on, investors are getting a glimpse into how companies are handling an array of macro pressures.
Analysts can pick apart these quarterly reports and help investors identify companies that can withstand near-term challenges and deliver attractive returns in the long term.

To that end, here are five stocks favored by Wall Street’s top analysts, according to TipRanks, a platform that ranks analysts based on their past performance.

Netflix

Streaming giant Netflix (NFLX) recently delivered a beat on third-quarter earnings per share, with its crackdown on password sharing helping to add more subscribers to its platform.
Evercore analyst Mark Mahaney said that there were several key positives in the company’s third-quarter print, including 8.76 million subscriber additions, stronger-than-anticipated Q4 2023 subscriber addition guidance, and share buybacks of $2.5 billion. He also noted an increase in the 2023 free cash flow outlook to about $6.5 billion, from the previous guidance of at least $5 billion and a price hike for the basic and premium plans.
“We continue to believe that NFLX’s ad-supported offering and password-sharing initiatives constitute major Growth Curve Initiatives [GCI] – catalysts that will drive a material reacceleration in revenue and EPS growth,” said Mahaney.    
The analyst thinks that the company is pursuing these GCI catalysts from a position of strength, given that it is a global streaming leader based on several metrics, including revenue, subscriber base and viewing hours.

Mahaney reiterated a buy rating on NFLX stock with a price target of $500. Interestingly, Mahaney ranks No. 48 among more than 8,500 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been profitable 55% of the time, with each delivering a return of 25.4%, on average. (See Netflix Technical Analysis on TipRanks)

Nvidia

Next up is semiconductor giant Nvidia (NVDA). The stock has witnessed a stellar run this year, thanks to demand for NVDA’s chips in building generative artificial intelligence (AI) models and applications.
In a recently updated investor presentation, the company revealed roadmaps for its data center graphics processing units, central processing units and networking chipsets.
JPMorgan analyst Harlan Sur, who holds the 88th position out of more than 8,500 analysts on TipRanks, noted that NVDA’s product roadmaps indicate two major shifts. First, Nvidia has accelerated its product launch timing from a 2-year cycle to a 1-year cycle, which is expected to help the company keep pace with the growing complexity of large language compute workloads.
Regarding the second major shift, Sur said that the roadmaps indicated “more market segmentation (cloud/hyperscale/enterprise) by expanding the number of product SKUs [stock keeping units] that are optimized for a broad spectrum of AI workloads (training/inference).”
The analyst thinks that with these notable developments, the company is taking a multi-pronged approach to strengthen its data center market and technology. He reaffirmed a buy rating on the stock with a price target of $600, noting the growing demand for NVDA’s accelerated compute and networking silicon platforms and software solutions in the development of generative AI and large language models.
Sur’s ratings have been successful 64% of the time, with each rating delivering an average return of 18.2%. (See Nvidia Insider Trading Activity on TipRanks).

Instacart

Grocery delivery platform Instacart (CART) made its much-awaited stock market debut in September. Baird analyst Colin Sebastian recently initiated a buy rating on CART stock with a price target of $31.
Explaining his bullish stance, Sebastian said, “Despite a range of well-financed online and legacy retail competitors, Instacart enjoys an enviable combination of scale, retail integrations, vertical expertise, and proprietary technology.”
The analyst highlighted that the essence of Instacart’s business model is an asset-light partnership strategy. He also thinks that Instacart’s data and technology sophistication are its key competitive advantages. He believes that most food retailers might not be able to build similar internal e-commerce capabilities.
Most importantly, Sebastian views Instacart’s advertising business as one of the most successful launches of retail media, second only to e-commerce behemoth Amazon (AMZN). He pointed out that consumer packaged goods advertisers are promoting their products by leveraging Instacart’s performance ad formats that help in reaching target customers with relevant product ideas.   
Sebastian holds the 340th position among more than 8,500 analysts on TipRanks. His ratings have been successful 52% of the time, with each rating delivering an average return of 10.7%. (See Instacart Options Activity on TipRanks).

SLB

Oilfield services company SLB (SLB), formerly Schlumberger, recently reported better-than-expected third-quarter adjusted earnings. SLB stated that the oil and gas industry continues to gain from a multi-year growth cycle that has shifted to international and offshore markets, where the company claims to enjoy a dominant position.       
Goldman Sachs analyst Neil Mehta contends that while there are no clear near-term catalysts for SLB stock, the long-term growth story remains intact due to resilient customer spending. The analyst highlighted that Saudi Aramco is expected to spend about $245 billion through 2030, reflecting about 5% to 6% annual growth. Further, additional spending (at a modest growth rate) is anticipated from the United Arab Emirates’ ADNOC, Qatar and other players in the region.
Given that 80% of SLB’s revenue is from international and offshore markets, Mehta is confident that the company is well-positioned to leverage the long-term momentum in the Middle East. 
“SLB remains the preferred way to gain exposure to the international and offshore theme, with additional growth drivers in the expansion of its digital footprint with customers, which is margin accretive at ~40-45%, in our view,” said Mehta. 
Calling SLB a structural winner, particularly during pullbacks, Mehta reiterated a buy rating on the stock with a price target of $65. He ranks No. 155 among more than 8,500 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been profitable 65% of the time, with each delivering an average return of 12.5%. (See SLB’s Stock Charts on TipRanks) 

Tesla

Our final name this week is electric vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA). The company missed earnings and revenue guidance for the third quarter, with macro pressures, a highly competitive EV market and aggressive price cuts affecting its performance.
Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh noted that despite the sequential decline in the company’s Q3 gross and operating margin due to lower pricing and Cybertruck R&D expenses, they remain at the high end of the margins of legacy automakers and way above rival EV makers’ margins.
The analyst lowered his price target for TSLA stock to $310 from $330 to reflect near-term headwinds like margin pressure, macro weakness and Cybertruck ramp challenges. Nevertheless, he reiterated a buy rating, noting that the stock still trades at a discount to disruptors such as Nvidia, while also generating profitability at scale.
“We believe TSLA is prioritizing market share, technology, and cost leadership and is better positioned than peers to weather any turbulence to the broader Auto market,” said Rakesh.
Rakesh ranks No. 82 among more than 8,500 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been profitable 57% of the time, with each delivering a return of 18.6%, on average. (See Tesla Financial Statements on TipRanks) More