Top 5 Upgrades:
- MoffettNathanson analyst Sterling Auty upgraded ServiceNow (NOW) to Outperform from Market Perform with a $549 price target following a report he calls "a welcome change" after the disappointing results from Microsoft (MSFT).
- Craig-Hallum analyst Christian Schwab upgraded Teradyne (TER) to Buy from Hold with a $120 price target following the company's better results. The analyst notes the company saw semi test demand hold up better than originally feared and outperformed on its supply chain during the quarter.
- Barclays analyst Jiong Shao upgraded Pinduoduo (PDD) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $70, up from $66. Despite the fact that Pinduoduo "provides quite limited disclosures," its recent progress in adding more brands to its platform in China is impressive, Shao told investors in a research note.
- Raymond James analyst Michael Rose upgraded Renasant (RNST) to Outperform from Market Perform with a $41 price target. Renasant's third quarter results exceeded expectations on a core basis, and Rose's now positive bias fits the view that the company/stock reflects its conservative lending culture and expectations for better than peer through the cycle loss content, strong low-cost core deposit base that should result in lower costs/betas than most peers/the industry, solid capital position, and strong loan loss reserves.
- UBS analyst John Sourbeer upgraded Medpace (MEDP) to Neutral from Sell with a price target of $238, up from $142. The analyst cites the company's third quarter earnings beat as it delivered upside against his negative outlook in spite of the outsized biotech exposure and the overall biopharma funding pressures.
Top 5 Downgrades:
- Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak downgraded Meta Platforms (META) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $105, down from $205, following quarterly results. The analyst Meta's "latest results and forward capex guidance are thesis changing and likely to weigh on the shares for some period." Cowen and KeyBanc also downgraded Meta Platforms to Neutral-equivalent ratings.
- UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri downgraded Seagate (STX) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $55, down from $85. The charge by the U.S. Commerce Department that the company shipped product to customers on the Entity List creates "too much potential risk," the analyst tells investors in a research note.
- JPMorgan analyst Matthew Boss downgraded VF Corp. (VFC) to Underweight from Neutral with a $29 price target. The company reported "mixed" second quarter results and a second half of the year guidance cut, Boss tells investors in a research note.
- Benchmark analyst Robert Wasserman downgraded Thermo Fisher (TMO) to Hold from Buy with no price target. The analyst notes the company reported better-than-expected earnings for Q3, but says concerns over lower sales in Europe due to foreign exchange and other factors puts a damper on 2023 forecasts.
- Needham analyst Rajvindra Gill downgraded Silicon Labs (SLAB) to Hold from Buy without a price target on slowing consumer demand concerns.
Top 5 Initiations:
- Raymond James analyst Brian Gesuale initiated coverage of Mercury Systems (MRCY) with an Outperform rating and $55 price target. Mercury is the leading platform-agnostic provider of trusted computing and processing solutions used in national defense/aviation systems, Gesuale tells investors in a research note.
- Citi analyst Yigal Nochomovitz initiated coverage of Ideaya Biosciences (IDYA) with a Buy rating and $26 price target. Ideaya is a clinical-stage oncology company focused on synthetic lethality, a "powerful therapeutic concept garnering significant attention from biotech/pharma in recent years," Nochomovitz tells investors in a research note.
- Needham analyst Gil Blum initiated coverage of Arcellx (ACLX) with a Buy rating and $31 price target. Arcellx's lead program and main value driver is CART-ddBCMA, an autologous CAR-T therapy for treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, Blum tells investors in a research note.
- B. Riley analyst Matthew Key initiated coverage of 5E Advanced Metals (FEAM) with a Buy rating and $20 price target, which implies roughly 75% potential upside.
- JPMorgan analyst Brian Cheng initiated coverage of Roivant Sciences (ROIV) with an Overweight rating and $7 price target. The analyst believes the company is attractively positioned with a solid support to valuation from Dermavant's Vtama sales in plaque psoriasis and potentially in atopic dermatitis.
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