US OPEN: Wall Street starts the new trading week with gains!

• Wall Street starts Tuesday's session with gains

• Palo Alto Networks (PANW.US) on wave of quarterly results and raised forecasts

• Nvidia (NVDA.US) gains ahead of quarterly report scheduled for Wednesday

• Citigroup (C.US) considers plan to split institutional client group under review into three main business segments

The first session on Wall Street this week begins with gains in the major stock market benchmarks. Market sentiment is improving despite strong quarterly results from Palo Alto Networks (PANW.US) and gaining shares of Nvidia (NVDA.US), which will report its financial results on Wednesday and is already being bolstered by investment banks upgrading ratings on the company's stock today. The marko calendar itself for today, however, is relatively poor. 

US companies categorised by sector and industry. Size indicates market capitalisation. Source: xStation5

The US100 index is gaining close to 0.8% at the start of today's session and continues its breakout above the 14,700-point zone defended on Friday. Source: xStation5

News

Shares of Palo Alto Networks (PANW.US) surged more than 12% after its dominant position in the cyber-security market helped drive strong results and raise forecasts, cheering up investors concerned about possible weakness following weak results from Fortinet (FTNT.US). On Friday, the company forecast full-year billings of US$10.9bn to US$11.0bn, above the consensus estimate of US$10.80bn, prompting at least 14 brokerages to raise their recommendation on the company's shares. 

Source: xStation 5

XPeng (VPEV.US) shares gain nearly 6% on BofA's upgraded recommendation on the company's shares to a 'buy' rating from its previous 'neutral' rating due to its partnership with Volkswagen (VOW1.DE). 

Meta Platforms (META.US) is set to launch an online version of its new social media platform Threads, hoping to gain an edge over X, formerly Twitter.

California's automotive regulator said on Friday that it was investigating disturbing incidents involving autonomous vehicles operated by the General Motors Cruise (GM.US) unit in San Francisco and had asked the company to take half of its robots off the road.

Citi (C.US) is considering a plan to split its institutional client group under review into three main business segments: investment and corporate banking, global markets and transaction services.

ANALYSTS' RECOMMENDATION

- Estee Lauder Companies Inc (EL.US): JPMorgan is lowering its target price to $191 from $224 as the company forecasts weak full-year sales and profit.

- Palo Alto Networks Inc (PANW.US): Wells Fargo raises target price to US$270 from US$265, stating that the company's medium-term targets for the fourth quarter were well above expectations.

- General Mills Inc (GIS.US): JPMorgan cuts target price to USD 71 from USD 75, reflecting the company's weaker-than-expected consumer trends.