Top 5 Upgrades:
- Morgan Stanley upgraded Nvidia (NVDA) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $304, up from $255. The firm still sees indications that LLM, or large language model, enthusiasm is turning into stronger spending both near term and long term.
- Wells Fargo upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $20, up from $13. The company's free cash flow will limit downside, while the stock has "asymmetric upside," the analyst tells investors in a research note. Warner Bros. Discovery was also upgraded to Outperform from Peer Perform at Wolfe Research.
- Wolfe Research upgraded American Airlines (AAL) to Peer Perform from Underperform without a price target. American Airlines' stock is down 15% in the past six trading and remains heavily shorted with a 10% short interest, but it's been consistently executing and making/beating estimates in recent quarters while running a fairly clean operation, the analyst tells investors.
- Oppenheimer upgraded Synchrony Financial (SYF) to Outperform from Perform with a $35 price target. The analyst's credit vintage analysis suggests better than industry credit migration for Synchrony.
- Redburn upgraded FMC Corporation (FMC) to Buy from Neutral with a $155 fair value estimate. The firm, which continues to be "constructive on agrichemical market dynamics remaining positive," sees FMC's EBITDA compounding at about 8% from 2022 to 2026, the analyst tells investors.
Top 5 Downgrades:
- Wedbush downgraded First Republic (FRC) to Neutral from Outperform with a price target of $5, down from $140. The analyst believes a "distressed M&A sale" could result in minimal, if any, residual value to common equity holders owing to First Republic's "significant negative" tangible book value after taking into account fair value marks on its loans and securities.
- Oppenheimer downgraded RingCentral (RNG) to Perform from Outperform without a price target. The migration of PBX to the Cloud has been a significant tailwind for RingCentral, but the next leg of growth will stem from the convergence with digital AI assistants, which will require investment, and could also cause Zoom (ZM) to be aggressive with UCaaS pricing, the analyst tells investors.
- Cantor Fitzgerald last night downgraded Ree Automotive (REE) to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $1, down from $2. The firm cites a slower than anticipated ramp-up, lower than anticipated revenues, and difficult macro conditions for the downgrade.
- Argus downgraded Bath & Body Works (BBWI) to Hold from Buy. The analyst notes that the mall-based segment of retail where the company competes has been under increasing pressure from online retailers who are rapidly gaining share.
- BofA downgraded Terex(TEX) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $54, down from $66. The company's "multiple re-rating story" is limited in the near-term until its lending overhang subsides, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
Top 5 Initiations:
- Citi initiated coverage of Bumble (BMBL) with a Buy rating and $24 price target. Bumble currently has one of the best growth rates within the internet group, with expected modest EBITDA margin expansion as well, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
- Stifel resumed coverage of Shopify(SHOP) with a Hold rating and $45 price target. The analyst believes Shopify "sits in front of a sizable market opportunity" in the e-commerce space, but the investments the company is making to expand its platform capabilities are pressuring gross margins and driving increased spending in the near-term, which is weighing on its ability to drive meaningful profitability and free cash flow in 2023 and 2024.
- Baird initiated coverage of Bill (BILL) with a Neutral rating and $86 price target. The firm likes the theme of A/P software automation and payments and expects "a strong secular shift" toward B2B electronic payments and away from physical checks over time, but the firm's Neutral rating reflects the belief that payment volume from SMBs could slow in coming months.
- Truist initiated coverage of Churchill Downs (CHDN) with a Buy rating and $300 price target. The analyst believes that the company's "iconic" Derby asset is just scratching the surface as sports teams, leagues and high-end brands are seeing record valuations.
- Maxim initiated coverage of Zevra Therapeutics(ZVRA) with a Buy rating and $12 price target. Based on the combination of strong balance sheet, management team, and several key events ahead, the stock looks "undervalued," the analyst tells investors.
