Biogen Upgrade, Regeneron Downgrade and Roblox Initiations: Top Calls on Wall Street

Top 5 Upgrades:

• Goldman Sachs analyst Salveen Richter upgraded Biogen (BIIB) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $370, up from $220, after updating his 2022 sales estimates for quarterly trends and revised guidance and increasing his lecanemab sales forecasts based on the recent positive Phase 3 topline data
• Deutsche Bank analyst George Hill upgraded Humana (HUM) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $576, up from $514. The analyst says six regional independent Medicare Advantage brokers confirmed to him the solidifying of Humana's leading position in Medicare Advantage, and the rising challenges facing many of its competitors.
• Morgan Stanley analyst Betsy Graseck upgraded Discover Financial Services (DFS) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $116, up from $104, citing the resumption of the share buyback.
• Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Charles Duncan upgraded Biohaven Pharmaceutical (BHVN) to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $27, down from $158, following the completion of the sale of its anti-CGRP assets to Pfizer (PFE) for $148.50 per share in cash, which was preceded by the spinout of its remaining assets into a SpinCo.
• Canaccord analyst Matt Bottomley upgraded Canopy Growth (CGC) to Hold from Sell with a price target of C$4.25, up from C$2.75, following the company's series of announcements to streamline and create a holding company, Canopy USA, to consolidate its U.S. THC operations.

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Raymond James analyst Dane Leone downgraded Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) to Underperform from Market Perform without a price target. In a research note to investors, Leone says that the life cycle extension benefit of 8mg aflibercept is likely over-estimated and that the oncology portfolio is likely to continue to struggle during 2023.
• Compass Point analyst Giuliano Bologna downgraded Ally Financial (ALLY) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $27, down from $50, following the company’s third quarter earnings miss and issuance of a "significantly weaker" updated outlook for earnings through fiscal 2023.
• BofA analyst Elizabeth Suzuki downgraded Whirlpool (WHR) to Underperform from Neutral with a price target of $119, down from $155. Industry and company data suggest a severe drop in appliance demand and softening of pricing, Suzuki told investors.
• JPMorgan analyst Jeffrey Zekauskas downgraded Crown Holdings (CCK) to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $71, down from $115. It will be difficult for Crown to capture an enhanced trading multiple with little free cash flow generation likely for 2022 or 2023, Zekauskas argued.
• Wells Fargo analyst Roger Read downgraded Baker Hughes (BKR) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $29, down from $32. The analyst sees Baker as a "show me" stock "that could easily continue to lag its peers for another quarter or two."

Top 5 Initiations:

• DA Davidson analyst Franco Granda initiated coverage of Roblox (RBLX) with a Buy rating and $55 price target. The analyst is positive on the company's "user-first platform approach," its ability to outperform Mobile Gaming peers with a fraction of cost, the emerging opportunities to improve economics at a platform-wide level, and a growing number of use cases beyond gaming. Piper Sandler analyst Thomas Champion also initiated coverage of Roblox with an Overweight rating and $54 price target.
• Mizuho analyst Anthony Petrone initiated coverage of Abbott Laboratories (ABT) with a Neutral rating and $105 price target. The analyst says the Neutral rating balances the benefits of the company's "solid" positioning in several of the fastest growing medical technology markets and "fortress" balance sheet against COVID testing and infant formula recall/relaunch headwinds. He also started Teleflex (TFX) with a Neutral and Edwards Lifesciences (EW) with a Buy rating.
• H.C. Wainwright analyst Vernon Bernardino initiated coverage of GeoVax Labs (GOVX) with a Buy rating and $8 price target. GeoVax's pipeline "shows promise as up-and-coming vaccines for infectious diseases and cancer," Bernardino told investors in a research note.
• EF Hutton analyst Michael Albanese initiated coverage ofSHF Holdings(SHFS) with a Buy rating and $10.50 price target. The company's Safe Harbor Financial provides compliant access to banking and financial services for customers in the cannabis industry, which is growing and "starved for capital," Albanese said.
• BofA analyst Sherif El-Sabbahy reinstated coverage of Charah Solutions (CHRA) with an Underperform rating and $1.65 price target. While Charah has "undergone substantial changes in the past two years" by divesting its "sizable" nuclear power plant services business unit, refocusing around core coal ash markets, introducing new products to its coal ash services portfolio and refreshing management with a new CFO, Charah "continues to be plagued by high leverage, low FCF, and unprofitable legacy projects" and remains a "show me" story given its challenges, the analyst told investors.