Wall Street Changed Its Mind: The Biggest Upgrades & Downgrades of Last Week

Wall Street returned from the Labor Day break to a volatile four-day trading week, but analyst research showed something more interesting than a simple risk-off story. Institutions continued to raise conviction in selected AI, semiconductor, defense, healthcare and industrial names, while turning more cautious on parts of healthcare, consumer stocks and cybersecurity.

The calls also showed increasing stock-level dispersion. Analysts were upgrading one company while downgrading a direct peer in the same sector, suggesting that Wall Street is becoming more selective rather than making broad sector-wide calls.

Here are some of the most notable rating changes from September 8–11, organized day by day.

Tuesday, Sept. 8 — Chips and Defense Start the Week Strong

Tuesday's calls leaned constructive toward semiconductors and defense. $Intel(INTC)$ was one of the day's standouts after Northland upgraded the stock to Outperform with a $120 target, while UBS upgraded $Lockheed Martin(LMT)$ to Buy with a $674 target. Morgan Stanley also moved $Synopsys(SNPS)$ to Overweight.

The downgrade side was more concentrated in healthcare, consumer and China-linked names. BMO cut $Amgen(AMGN)$ to Market Perform, Arete downgraded $Baidu(BIDU)$ to Neutral and DA Davidson moved $Best Buy(BBY)$ from Buy to Neutral. $BioNTech SE(BNTX)$ was also cut to Underweight.

What Was Worth Watching?

$Intel(INTC)$ attracted the most attention because the upgrade landed alongside a roughly 9% jump in the shares. The stock was benefiting from both improving analyst sentiment and optimism around its semiconductor roadmap.

$Lockheed Martin(LMT)$ was another noteworthy call. UBS argued that the defense company's missile business could support growth even as investors remain cautious about the outlook for the F-35 program. The stock's lower valuation after the sector's pullback also improved the risk/reward in UBS's view.

On the bearish side, $Amgen(AMGN)$ deserves attention because the downgrade coincided with a sharp selloff after disappointing clinical results from a similar Novartis cardiovascular drug raised concerns about Amgen's own pipeline. The shares fell about 10% that day.

Wednesday, Sept. 9 — AI Cloud, Lithium and Healthcare Enter the Spotlight

Wednesday produced perhaps the most diverse set of bullish calls of the week. UBS upgraded $Thermo Fisher Scientific(TMO)$ to Buy and lifted its price target dramatically from $540 to $730, while Morgan Stanley upgraded $M&T Bank(MTB)$ and Wells Fargo turned more bullish on $Martin Marietta Materials(MLM)$. CFRA also moved $Qualcomm(QCOM)$ to Strong Buy.

The two calls that added a more thematic angle were $Lithium Americas Corp.(LAC)$ and $NEBIUS(NBIS)$.

JPMorgan resumed coverage of $Lithium Americas Corp.(LAC)$ at Overweight with a $6 target. The bank raised its long-term lithium-price assumptions, which it believes could improve the company's earnings capacity and net asset value after 2029.

$NEBIUS(NBIS)$ should technically be listed separately because Truist initiated coverage, rather than upgrading an existing rating. Truist started the AI infrastructure company at Buy with a $355 target, arguing that consensus may still underestimate its 2027 recurring-revenue opportunity and the economics of new AI-compute contracts.

On the bearish side, Wells Fargo made several changes within building materials.

What Was Worth Watching?

$Thermo Fisher Scientific(TMO)$ arguably received the strongest traditional upgrade of the day. UBS raised its target by $190 and pointed to the potential for organic growth to recover toward the 5%–6%+ range in 2027, supported by improving biotech funding, bioprocessing, AI-related R&D and stabilization in China.

$Lithium Americas Corp.(LAC)$ and $NEBIUS(NBIS)$ represent two completely different long-duration growth stories. JPMorgan's $Lithium Americas Corp.(LAC)$ call rests on commodity pricing and future project economics, while Truist's $NEBIUS(NBIS)$ thesis depends on demand for AI computing infrastructure. Both therefore carry significant execution risk despite the bullish targets.

Perhaps the most revealing sector call, however, was $Martin Marietta Materials(MLM)$ versus $Vulcan Materials(VMC)$. Wells Fargo upgraded $Martin Marietta Materials(MLM)$ while downgrading $Vulcan Materials(VMC)$ and $Eagle Materials(EXP)$, suggesting that it was not abandoning construction materials—it was becoming more selective within the sector.

Thursday, Sept. 10 — Meta Gets the Week's Biggest Mega-Cap Upgrade

Thursday's headline belonged to $Meta Platforms, Inc.(META)$.

JPMorgan upgraded $Meta Platforms, Inc.(META)$ from Neutral to Overweight and raised its target from $640 to $820, making it one of the most significant large-cap rating changes of the week. The firm pointed to improving consumer AI adoption and progress around Meta's AI products as potential new growth drivers.

The bearish calls spanned consumer, healthcare and gold mining.

What Was Worth Watching?

$Meta Platforms, Inc.(META)$ was the obvious standout. JPMorgan's $180 target increase was not merely a valuation adjustment—the rating itself moved higher, signalling increased conviction that Meta can turn its huge AI spending program into new consumer and commercial opportunities.

$Caterpillar(CAT)$ offered a completely different bullish story. Freedom Broker upgraded the industrial heavyweight to Buy with a $980 target, reinforcing that institutional optimism was not limited to technology.

The more interesting bearish signal may have been $Amgen(AMGN)$. BMO had already downgraded the company on Tuesday, and HSBC followed with another cut on Thursday. Two downgrades in the same week suggest broader deterioration in analyst conviction rather than one isolated research opinion.

$Cooper(COO)$ also saw multiple analysts turn more cautious after disappointing results, another example of an institutional sentiment reset rather than a single downgrade.

Friday, Sept. 11 — Healthcare and Cybersecurity Take the Downgrade Spotlight

Friday finished the week with a much more downgrade-heavy research slate.

Only a small number of major bullish rating actions appeared. Bank of America upgraded $International Paper(IP)$ to Buy even while reducing its price target from $48 to $46, while Goldman Sachs reinstated $Element Solutions(ESI)$ at Buy with a $44 target.

Friday's downgrade list was substantially more interesting.

What Was Worth Watching?

The biggest healthcare call was $Novo-Nordisk A/S(NVO)$. Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Underweight, citing subdued medium-term growth, the company's heavy reliance on semaglutide and longer-term patent-expiration risk. The bank estimated that semaglutide represented roughly 75% of Novo's 2026 sales, creating significant concentration as exclusivity eventually rolls off.

$Chewy, Inc.(CHWY)$ also deserves attention because Friday's JPMorgan downgrade came only one day after Evercore ISI had already cut the stock. Two rating reductions in consecutive sessions suggest analysts were becoming increasingly skeptical about its near-term growth outlook.

The cybersecurity calls contained an unusual detail. Wedbush downgraded both $Check Point(CHKP)$ and $Fortinet(FTNT)$ to Neutral, but while CHKP's target fell from $160 to $135, Fortinet's target actually increased from $125 to $155. That illustrates why investors should distinguish between ratings and targets: an analyst can raise estimated fair value while still downgrading a stock if the current price already captures much of the expected upside.

$International Paper(IP)$ showed the opposite phenomenon. Bank of America lowered its target but upgraded the rating—again demonstrating that valuation depends on the relationship between estimated fair value and the stock's current price, not simply whether the target moved up or down.

What Was Wall Street Really Saying?

The main takeaway from last week was selectivity rather than a broad bullish or bearish shift. Analysts remained constructive on selected AI, semiconductor and industrial names such as $Meta Platforms, Inc.(META)$, $Intel(INTC)$, $NEBIUS(NBIS)$ and $Lockheed Martin(LMT)$, while becoming more cautious on parts of healthcare and consumer stocks, including $Amgen(AMGN)$, $Novo-Nordisk A/S(NVO)$ and $Chewy, Inc.(CHWY)$.

The calls also showed growing dispersion within sectors. For example, Wells Fargo upgraded $Martin Marietta Materials(MLM)$ while downgrading $Vulcan Materials(VMC)$, and healthcare saw both one of the week's strongest upgrades in $Thermo Fisher Scientific(TMO)$ and several notable downgrades. The message is clear: Wall Street is increasingly focusing on company-specific fundamentals and valuation rather than broad sector bets.

🪙 Tiger Coins Interaction

💬 POLL | Which Wall Street call from last week caught your attention most?

🤖 A. META — JPMorgan: Neutral → Overweight, PT $820
☁️ B. NBIS — Truist: Initiated Buy, PT $355
🔋 C. LAC — JPMorgan: Neutral → Overweight, PT $6
💊 D. NVO — Morgan Stanley: Equal Weight → Underweight, PT $40

Vote and share your view in the comments — useful insights can earn Tiger Coins! 🪙

Which analyst call do you agree with most, and which one do you think Wall Street may have gotten wrong?