Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Wednesday:
Northland upgrades Salesforce to outperform from market perform
Northland says Salesforce is well positioned for market share gains.
“With CRM well positioned with Agentic AI, the next evolution to GenAI, we believe CRM is well positioned to capitalize on the more than 3x in software TAM we expect GenAI will drive.”
Raymond James downgrades GE Vernova to market perform from outperform
Raymond James downgraded the stock mainly on valuation.
“Downgrading GE Vernova (GEV) from Outperform to Market Perform, as the AI-fueled rally feels a bit overstretched, and the stock could use some consolidation.”
Deutsche Bank reiterates Nike as buy
Deutsche Bank says it’s sticking with the stock following its latest earnings release on Tuesday.
“NKE’s 1Q print reinforced our view that the turnaround will be a marathon, not a sprint.”
Mizuho initiates Kodiak Gas at outperform
Mizuho says the nat gas compression contractor is seeing aggressive growth.
“We initiate coverage of Kodiak Gas Services (KGS) at Outperform and a $36 PT.”
Wells Fargo reiterates Alphabet as equal weight
WellsFargo lowered its price target on Alphabet to $182 per share from $190.
“As regulatory headlines abate, attention returns to fundamentals. Continue to lean cautious on search growth despite better-than-expected 1H. While NT growth [is] tough to call, taking 100bps out of search growth in ’25 on travel spend shift to social.′
Wells Fargo reiterates Meta as overweight
Wells Fargo raised its price target on Meta to $652 per share from $647.
“See another robust quarter and solid [forward] quarter guide, but unlikely to materially alter our above-consensus ’25 EPS estimate of $27+. Stock increasingly viewed as AI winner but likely range bound until ’25 OpEx/CapEx guide on 4Q:24 EPS call.”
JPMorgan upgrades SAIC to overweight from neutral
The firm says it sees “profitable growth” for the IT company.
“We are changing up some Fed IT ratings to highlight where we see relative opportunity. This includes upgrading SAIC to OW from Neutral, with the market seemingly still skeptical of mgmt’s plans to drive more profitable growth.”
Raymond James downgrades T-Mobile to outperform from strong buy
Raymond James downgraded the stock mainly on valuation.
“We are downgrading TMUS to Outperform from Strong Buy as we remain positive on the stock,
but don’t see a significant/immediate share price upside as we did previously.”
Evercore ISI upgrades M&T Bank to outperform from in line
The firm says it it sees earnings per share upside for the Buffalo-based regional bank.
“We see further outperformance, as a favorable inflection in MTB’s fundamentals could support a more constructive earnings outlook.”
Berenberg upgrades Rio Tinto to buy from hold
Berenberg says the metals and mining company is a “medium-term diversified winner.”
“With a lower medium-term capital bill than BHP, and significantly less execution risk than Anglo American, we move Rio up to Buy, and think that the shares will be the medium-term diversified winner versus peers.”
Baird downgrades Harley-Davidson to neutral from outperform
Baird said it’s survey checks show excess inventory.
“We contacted Harley-Davidson dealers for an update on Q3 trends. Dealers reported weak retail, excess inventory, and caustic sentiment – all of which suggest risk to guidance.”
Gordon Haskett upgrades Home Depot to buy from accumulate
The firm says demand trends are bottoming.
“With this in mind, we think it’s appropriate to increase our exposure to the Home Improvement vertical and are upgrading shares of Home Depot (HD) to Buy-Rated (from Accumulate-Rated).”
Barclays upgrades Diamondback Energy to overweight from equal weight
Barclays says it sees a host of positive catalysts ahead for energy company.
“We expect FANG to unveil a 2025 program that’s much more capital efficient than initially estimated.”
Bernstein reiterates Nvidia as outperform
Bernstein says it’s sticking with its outperform rating on the stock.
“Potential for continued strong Gen-AI training dynamics is likely constructive for Nvidia at this point, though questions around the pace and trajectory of Gen-AI inference however may come more at the expense [of] their peers who have (mostly) broadly acknowledged Nvidia’s training dominance and have hence focused on inference as the bulk of their long term opportunity.”
JPMorgan reiterates Apple as overweight
The firm conducted a consumer survey on Apple’s iPhone 16 and found a “stronger iPhone cycle, but softer mix with AI focus missing till now.”
“The consumer feedback confirms our outlook for the iPhone 16 series, which includes 1) a stronger and more robust cycle led by higher interest in 16 series from both upgraders and switchers, although 2) upgraders are showing lower preference for high-end models compared to prior year.”