These reports, excerpted and edited by Barron's, were issued recently by investment and research firms. The reports are a sampling of analysts' thinking; they should not be considered the views or recommendations of Barron's. Some of the reports' issuers have provided, or hope to provide, investment-banking or other services to the companies being analyzed.

Costco Wholesale -- COST-Nasdaq Buy -- $860.39 on Dec. 16 by TD Cowen We think concerns over the dip in Costco's renewal rates over the past three quarters are overblown, and valuation at 39 times is an opportunity. Why we are still encouraged: 1) We think it is a net positive for Costco to attract younger and more digitally enabled members despite their lower renewal rates, given less affluent household characteristics and other factors; 2) household and membership fee income growth remain strong; and 3) mitigation efforts including targeted communication are showing early signs of success.

That being said, we wish that Costco Wholesale was earlier to mitigation efforts, as we believe more-targeted strategies to get these shoppers into the store would allow them to recognize the full value of Costco membership.

Price target: $1,175.

Zillow Group -- ZG-Nasdaq Neutral -- $66.67 on Dec. 17 by BTIG A Google test placing for-sale home listings at the top of mobile search results sparked concern recently that it could be mounting a challenge to Zillow Group and CoStar's Homes.com....This test suggests that Google is at least considering targeting the same agent ad dollars that feed Zillow Group. Zillow Group sources a lot of its traffic direct (about 80%), and the test may be breaking industry advertising rules, but it is absolutely a concern.

We've seen what Google can do when it targets a vertical. Our main point is that this test appears to be still running.

Malibu Boats -- MBUU-Nasdaq Buy -- $28.84 on Dec. 17 by Seaport Research Partners The marine market is highly cyclical, and we believe this is the right time to gain exposure, with the industry in better health and poised to grow in 2026. We have a positive view on the resilient U.S. consumer and anticipate an expansion of discretionary spending for leisure products like boats. The marine market also benefits from an expansion in boating participation and growing appeal of the outdoor lifestyle. We see significant upside leverage to the Malibu Boats model.

Malibu has a robust portfolio of premium boat brands with opportunities for synergies and growth through geographic and product expansion. We view positively new initiatives such as parts and accessories, components, and financial products.

Price target: $36.

Vital Farms -- VITL-Nasdaq Buy -- $34.53 on Dec. 16 by Benchmark Equity Research Ahead of its investor day, Vital Farms announced updated 2026 and long-term targets that exceeded our expectations, while ticking down fiscal-year 2025 guidance on account of processing disruptions in fourth-quarter 2025 caused by an enterprise resource planning implementation. Shares immediately fell (16%) premarket on the release, a sharp reaction that we believe attributed to 1) the modest reduction in fourth-quarter 2025 guidance, and 2) holding long-term gross margin targets unchanged at 35%-plus, versus trailing 12-month gross margins of 38%.

The tug-of-war between shorts and longs continues, and we remain high conviction buyers of an insurgent brand with enduring fundamental strength whose valuation is skewed far too much toward a misguided short thesis.

Price target: $60.

Micron Technology -- MU-Nasdaq Buy -- $237.50 on Dec. 16 by Needham With the memory market continuing to tighten, demand likely to exceed supply throughout calendar-year 2026, and DRAM and NAND pricing moving meaningfully higher, we are substantially raising our fiscal-2026 and fiscal-2027 revenue and NG earnings-per-share estimates for Micron Technology. We also increase our 12-month price target to $300, now based on a 3.1 price to tangible book value ratio based on our fiscal first-quarter 2028 (Nov.) tangible book value estimate of $96.15.

Navan -- NAVN-Nasdaq Outperform -- $14.64 on Dec. 16 by Oppenheimer Navan reported a strong fiscal third-quarter beat on higher gross-book-value growth reflecting 110% net revenue retention on AI/Direct-Connections increasing user engagement with continuing enterprise momentum. Management accelerated its positive free-cash-flow timing by one year on greater operating capital/working capital efficiency with no change to 20%-plus growth algorithm.

The stock is down 40% since the Oct. 29 initial public offering on poor sentiment toward application software over artificial-intelligence disruption narrative, unwarranted for Navan, in our view. We see 40%-plus gross book value and 245 basis points of gross-margin expansion supporting our thesis of Navan being an AI beneficiary from suppliers accelerating adoption into a platform providing broad distribution into high value/engaged user base.

With shares trading at about four times calendar-year gross profit, we see a compelling entry point, and expect the valuation gap to close with slower-growing peers on sustaining 20%-plus growth with gross margin expansion.

Price target: $25.

To be considered for this section, material should be sent to Research@barrons.com.

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 19, 2025 19:00 ET (00:00 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.