Here are Thursday’s biggest calls on Wall Street:
Bank of America adds Cisco Systems and Goldman Sachs to the US1 list
Bank of America added both stocks to its top picks list.
“We are adding Cisco Systems (CSCO), Goldman Sachs Group (GS), and S&P Global (SPGI) to the US 1 List.”
JPMorgan upgrades JetBlue to neutral from underperform
JPMorgan said it likes the stock’s turnaround potential.
“That said, we believe JBLU is increasingly well- positioned for a modest potential move to the upside based on improving market sentiment.”
Loop initiates Samsara as buy
Loop said the software company is another way to play the AI and machine learning theme.
“We are initiating coverage of Samsara (IOT) with a Buy rating and $42 price target.”
KBW downgrades US Bancorp to market perform from outperform
KBW downgraded US Bancorp following the company’s earnings report.
“NII [net interest income] Outlook Weighs on the Stock; Downgrading to MP.”
Oppenheimer initiates Sprout Social as outperform
Oppenheimer said the software company is an “attractive vehicle for owning a strong management team and category leader in social media management at a reasonable valuation.”
“We launch coverage of SPT at Outperform and a $76 PT.”
JPMorgan reiterates Duolingo as overweight
JPMorgan said the online language app company has an attractive risk/reward.
“We believe there is potential upside to both DUOLs 1Q guide & 2024 outlook, which aligns with investor expectations based on our conversations.”
Oppenheimer initiates Oracle as perform
Oppenheimer said the company has a “less efficient cash model.”
“We see Oracle as a long-term beneficiary of the software industry secular trends (including digital transformation, generative AI, etc.) driving revenue growth and operating leverage.”
Deutsche Bank adds a catalyst call buy on Estee Lauder
Deutsche added a short-term buy rating on shares of the beauty giant.
“We view the setup into EL’s coming FY3Q24 results on May 1 skewing positively.”
Mizuho upgrades Linde to buy from neutral
Mizuho said the chemical company has defensive qualities.
“We upgrade LIN to Buy from Neutral with an unchanged price target of $510, which represents ~30x our 2025E EPS of $17.00.”
TD Cowen reiterates Nvidia as buy
TD Cowen said it’s “full speed ahead” for Nvidia.
“All systems go at the AI juggernaut on the heels of the ‘rock concert-like’ GTC in March.”
Bernstein reiterates Apple as market perform
Bernstein said it’s getting more “constructive” on Apple shares but is sticking with its market perform rating for now.
“We see 3 main avenues for Apple to monetize AI, albeit with cannibalization risk: 1) Offering AI-enabled capabilities on iPhone 16, which could drive incremental hardware sales; 2) capturing AI search upside through Advertising; 3) charging a take rate on AI apps.”
Jefferies initiates Kite Realty
Jefferies said the real estate investment trust is undervalued.
“KRG is underappreciated given strength in the retail leasing cycle & for having the highest leasing upside potential.”
Evercore ISI initiates GE Vernova as outperform
Evercore says GE Vernova is “well positioned for the energy transition.”
“The Key Player in the Mission to Electrify and Decarbonize the Power System; Well Positioned for the Energy Transition Supercycle.”
Loop downgrades BJ’s to hold from buy
Loop downgraded the stock mainly on valuation.
“We spoke with management prior to their quiet period, and we checked a number of BJ’s and competitor stores in our Metro NY market. We’re lowering our estimates today for merchandise SSS [same-store sales] and gross margin.”
Deutsche Bank downgrades Tesla to hold from buy
Deutsche downgraded the stock due to the possibility of a Model 2 “push-out.”
“We are downgrading TSLA to Hold from Buy and cutting our price target to $123, in light of the high likelihood of Model 2 push-out and the company’s change of strategic priority to Robotaxi.”
Needham reiterates Amazon as buy
Needham said it’s sticking by shares of the e-commerce giant.
“The catalyst for this note is to raise our FY24 profit ests for AMZN, based on CEO Andy Jassy’s shareholder letter promising more cost-cutting at AMZN’s inbound fulfillment architecture and inventory placement during FY24.”
BTIG initiates FTAI Infrastructure as buy
BTIG said it’s bullish on shares of the infrastructure company
“We are initiating coverage of FTAI Infrastructure (FIP) with a Buy rating and a $10 PT.”
BMO upgrades SL Green to outperform from market perform
BMO said commercial real estate in New York City “is back.”
“We upgrade shares of SLG to Outperform with a $58 target price. New York City office is one of the few REIT subsectors seeing improved demand.”
JPMorgan adds a negative catalyst watch on CarMax
JPMorgan said Carvana’s upcoming earnings report is a negative for CarMax shares.
“Keeping this in context, we see CVNAs 1Q results, scheduled for 5/1 AMC, as a negative catalyst for peer KMX shares, given volumes at KMX continue to remain weak, and are likely to re-surface more structural and competitive concerns around the LT growth and margin potential.”
DA Davidson upgrades Barnes to buy from neutral
DA said shares of the global industrial tech and aerospace company are attractive. The firm also added the stock to its best-in-class Stampede list.
“We are upgrading shares of Barnes Group from Neutral to BUY and are additionally raising our PT from $35 to $45.”
Mizuho initiates The AES Corporation as buy
Mizuho said it’s bullish on shares of the utilities company.
“We are initiating coverage of AES with a Buy rating and $21PT. AES is an owner and operator of US utilities, renewable developer, and global energy infrastructure pioneer.”
Morgan Stanley downgrades Match to equal weight from overweight
Morgan Stanley said in its downgrade of the stock that it needs more evidence of user growth.
“We downgrade MTCH from OW to EW and maintain BMBL at EW as we watch for evidence that product improvements are reaccelerating user growth.”
Morgan Stanley upgrades eBay to overweight from underweight and downgrades Etsy to underweight from equal weight
Morgan Stanley opened a pair trade on Etsy and eBay.
“We pair OW EBAY (u/g from UW) and UW ETSY (d/g from EW) on growth convergence.”
KeyBanc upgrades Zscaler to overweight from sector weight
Key upgraded the IT security company following a series of positive channel checks.
“We are upgrading shares of ZS in conjunction with our 1Q24 IT VAR survey given: 1) our more constructive view on the competitive landscape; 2) positive channel and survey feedback.”
Rosenblatt upgrades Zoom to buy from neutral
Rosenblatt upgraded the stock after positive channel checks.
“Zoom has revitalized its channel strategy with updated programs and incentives, generating positive partner feedback.”
Loop downgrades Knight-Swift to hold from buy
Loop says the transportation company is in a “difficult place.”
“Knight-Swift is in a very different place, with a profit warning on Wednesday guiding Q1 EPS to a range of $0.19 to $0.20 from the prior guide of $0.37 to $0.41 just 12 weeks ago.”
Janney initiates Vistra as buy
Janney said it’s bullish on shares of the energy company.
“Near-term cash flow is well hedged. Additionally, VST is unaffected by any newbuild-related trends such as interconnection queue delays, supply-chain headwinds, etc.”
Morgan Stanley names Comcast a top pick
The firm said the cable giant is its new top cable pick.
“We remain bullish [on] CMCSA shares given valuation, diversification, and a strong balance sheet.”
Benchmark initiates Beacon Roofing as buy
Benchmark said shares of the roofing company are attractive.
“We are initiating coverage on shares of Beacon Roofing Supply (BECN), a leading roofing products distributor in the United States, with a Buy rating and $135 PT.”
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