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CNBC's Final Trades: IBM's Big Deal, Toast Gets an Upgrade, and AppLovin Eyes New Highs

MarketDash Editorial Team
4 hours ago
Wall Street pros shared their top picks on CNBC's Halftime Report, spotlighting IBM's $11 billion Confluent acquisition, Toast's fresh JPMorgan upgrade, TopBuild's solid earnings beat, and AppLovin's run toward all-time highs.

Tuesday's edition of CNBC's "Halftime Report Final Trades" brought some interesting stock picks from Wall Street strategists, with deals, upgrades, and momentum plays taking center stage.

IBM Makes a Strategic Move

Stephanie Link, chief investment strategist, head of investment solutions and portfolio manager at Hightower Advisors, said she loves the acquisition by International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).

The tech giant agreed Monday to acquire Confluent, Inc. (CFLT) for $31 per share, valuing the data streaming company at $11 billion. It's a strategic play that brings Confluent's real-time, open-source data streaming platform into IBM's portfolio. The technology enables enterprises to connect, process, and govern data and events in real time, which IBM sees as crucial infrastructure for deploying AI at scale. Link apparently sees the same potential.

Toast Gets Some Love

Joshua Brown, co-founder and CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, picked Toast, Inc. (TOST) as his final trade.

His timing looks pretty good. JPMorgan analyst Tien-Tsin Huang upgraded Toast from Neutral to Overweight on December 4, while keeping the price target at $43. That's a meaningful vote of confidence for the restaurant technology platform.

An Industrial Play on Housing

Brian Belski, founder, CEO and chief investment officer at Humilis Investment Strategies, named TopBuild Corp. (BLD) as his final trade.

The insulation and building materials specialist has the numbers to back up the pick. TopBuild reported third-quarter earnings of $5.36 per share, beating the analyst consensus of $5.30. Revenue came in at $1.393 billion, also topping expectations of $1.379 billion. Not a massive beat, but steady execution matters.

AppLovin's Momentum Play

Joseph M. Terranova, senior managing director for Virtus Investment Partners, said AppLovin Corporation (APP) is headed for a run toward its all-time intraday high of $745.

The mobile app technology company has momentum on its side after reporting better-than-expected third-quarter results on November 5 and issuing fourth-quarter sales guidance above estimates. With shares already trading at $724.62 after Tuesday's 5.1% jump, Terranova's call doesn't require much of a stretch to play out.

How They Closed

Tuesday's trading session showed mixed results for the four picks. IBM shares rose 0.4% to close at $310.48. Toast gained 0.1% to settle at $34.58. TopBuild shares fell 3.3% to close at $419.17, despite the solid earnings. AppLovin jumped 5.1% to settle at $724.62.

Back to News

CNBC's Final Trades: IBM's Big Deal, Toast Gets an Upgrade, and AppLovin Eyes New Highs

MarketDash Editorial Team
4 hours ago
Wall Street pros shared their top picks on CNBC's Halftime Report, spotlighting IBM's $11 billion Confluent acquisition, Toast's fresh JPMorgan upgrade, TopBuild's solid earnings beat, and AppLovin's run toward all-time highs.

Tuesday's edition of CNBC's "Halftime Report Final Trades" brought some interesting stock picks from Wall Street strategists, with deals, upgrades, and momentum plays taking center stage.

IBM Makes a Strategic Move

Stephanie Link, chief investment strategist, head of investment solutions and portfolio manager at Hightower Advisors, said she loves the acquisition by International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).

The tech giant agreed Monday to acquire Confluent, Inc. (CFLT) for $31 per share, valuing the data streaming company at $11 billion. It's a strategic play that brings Confluent's real-time, open-source data streaming platform into IBM's portfolio. The technology enables enterprises to connect, process, and govern data and events in real time, which IBM sees as crucial infrastructure for deploying AI at scale. Link apparently sees the same potential.

Toast Gets Some Love

Joshua Brown, co-founder and CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, picked Toast, Inc. (TOST) as his final trade.

His timing looks pretty good. JPMorgan analyst Tien-Tsin Huang upgraded Toast from Neutral to Overweight on December 4, while keeping the price target at $43. That's a meaningful vote of confidence for the restaurant technology platform.

An Industrial Play on Housing

Brian Belski, founder, CEO and chief investment officer at Humilis Investment Strategies, named TopBuild Corp. (BLD) as his final trade.

The insulation and building materials specialist has the numbers to back up the pick. TopBuild reported third-quarter earnings of $5.36 per share, beating the analyst consensus of $5.30. Revenue came in at $1.393 billion, also topping expectations of $1.379 billion. Not a massive beat, but steady execution matters.

AppLovin's Momentum Play

Joseph M. Terranova, senior managing director for Virtus Investment Partners, said AppLovin Corporation (APP) is headed for a run toward its all-time intraday high of $745.

The mobile app technology company has momentum on its side after reporting better-than-expected third-quarter results on November 5 and issuing fourth-quarter sales guidance above estimates. With shares already trading at $724.62 after Tuesday's 5.1% jump, Terranova's call doesn't require much of a stretch to play out.

How They Closed

Tuesday's trading session showed mixed results for the four picks. IBM shares rose 0.4% to close at $310.48. Toast gained 0.1% to settle at $34.58. TopBuild shares fell 3.3% to close at $419.17, despite the solid earnings. AppLovin jumped 5.1% to settle at $724.62.