Applied Materials, Lowe’s added to Jefferies franchise picks list

The Jefferies equity team is shuffling its Franchise Picks list of top-conviction buy-rated stocks, adding three new names. Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT), Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW) and Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) join the list of 21 stocks. AMAT , price target $140 – “We believe the semi-cap equipment industry has transitioned from flat to DD% secular growth, bolstered by bigger chips and more complex manufacturing,” the team said. “We favor AMAT’s deposition market exposure & view the stock as an undiscovered AI play. We think shares re-rate to a premium P/E vs. the SPX ( SP500 ) ( SPY ) ( IVV ) (…