Here are Wednesday’s biggest calls on Wall Street:
UBS upgrades Toast to buy from neutral
UBS said the restaurant tech company “continues to prove itself as a top provider” for the restaurant industry.
“Toast remains well-positioned to capture the restaurant industry’s ongoing shift from legacy technology to omni-channel, integrated software solutions.
Baird initiates Lucid as neutral
Baird said it sees a challenging setup for the EV maker.
“LCID’s performance is among the best; however, high starting prices and a niche market segment create a challenging near-term setup, in our view.”
Goldman Sachs reiterates Nvidia as buy
The firm said it’s standing by its buy rating on the stock after one of Nvidia’s executive’s presented at Goldman’s annual Communacopia + Technology Conference.
“We are Buy-rated on Nvidia. Our 12 month price target of $605 is based on normalized earnings power of $11.00 and a target multiple of 55x.”
William Blair initiates The Trade Desk as outperform
William Blair said in its initiation of Trade Desk that the ad tech company has a “differentiated offering.”
“The Trade Desk’s proprietary platform was developed with a variety of features designed to improve the experience for its clients.”
Argus upgrades Chewy to buy from hold
Argus said the online pet company is well positioned in the quarters ahead.
“CHWY shares have underperformed over the past quarter, falling 29% compared to a gain of 3% for the Russell 2000 index.”
HSBC initiates Amgen and Biogen as buy
HSBC initiated several biopharma companies Wednesday and said the transformations are underway.
“We believe Amgen (Buy) and Biogen (Buy) look attractive as they transform their businesses.”
CFRA reiterates Apple as buy
CFRA said it’s bullish heading into the company’s iPhone event next week.
“We believe the iPhone Pro devices will further separate themselves from AAPL’s standard phones.”
KeyBanc upgrades Celanese to overweight from sector weight
Key said it sees a “self-help” story driving growth in 2024 for the engineered materials company.
“We think CE is a compelling way to play global manufacturing economic stabilization and recovery. We believe the stock stands out for its large discount to normalized earnings among our cyclical coverage.”
TD Cowen upgrades Constellation Brands to outperform from market perform
TD said it sees “better beer growth” for the alcohol stock.
“With STZ’s beer growth accelerating, we believe there is now upside potential to consensus in FY24, as the company has had a strong summer selling season, with the company comfortably delivering 200 bps + market share gains again.”
Morgan Stanley names Bloom Energy a top pick
Morgan Stanley said the energy company is its top pick in clean tech.
“BE is a key beneficiary of several key themes including: (i) the growing ‘economic wedge’ or value proposition of distributed energy (i.e. fuel cells for C&I customers), (ii) rising grid instability.”
Needham upgrades ResMed to buy from hold
Needham said investors should buy the dip in the med tech company.
“RMD’s shares are down 31% since the start of August (versus a 2% decline in the S&P 500), mainly due to concerns about the potential for GLP-1 obesity drugs to reduce demand for RMD’s sleep therapy devices, we believe.”
UBS downgrades Block to neutral from buy
UBS said it sees slowing profit growth for Square’s parent company
“In 2H/23E and 2024E, Block gross profit growth will likely slow given softening of consumer discretionary spending, a slowdown in Cash App monthly active user growth and moderation of Cash App monetization rates.”
Needham upgrades Semtech to buy from hold
Needham said it sees long-term upside for the semiconductor company.
“We are upgrading shares of Semtech to Buy from Hold and establishing a 12-month PT of $35, though we see potentially greater upside to the shares over the long-term.”
Deutsche Bank reiterates Nio as buy
Deutsche said it’s concerned about the company’s growth trajectory but that it’s sticking with its buy rating.
“NIO’s growth trajectory appears somewhat weaker than expected despite having multiple new models fully ramped up.”
Deutsche Bank reiterates Tesla as buy
Deutsche said it’s standing by its buy rating on the auto giant.
“All in, we continue to see some risk to 2023/24 Street expectations as Tesla adjusts pricing to secure its volume growth in a challenging macro, but remain bullish on Tesla’s longer-term opportunities and reiterate our BUY rating.”
Bank of America reiterates SoFi as neutral
The firm said SoFi is a key beneficiary of student loan refinances.
“SOFI should benefit from higher student loan refinances given its strong position in the student loan refi market.”