Here are Thursday’s biggest calls on Wall Street:
Credit Suisse reiterates Apple as outperform
Credit Suisse raised its price target on the stock to $220 per share from $200 and said it’s bullish heading into Apple earnings on Aug. 3.
“With Apple’s push into emerging markets and C2024 launch of the Vision Pro, we think the Services opportunity is still under-penetrated and raise our TP to $220 from $200, based on 30x F2025 EPS net of cash, out one year from prior, reflecting availability of the Vision Pro and a return to iPhone growth.”
Morgan Stanley reiterates Tesla as equal weight
Morgan Stanley said it’s standing by its equal weight rating on Tesla after its earnings report on Wednesday.
“We remain EW given a balanced risk reward with a $250 PT, and bull and bear cases unchanged at $450 and $90, respectively.”
RBC downgrades Carvana to underperform from sector perform
RBC said it’s downgrading the online used car company due to deteriorating fundamentals.
“CVNA’s better Q2 results, debt restructuring & newly enabled access to equity capital reduced liquidity risks once again - a big positive for the stock. With that said, sticking to fundamentals, we move to Underperform.”
Wolfe initiates Nvidia as outperform
Wolfe said Nvidia is well positioned “to be the strongest grower in semis for the next 5 years.”
“There is no change to our fundamental positive thesis for NVDA - our conviction has only strengthened after the exceptional May earnings report, and we consider NVDA to be the strongest grower in semis for the next 5 years.”
Barclays downgrades Estee Lauder to equal weight from overweight
Barclays downgraded Estee Lauder due to concerns over a China recovery.
“We expect incremental reinvestment will ultimately pressure medium-term margins & also are wary of a more muted recovery in China.”
Barclays downgrades Skyworks to equal weight from overweight
Barclays downgraded the semiconductor radio frequency company on valuation and a lack of catalysts.
“We see few catalysts in the RF (radio frequency) space into next year and downgrade SWKS to EW as the stock closes the valuation gap.”
Morgan Stanley reiterates Microsoft as overweight
Morgan Stanley said the company is a top pick heading into earnings next week.
“With building momentum behind Generative AI solutions, easing optimization pressures and a more benign FX environment, earnings likely serves as a catalyst for positive revisions to consensus across revenue, EBIT and EPS – sustaining the upward trend in shares. MSFT remains our Top Pick.”
UBS reiterates Chevron as buy
UBS said the oil and gas giant is a top pick heading into earnings next week.
“We reiterate our Top Pick views on CVX heading into 2Q results and a catalyst rich next twelve months.”
UBS reiterates McDonald’s as buy
UBS said it sees earnings upside for the fast food giant.
“We believe MCD remains well positioned for further share gains given continued global sales momentum, core competitive advantages, and earnings upside.”
Bank of America reiterates Netflix as buy
Bank of America raised its price target on the stock to $525 per share from $490 after the company’s strong earnings report Wednesday.
“Netflix reported healthy 2Q results, which reflected strong net adds of 5.9mn (vs. guidance of ~1.75mn and our 2.95mn est.), indicating the initial rollout of password sharing has been very positive.”
Deutsche Bank downgrades Avis Budget to hold from buy
Deutsche downgraded Avis Budget mainly on valuation.
“Simply put, the stock has rallied 47% (vs a 9% rise in the S&P 500) since our May 30 post-close upgrade at $163.27 and is now less than 10% away from our $263 price target.”
Wells Fargo reiterates Walmart as overweight
Wells said the retail giant’s shares are very attractive right now.
“WMT’s attractive story seems on track following our constructive IR meetings. While the macro remains on a decelerating glide path, share gains and the alt. value stream bundle provide resilience and attractive multi-year growth.”
Bank of America reiterates Alphabet as buy
Bank of America said it’s bullish on the stock heading into earnings next week.
“We see Alphabet as a more defensive, self-help stock in the Internet group in 2023 with more relative earnings stability given expense flexibility, and opportunity to support stock with buybacks.
Bank of America reiterates IBM as buy
Bank of America said it’s standing by its buy rating on the AI beneficiary after its earnings report on Wednesday.
“IBM reported F2Q23 rev/EPS of $15.5bn/$2.18 vs. Street at $15.5bn/$2.00. The company noted early traction in AI (Consulting signings up 24%) and while it did not provide explicit guidance on AI, in our opinion, the stock is not discounting any change in trajectory of rev/profits.”
Bank of America reiterates Goldman Sachs as buy
Bank of America raised its price target on the stock to $388 per share from $375 and said it’s standing by the stock after its earnings report earlier this week.
In our view, Goldman Sachs shares need help from an improvement in underlying business momentum (risk of positive EPS revisions) for investors to get more positive.”
Citi reiterates ServiceNow as buy
Citi raised its price target on the stock to $718 per share from $558 after the firm conducted a series of bullish channel checks.
“Conversations with NOW partners were positive on near-term trends, as targets were either met or exceeded.”
