Analysts Issue Key AI Calls: SpaceX Gets $800 Target, Salesforce Downgraded on Weak Feedback

Wall Street analysts issued several key calls on major technology and artificial intelligence-related companies this week, highlighted by a new Street-high price target for SpaceX and a notable downgrade for Salesforce. The moves reflect diverging views on the near-term monetization of AI and the fundamental strength of different market segments.

Bullish Calls on Infrastructure and E-commerce

Raymond James initiated coverage of SpaceX with a Strong Buy rating and an $800 price target, the highest on Wall Street. The firm's thesis, outlined by analyst Brian Gesuale, argues that SpaceX is creating "the foundational platform for the next generation of industrial capacity" with a total addressable market approaching $30 trillion. The valuation hinges on Starship, which the firm believes will cut the cost of transporting mass to orbit by over 99%.

Bank of America reiterated its Buy rating on Alibaba with a price objective of $172 per share, labeling it "one of the most compelling AI plays in China." Analysts expect AI-led demand to push Alibaba's cloud revenue growth to 45% year-over-year in the June quarter, an acceleration from 38% in the previous quarter.

Stifel upgraded Shopify to Buy and raised its price target to $150 from $110, citing the stock's year-to-date decline as an attractive entry point. The firm sees a "realistic path to 30%-plus revenue growth in 2026" as Shopify gains market share in enterprise, B2B, and international markets, according to analyst J. Parker Lane.

Contrasting Views on Software and Semiconductors

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In a more bearish move, Bernstein downgraded Salesforce to Sector Weight from Outperform, removing its price target. The decision was based on weak customer feedback regarding the company's Agentforce AI product.

Key points from the Bernstein note include:

• Customer conversations indicated that client data is often not organized enough for meaningful AI implementation.
• Feedback suggested that the Agentforce product "just isn’t there" from a maturity standpoint.
• A recent CIO survey showed more IT departments expect to deprioritize Salesforce spending than to increase it over the next 12 months.

Meanwhile, Mizuho TMT specialist Jordan Klein suggested investors overreacted to Samsung's preliminary second-quarter results. Klein argued that the semiconductor sell-off was not based on fundamental deterioration, noting that the company's operating profit was a "strong beat" if one-time expenses were excluded, with implied memory operating margins over 80%. He attributed the revenue miss to mobile and TV segments, not the core memory business, and highlighted strong pricing trends for DRAM and NAND chips.