Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Thursday:
Cowen reiterates Home Depot as outperform
Cowen says it’s cautious heading into earnings later this month but that it’s sticking with its outperform rating.
“We are more cautious into 4Q22 EPS as we see downside risk to comps. We also lower FY23 comps & EPS at both HD and LOW, expect somewhat balanced initial guidance, and for both to remain show me stories in the near term.”
Morgan Stanley reiterates Activision Blizzard as a top pick
Morgan Stanley says the video game company remains “highly compelling.”
“We are bullish on ATVI’sfundamental outlook following strong execution in ’22 and multiple successful game launches. Irrespective of the MSFT deal, with ATVI shares trading at 13x ’23 PE (ex-cash+break fee) we see a highly compelling standalone risk reward.”
Barclays upgrades New York Times to equal weight from underweight
Barclays said in its upgrade of the newspaper giant that it’s shifting into “profit optimization mode.”
“NYT’s growth model is shifting quickly towards profitability instead of growth and if managed properly could drive potential upside to long term margins.”
Baird downgrades Bunge to neutral from outperform
Baird downgraded the agribusiness and food company’s after its disappointing earnings report on Wednesday.
“While the guidance is likely conservative and a starting point for the year, we expect shares to languish in the near term until there is more clarity on 2023 and beyond. Although we likeBG’smanagement team and valuation, we prefer DAR and ADM for sector exposure.”
JPMorgan reiterates Uber as a top pick
JPMorgan says it’s sticking with the stock after its “strong” earnings report on Wednesday.
“Uber delivered another strong quarter of execution w/profitability coming in above our expectations and demand across both Mobility & Delivery holding up well amid challenging macro.”
RBC downgrades Affirm to sector perform from outperform
RBC said in its downgrade of the fintech company that it sees a “challenging” environment ahead.
“We downgrade AFRM to Sector Perform from Outperform, as we believe the combination of higher funding costs, latency effects of pricing actions, and expected deceleration into FH2/23 GMV (gross margin value) and revenues points to a more challenging environment ahead.”
Barclays initiates Coupang as overweight
Barclays says the Korean e-commerce giant is a “share gainer.”
“Coupang can be described as Korea’s Amazon, Door Dash, and FreshDirect – all under one roof. But its success will depend on whether it can continue thriving without COVID tailwinds.”
Morgan Stanley reiterates Alphabet as overweight
Morgan Stanley says it’s bullish on Alphabet’s foray into A.I.
“We believe GOOGL has the AI tech and scale to maintain/grow its leading user base.”
Bank of America reiterates Disney as buy
Bank of America raised its price target on the stock to $135 per share from $115 and says it’s standing by its buy rating after the company’s earnings report on Wednesday.
“While we are encouraged by Bob Iger’s strategic vision for DIS, this is clearly the first phase in DIS’ transformation, which will require adept execution. Bob Iger has a long, strong track record which provides confidence he will manage this transition for DIS.”
Goldman Sachs reiterates Exxon as buy
Goldman says it’s sticking with its buy rating on shares of Exxon.
“We maintain our positive stock view given expectations for continued business transformation, and advantaged Upstream long-term project queue (Guyana, Permian). Inside, we highlight key takeaways from the meeting including around (a) project commentary, (b) capital allocation, and (c) business transformation.”
Bernstein reiterates Tesla as underperform
Bernstein said recent volatility for the shares makesTeslaa “difficult” call.
“The past few weeks have served as a reminder of how difficult Tesla is to call in the short term, however we believe that in the long term, valuation matters, and the stock is trading above our 2050 DCF value of $150/share.”
Bank of America reiterates Apple as neutral
Bank of America says Apple Services are at risk for further deceleration.
“After increasing 6% y/y in F1Q23 including the impact of an extra week (5% in F4Q22), we model total Apple Services revenue to decelerate to 2% y/y in F2Q23.”
KBW downgrades Bank of America to underperform from market perform
KBW said in its downgrade of the banking giant that it’s expensive and overvalued.
“We are downgrading BAC to Underperform from Market Perform due to: 1) we are 12% below consensus for 2024; 2) BAC is trading above its historical P/E multiple.”
JPMorgan downgrades Vale to neutral from overweight
JPMorgan downgraded the metals and mining company mainly on valuation.
“BothValeand Gerdau have had very strong runs over the past few months (+40% and +35%, respectively, since their last bottoms), and it’s now time to box, in our view. We believe there will be better entry opportunities into these stocks into YE23 as China reopening becomes a more relevant driver for commodities.”
Roth MKM downgrades Draftkings to sell from neutral
Roth said in its downgrade of the stock that it’s concerned about the “profitability narrative.”
“We tactically downgrade DKNG to Sell from Neutral (PT still $15) as we expect 1H23E EBITDA losses greater than consensus and reduce investor conviction in DKNG’s profitability narrative.”
Canaccord initiates SentinelOne as buy
Canaccord said in a note on Thursday that the security platform vendor is a long-term winner.
“We view SentinelOne as a long-term secular winner due to the company’s positioning as a data-driven security platform, which is facilitated by its roots in Endpoint Security and a strong position in the midmarket enterprise market.”
Loop initiates Triumph Financial as buy
Loop called the company a “new fintech leader in payments.”
“We view Triumph Financial as a ‘unique and of one’ type of company given its expertise in transportation factoring and now its emerging open loop payment platform.”
Oppenheimer reiterates Ulta as outperform
Oppenheimer says the bull case still has legs” for Ulta.
“We continue to see an attractive upside case fueled by favorable category dynamics, benefits from company initiatives, pricing contributions to ticket, and continued strong execution from theULTAmanagement team.