Nike exits Russia, Snowflake stock jumps, WeWork stock soars on upgrade

Yahoo Finance Live looks at several of today's trending stocks, including Snowflake's upgrade by JPMorgan.

Video Transcript

RACHELLE AKUFFO: Welcome back, everyone. It is time for our Triple Play. And I'm going to kick us off with my pick, which is cloud company Snowflake. Now the stock is getting a boost, as it was the top software company in terms of spending intent from its installed base. Now most of those users plan to up their spending. You see the stock there. You see the stock there really doing well today and up in intraday trading as well.

Now it also topped the list for small and mid-sized companies with impressive visions. Now that caught the eye of JPMorgan Chase. And we really saw some positive comments coming from them, also helping boost the stock as well.

SEANA SMITH: It certainly has. I mean, it was a very bullish note here from JP Morgan. You mentioned the fact that some of their existing customers are planning to increase their spend with Snowflake. Clearly a bullish sign for the company. We also have to remember that this stock has been hit pretty hard. And you can see it on your screen. But if you go back to November, its recent high, the stock is off almost 70% since that time. So here we are, trading at $142 a share. So it also seems like a bit of a valuation call from JP Morgan.

All right, now let's move on to Nike. That is my play today. The latest Western company to pull out of Russia, permanently closing its more than 100 stores in the region. Now Nike initially suspended its online and in-store sales in the country, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine back in March. Now the move won't have a huge impact on Nike's bottom line. At least that's the thought process right now. The company recently saying that its business in Russia and Ukraine represents less than 1% of its total revenue.

The stock holding onto gains today. It's still in the green, trading just around $107 a share. But Dave, three of us, and Rachelle, have all talked about Western companies pulling out of Russia. I was actually surprised it took Nike this long to do so.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: Right.

DAVE BRIGGS: Thank you, yeah.

SEANA SMITH: But at least, it's better late than never.

DAVE BRIGGS: That was my initial reaction. I had just assumed they had done this months ago. 100 stores there. But my question with Nike, with McDonald's, with Starbucks with all these Western companies pulling out, is the statement clearly says stores will not reopen.

Is that definitive if, in fact, this invasion ends in a month or two months or three? Will they reopen? This is still an unprovoked attack, killing more than 40,000 to 50,000 innocent civilians. Will they then resume business once it ends? We all hope not as humanitarians. We'll see what the shareholders and investors and boards say about that in the future.

My play is WE, the stock symbol, WeWork. Credit Suisse rating WeWork as an outperform, saying they are, quote, "well-positioned to take advantage of the structural demand drivers for the flex office industry." The analyst also added an $11 price target, which may not sound like much, but that's more than double its Wednesday closing. Still a long way to go to get anywhere near its pandemic peak. Shares are down 60% from their 52-week high, down 33% year to date. But boy, look at the bounce today. It is significant, up 14% on this news.

Look, I've always thought that we were a little panicked on WeWork. We're never going back, with the exception of us, five days a week. Remember, only 8% of New York City is back five days a week. 44% of this country is back three days a week. I still feel like WeWork is a model that can work.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: I'm not sure, though, because, obviously, you have this hybrid work model, but you're either at home or you're in the office. So at what point would you then need WeWork? I'm trying to sort of figure out where they would really fit in there, unless, perhaps, you're like, it's hectic at home, or you have a lot going on. There's really no reason why you'd be there versus at work or at home.

DAVE BRIGGS: So you think this-- see, I am-- look, I need an office. With all due respect to my family, if-- I just can't work at home. And I know a lot of people then, once they feel like if this is a permanent situation, they still need a work environment that's not home. They just don't want to make that hour long trip, as some of us do.

SEANA SMITH: I think it definitely makes sense over the next couple of years. I would say, though, if you were to ask us a year ago, if 40% of the workforce would have been back at least three days a week, I think many of us would have probably said no. We thought that people would have more flexibility if they wanted to. I think we're seeing more and more companies mandate that workers return to the office. So I don't know whether or not that's going to continue. Obviously, if that continues, that might not be good news for WeWork, but we'll see.

DAVE BRIGGS: Because the prevailing wisdom among CEOs right now is if we get that recession, that mobile work, that hybrid system is gone, because then they will have all the power and be able to pull you back five days a week.