Here are Thursday’s biggest calls on Wall Street:
Evercore ISI upgrades Live Nation to outperform from market perform
Evercore said it sees an attractive entry point for the live theater and entertainment company.
“Regulatory overhang, uncertainty about ’24 growth, and upside to nearterm estimates creates an attractive entry point for Live Nation’s equity.
Bank of America reiterates Meta as buy
Bank of America said it’s standing by its buy rating after Meta’s earnings report on Wednesday.
“With expense guide resolving some uncertainty, we believe stock can see renewed enthusiasm on 2024 upside, while growing optimism on AI capabilities can drive multiple expansion.
Piper Sandler reiterates Apple as overweight
Piper said it’s standing by its overweight rating on the stock ahead of earnings next week.
“We are reducing estimates on Apple’s December quarter guide ahead of earnings next week. The primary reasons for our cut are a tough global phone environment, initial weakness for iPhones in China, and slightly tough compares for Mac and iPad.”
Goldman Sachs reiterates ServiceNow as buy
Goldman said it’s standing by its buy rating on the stock after Wednesday’s robust earnings report.
“With its strategic positioning across multiple end-markets in enterprise software ($220bn TAM), coupled with still significant margin unlock vs. scale peers (e.g. MSFT, ADBE), we continue to view ServiceNow as amongst the most compelling investment opportunities in software.”
DA Davidson upgrades Adobe to buy from hold
DA said the stock is “best-in-class.”
“We are upgrading Adobe to a BUY rating and adding it to D.A. Davidson’s ’Best-of-Breed Bison’ list, comprising a select group of long-term best in class companies with sustainable competitive moats.”
KeyBanc downgrades Thermo Fisher to sector weight from overweight
Key said it sees too many moving parts for Thermo Fisher.
“We see lower growth than peers in FY24 and release a revised earnings model.”
Oppenheimer upgrades Adobe to outperform from market perform
Oppenheimer said the stock has a “favorable outlook.”
“We raise our rating on Adobe to Outperform from Perform and initiate a $660 target on the stock as we see a strengthening business momentum, a favorable outlook for FY2024, and durable growth based on positive fundamental trends and a top position in software for the generative AI opportunity gleaned from our customer and industry surveys.”
HSBC upgrades Microsoft to buy from hold
HSBC said the Microsoft has an “attractive valuation.”
“We upgrade MSFT to Buy (from Hold) after stronger-than expected 1Q FY24 results and on our improved outlook.”
Bank of America downgrades F5 Networks to underperform from neutral
Bank of America said in its downgrade of the security and networking company that it sees muted growth for F5.
“F5′s stock has underperformed NASDAQ in four of the last five years, and is up only 6% YTD vs. NASDAQ’s 23%. We expect revenue growth to remain muted, at -2% and +4% over the next two years, and believe the stock may continue to underperform our coverage universe.”
Cantor Fitzgerald initiates Rocket Lab as buy
Cantor said in its initiation of the space company that it has a “proven and successful launch track record.”
“Rocket Lab is a space company that develops and launches orbital rockets that deploy payloads for government and commercial customers.”
Citi reiterates Endeavor as buy
Citi said in a note on Wednesday night that the entertainment company should consider going private.
“Earlier [Wednesday], Endeavor released an 8K suggesting it was reviewing its strategic alternatives. Shortly thereafter, Silver Lake (who controls 71% of the Endeavor vote) announced it was considering taking Endeavor private. Given the sharp deterioration in Endeavor’s equity value, this doesn’t come as a big surprise.”
Bank of America initiates Paycom as buy
Bank of America said it’s bullish on the “fast growth” payroll and human resources company.
“We are initiating coverage of Paycom with a Buy rating and $330 PO, implying upside of 30%.
Piper Sandler reiterates Amazon as overweight
Piper Sandler said it thinks Microsoft and Alphabet’s earnings reports portend well for Amazon’s quarterly report on Thursday.
“For AMZN stock, down from the recent highs, we believe that this commentary has already been partially absorbed.”
Redburn Atlantic Equities reiterates Disney as sell
Redburn said estimates remain too high with too many challenges for Disney.
“With estimates still too high in our view, we remain confident in our Sell recommendation.”
Jefferies downgrades Bath & Body Works to hold from buy
Jefferies said in its downgrade of the stock that it sees slowing growth.
“We are downgrading to Hold as we see limited growth opptys. Our data across social, foot traffic, & share suggest a slowing of trends for BBWI.”
Northland upgrades Nextracker to outperform from market perform
Northland upgraded Nextracker after the solar tracker solutions company’s robust earnings report.
“With such strong results, however, we expect the stock to rise still further as the merger arbitrage bets settle in and the stock begins being driven by fundamentals.”
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