$NICE

NICE Ltd. (NICE) was named a Leader in Gartner’s 2026 CCaaS Magic Quadrant. The company reported AI annual recurring revenue (ARR) of $362M in Q2 2026, up 52% year-over-year, accounting for 15% of cloud revenue. NICE attributes record AI bookings to NICE Cognigy.

Yorkville Ives initiated coverage on NICE Systems (NASDAQ:NICE) with an In Line rating and $125 price target. The company's AI and cloud opportunities are noted, but competition is a concern. NICE reported Q2 2026 earnings of $2.70 per share and $782.3M revenue, beating estimates. Cloud revenue rose 12.6% YoY, and AI revenue increased 52% YoY. Oppenheimer and RBC Capital also issued positive ratings and price targets.

NICE, a provider of enterprise software solutions, was named a leader in the IDC MarketScape for worldwide agentic contact center-as-a-service platforms. The recognition highlights NICE's unified platform for operationalizing agentic AI across the customer journey.

Oppenheimer upgraded NICE to Outperform, citing improved financials and easing AI disruption fears. The firm set a $150 price target, and shares rose 4% in early trading.

Analysts made several calls: UBS kept Apple neutral citing stable iPhone wait times. Wells Fargo upgraded Pinnacle Financial and downgraded Ally Financial. Deutsche Bank initiated FormFactor as buy. William Blair initiated CoreWeave and Nebius Group as outperform. Bank of America reiterated Nvidia, Intel, Marvell, Micron, and Lam Research as buy. Citi initiated Nuvation Bio as buy and downgraded Moderna to sell. HSBC upgraded Target to buy. Morgan Stanley reiterated Tesla as equal weight.

Wall Street analysts issued upgrades, downgrades, and initiations for several companies. Notable upgrades include Target (TGT) to Buy at HSBC with a $190 target, and Grocery Outlet (GO) to Buy at Bank of America with a $15 target. Downgrades include Ally Financial (ALLY) to Equal Weight at Wells Fargo with a $42 target, and Moderna (MRNA) to Sell at Citigroup with an $80 target.

Tel Aviv Stock Exchange indices fell, with Tel Aviv 35 down 0.26% and BlueTech Global down 0.12%. Nice gained 1.68% on acquisition rumors, while Camtek dropped 2.73%. Banking and retail sectors saw declines. Turnover was NIS 3.84B in equities and NIS 6.63B in bonds.

Brookfield is in talks to acquire Actimize from NICE for $2 billion, though the deal is not finalized. NICE, with a $6.9 billion market cap, has seen low single-digit stock gains this year. Brookfield manages over $1 trillion in assets and has a $73.5 billion market cap. NICE reported Q2 2026 revenue of $782 million, with $83.2 million in net profit.

NICE Ltd. (NICE) shares rose after an analyst upgraded the stock to Buy and the company announced plans to sell its Actimize unit for $2B to focus on AI and cloud platforms. The rally follows a strong Q2 earnings beat and new customer wins. The company has strong margins and cash generation but faces challenges in revenue conversion and profit pressure.

NiCE (NICE) announced that Merlin Entertainments is using its CXone AI platform to enhance guest experiences across its global attractions, including LEGOLAND and Madame Tussauds. Merlin reported improvements in guest satisfaction and issue resolution rates. The partnership aims to streamline guest interactions and improve operational efficiency.