As previously reported, Baird analyst David Leiker upgraded Visteon (VC) to Outperform from Neutral and upgraded Veoneer (VNE) to Neutral from Underperform, citing his broader industry view that the recent rally in auto supplier stocks "has legs" and can be sustained into 2020 given the stabilizing end market backdrop, ongoing content growth and low valuations. While Visteon still faces "severe" near-term challenges, the company's updated backlog communication reinforces what should be the sector's fastest organic revenue growth across 2020-21, said Leiker, who raised his price target on the shares to $108 from $87. For Veoneer, he now views the risk/reward as balanced and raised his price target on those shares to $28 from $21.

JPMorgan lowered the firm's price target on Visteon to $145 from $146 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. To reflect the "modestly softer than expected" trend in global light vehicle production during the quarter, the firm lowered Q1 estimates for auto supplier EBITDA by an average of 1% and earnings by 3%, resulting in new estimates that are on average 2% below the Street on EBITDA and 3% lower on earnings. However, the firm increased full year estimates for most suppliers, saying the outlook for full year production has improved since the time of Q4 earnings, and because of the material decline in automotive commodity prices during Q1, which should primarily benefit suppliers beginning in Q2.