Illinois Tool Works price target raised to $318 from $312 at Truist

Truist raised the firm’s price target on Illinois Tool Works (ITW) to $318 from $312 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares as part of a broader research note previewing 2025 for Machinery and Infrastructure Services Industrials names. After strong 2024, the anticipated large-scale investment in infrastructure, renewable energy, data centers, and life sciences supports continued long term secular growth among Infrastructure Services names, and the firm believes that secular abd stimulus plays will continue to outperform in 2025, the analyst tells investors in a research note. ISM New Orders data inflected above 50 in November after a two-year contraction, while the Manufacturing PMI should finally recover by mid-2025 with production cuts coming to an end, election fears behind, and Fed cuts helping to boost demand, Truist notes. Under the Trump administration, deregulation, potential easing of permitting on large projects, and a more balanced mix between green and traditional energy should ultimately support growth in the US economy, the firm adds, warning however that tariffs and/or escalation in trade tensions could ultimately cause demand destruction, aggravating the supply chain, and reigniting inflationary pressures.