Catch up on today's top five analyst initiations with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. American Vanguard (AVD) initiated with a Buy at Roth Capital by analyst Joe Reagor, who said the company's exposure to the insecticide market could bring upside to estimates as concerns over the West Nile and Zika viruses increase. 2. AK Steel (AKS) initiated with an Underperform at Credit Suisse. 3. Alcoa (AA) initiated with an Outperform at Credit Suisse. 4. U.S. Steel (X) initiated with an Outperform at Credit Suisse. 5. Palo Alto Networks (PANW) initiated with an Outperform at Bernstein. This list is just a portion of The Fly's full analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, click here.

Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists. 1... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here

Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists. 1... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here

B. Riley analyst Lucas Pipes raised the firm's price target on Alcoa to $31 from $25 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares following the Q1 report. Compared to estimates, aluminum shipments were stronger and third-party alumina shipments also came in better, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm increased estimates on higher London Metal Exchange pricing.

KeyBanc lowered the firm's price target on Palo Alto Networks to $355 from $380 on lower peer multiples, while keeping an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm says that at some point, the case for optimism needs to be backed up by some optimistic data, and its 1Q24 VAR Survey did not deliver it. IT budgets are still in hiding at this point, with just 50% of KeyBanc's respondents meeting or exceeding their goal in the Q1, the lowest quarterly reading since the heart of the pandemic, and sentiment from the follow-up calls with some individuals also has down ticked. The firm's Q4 2023 VAR survey was iffy, the outlook in 2024 from its CIO survey in January was also not great, its SMB survey was worse than expected, and now 2024 is off to a difficult start - "let's just call a trend a trend," KeyBanc adds.

Check out this evening's top movers from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly. HIGHER AFTER EARNINGSBank... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here

The company states: "Adjusted EBITDA excluding special items was $132 million, a sequential increase of $43 million primarily due to lower energy and raw material costs, partially offset by lower average realized third-party price for aluminum and higher production costs."

Reports Q1 revenue $2.60B, consensus $2.56B. "In the first quarter of 2024, we finalized the terms of our acquisition of Alumina Limited, which will bring strategic, operational, and financial flexibility," said Alcoa CEO William Oplinger. "Raw material prices and markets are improving, and we are implementing near-term improvements to further strengthen Alcoa for the future."

Pre-earnings options volume in Alcoa is 1.1x normal with calls leading puts 3:2. Implied volatility suggests the market is anticipating a move near 5.4%, or $1.97, after results are released. Median move over the past eight quarters is 4.8%.

Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists. 1... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here

Check out this morning's top movers from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.  HIGHER - Alcoa (AA)... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here