Here are Friday’s biggest calls on Wall Street:
Jefferies initiates Duke Energy as buy
Jefferies said the energy company is a top idea.
“We initiate Duke Energy (DUK) at BUY with a $138.00 PT as a top large cap idea.”
Morgan Stanley upgrades Centessa Pharmaceuticals, to overweight from equal weight
Morgan Stanley said in its upgrade of Centessa that it’s bullish on the biopharma company’s narcolepsy treatment.
“We upgrade our rating to Overweight (from Equal-weight) and raise our PT to $26 (from $11).”
Morgan Stanley downgrades Pepsi to equal weight from overweight
Morgan Stanley said it sees “topline softness.”
″...Pepsi’s market share is deteriorating in US scanner data, and if recent reinvestment (which has been funded so far with cost savings) does not drive greater payback, the need to fund additional reinvestment in 2025 will likely drive a below LT algorithm EPS.”
Evercore ISI reiterates Amazon as outperform
Evercore raised its price target on the stock to $240 per share from $225.
“AMZN remains our #1 Large Cap Long.”
KeyBanc initiates Amkor Technologies as overweight
Key said it’s bullish on the semis manufacturer.
“We think AMKR should deliver HSD-LDD [high single digits low double digits] growth in the next several years, which should translate into DD% EPS growth and solid share price returns.”
B. Riley initiates Reddit as buy
B. Riley said it sees an attractive risk/reward for the social news aggregation website company.
“We believe RDDT offers a differentiated value proposition to users, advertisers, and content licensees through its unique platform, which powers tens of millions of users across 100K+ communities, creating a large and growing repository of curated content.”
Morgan Stanley names Nio a research catalyst idea
Morgan Stanley said it’s bullish on Nio after the China electric vehicle company debuted its latest model, the L60.
“We believe the share price will rise in absolute terms over the next 15 days.”
UBS reiterates Apple as neutral
UBS said its survey checks show Apple iPhone 16 demand may not be as bad as feared.
“While we still argue the collection of iPhone/iOS attributes are more evolutionary than revolutionary, we caution that investors not overreact to data that suggests somewhat initial tepid demand.”
Bernstein downgrades Darden to market perform from outperform
Bernstein said it sees “limited upside” following the owner of Olive Garden’s earnings report on Thursday.
“With continued macro pressures across all income cohorts, DRI marginally missed same store sales.”
Morgan Stanley downgrades ASML to equal weight from overweight
Morgan Stanley said in its downgrade of ASML that the risk/reward is more balanced for the European semis company.
“We see a balancing risk/reward as indicative of late cycle share price dynamics.”
RBC initiates CyberArk as outperform
RBC said the cyber security company is a top idea.
“We initiate with an Outperform rating and $328 PT as CYBR is a top mid-cap cyber-security idea.
Wells Fargo upgrades Aptiv to overweight from equal weight
Wells said it’s getting more constructive on shares of the auto tech supplier.
“We are upgrading APTV to OW based on above-average GoM [gross operating margin] & much improved valuation.”
Wells Fargo upgrades Visteon to overweight from equal weight
Wells said in its upgrade of the auto electronics supplier that it’s growth at a “bargain.”
“We upgrade VC to OW based on valuation & above average growth.”
Morgan Stanley downgrades FedEx to underweight to from equal weight
Morgan Stanley downgraded FedEx following its disappointing earnings report on Thursday.
“We continue to see structural challenges in Parcel in terms of volume, price and mix from secular changes in e-commerce supply chains, competition, and more.”
Deutsche Bank adds a catalyst call buy on American Airlines
Deutsche said it sees “earnings headwinds turning into tailwinds.”
“American’s year-to-date share price has materially underperformed the market (down 19.1% vs. S&P 500 gain of 19.8%) and its two peers, Delta (up 17.2%) and United (up 27.5%), but for good reason.”
Susquehanna initiates Affirm as positive
Susquehanna said it’s bullish on shares of the payment company.
“With various lanes of growth that include rapidly broadening merchant acceptance and a highvelocity funnel of new consumer accounts coming on file, we are generally constructive on AFRM as a ‘new way to pay.’”
Evercore ISI upgrades Darden to outperform from in line
Evercore said in its upgrade of Darden that it sees “value” for the owner of brands like Olive Garden.
“We believe the company will continue to focus on profitable sales growth allowing EBITDA margin to improve over the next 12 month supported by benign commodity inflation and labor productivity.”
Morgan Stanley reiterates Sunrun as overweight
Morgan Stanley said the solar company has more room to run and that it’s long term bullish on the company’s partnership with Costco.
“While the termination of the RUN/COST sales partnership may be a headwind for growth, it should also be a tailwind for margins, while a falling cost of capital should improve demand and cash gen.”
Bank of America reiterates Tesla as buy
Bank of America said it’s sticking with shares of Tesla heading into its robotaxi day in October.
“Tesla will likely put on a good show, providing an unpredictable intangible ahead of the event. We expect any additional detail would skew more positively for the stock given past experience.”
Citi initiates Capital One as buy
Citi said Capital One is a “premier financial services” company.
“It is well known for its technology leadership, and our work found this gives it a substantial competitive advantage in credit cards which is one of banking’s most profitable segments.”
Bank of America reiterates Nike as buy
The firm said it’s bullish on the company’s CEO change.
“Nike’s recent financial and stock underperformance left it in need of a shakeup, and we view this change positively.”
Morgan Stanley reiterates Mercado Libre as overweight
Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Mercado Libre to $2,500 per share from $2,175 and says it has “compounding conviction” on the Argentina online market place company.
“We move to an end-’25 PT of US$2,500, for 21% upside; compounding conviction keeps us OW, while amid less outsized near-term risk-reward we remove our Top Pick designation.”
Jefferies initiates Clearway Energy as buy
Jefferies said the renewables company is a standout.
“Clearway Energy (CWEN) is a renewable infrastructure owner that stands out with consistent, steady, reliable growth amidst a peer backdrop of missed targets and downward revisions.”
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