Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly. GOLDMAN CUTS SEAGATE TO SELL: Goldman Sachs analyst Mark Delaney downgraded Seagate Technology (STX) to Sell from Neutral and lowered his price target for the shares to $44 from $50, representing 20% downside from current levels. While Seagate has improved its product offerings in the last few years, hard disk drives remain a cyclical industry, and one "facing secular challenges in many parts of the market," Delaney said. He believes Seagate's fundamentals will peak in the second half of 2018 and decline in 2019. RBC CUTS FOX TO SECTOR PERFORM ON VALUATION: RBC Capital analyst Steven Cahall downgraded 21st Century Fox (FOXA) to Sector Perform from Outperform, but raised his price target to $49 from $45. The analyst noted that the stock is now trading near its M&A price and that he does not see any competitive bids emerging. Cahall adds that while the company is "undervalued", he awaits the separation to re-evaluate his stance. MORGAN STANLEY DOWNGRADES SEMI INDUSTRY: Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore said he has become less constructive on semiconductor stocks through the year and he now believes elevated inventory levels and stretched lead times leave "no margin for error." Given his view that any lead time adjustment or demand slowdown could drive a "meaningful correction," Moore has downgraded his semiconductor industry view to Cautious from In-Line. He favors connector companies, like Amphenol (APH) and TE Connectivity (TEL) over analog/MCU at this point in the cycle, due to lower risk around lead time issues, Moore said. He also has a "strong preference" for high margin and more defensive models, such as Analog Devices (ADI) over lower margin and commodity exposed ones, like Cypress Semiconductor (CY) and ON Semiconductor (ON), he said. Despite his more cautious view on the space, Moore kept Overweight ratings on Nvidia (NVDA), Xilinx (XLNX) and Ambarella (AMBA), citing his view that they should benefit from secular growth in the area of AI, data center, and autonomous. SOUTHERN COMPANY GETS MULTIPLE DOWNGRADES AFTER Q2 REPORT: Barclays analyst Eric Beaumont downgraded Southern Company (SO) to Equal Weight and lowered his price target for the shares to $48 from $51. Credit Suisse analyst Michael Weinstein downgraded Southern Company to Underperform from Neutral and lowered his price target on the shares to $43 from $46. Guggenheim analyst Shahriar Pourreza downgraded Southern Company to Neutral from Buy and lowered his price target on the stock to $47 from $50. Evercore ISI analyst Greg Gordon downgraded Southern Company to Underperform from In Line and lowered his price target on Southern shares to $46 from $46.75.

Wednesday's total option volume of 42.3 million contracts resulted in net open interest growth of 4.78 million calls and 3.88 million puts. Tesla (TSLA), Meta Platforms (Facebook) (META), Ford (F) and NVIDIA (NVDA) saw the greatest growth. Top five new positions opened include 42k Tesla (TSLA) Aug-24 185 calls, 35k Taiwan Semi (TSM) Aug-24 110 calls, 30k Capri Holdings (CPRI) May-24 35 calls, 29k Ford (F) 4/26 weekly 13.5 calls and 26k Tesla (TSLA) 5/3 weekly 75 puts.

UBS analyst Chris Snyder raised the firm's price target on Amphenol to $138 from $135 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. Amphenol's IT Datacom business reported 28% organic growth in the quarter, and the v-shaped recovery is due in large part to the company's outsized Data Center exposure, which is hitting the AI opportunity following a sharp period of destock, compounding the acceleration, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Assuming Amphenol hits their guidance and the non-AI business is flat to up 10% sequentially, the firm sees AI revenue of $190M-$240M in Q2, potentially doubling the firm's previous estimate.

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

Microsoft (MSFT) is scheduled to report results of the third quarter of its fiscal year 2024 after the market close on Thursday, April 25, with a conference call scheduled for 5:30 pm ET. What to watch... 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. UP AFTER EARNINGS... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here

In April, the Company purchased the remaining authorized amount of common stock under the existing three-year, $2B stock repurchase plan. On April 23, the company's board of directors approved a new three-year, $2B open market stock repurchase plan.

Sees Q3 revenue $4B, consensus $4.11B. The company said, "For the third quarter of fiscal 2024, the company expects net sales of approximately $4.0 billion. GAAP EPS from continuing operations are expected to be approximately $1.71, up 2% year over year, with adjusted EPS of approximately $1.85, up 5% year over year. Third quarter guidance includes a $0.15 year-over-year headwind from tax and currency exchange rates."

BofA raised the firm's price target on Texas Instruments (TXN) to $190 from $175 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. TI's small Q1 beat and inline but sequentially rising Q2 sales guidance, "while modest, potentially marks a recovery inflection in industrial chip demand," with positive read-across for U.S. peers such as Analog Devices (ADI), Microchip (MCHP), NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) and On Semiconductor (ON), the analyst tells investors. However, despite an expected recovery, TI's sustained high capex intensity could keep reported calendar year 2024-26 pro-forma EPS below $6 per share, the analyst added.