Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
UBS BOOSTS FACEBOOK TO BUY: UBS analyst Eric Sheridan upgraded Facebook (FB) to Buy from Neutral and raised his price target for the shares to $240 from $170. While 2019 remains a year of transition, Facebook management has now produced multiple quarters of better than expected revenue and earnings, Sheridan told investors in a research note following Wednesday night's Q1 results. Instagram is now one of the Internet's large scaled digital ad platforms that can sustain growth and operating leverage for years to come, contends the analyst. Further, he believes that while concerns will persist about core Facebook maturation, regulatory headwinds and safeguarding the platform for a privacy first approach, the "market now better understands many of those risks." Facebook's operating momentum is greater than business transition fears, Sheridan concluded.
WEDBUSH CUTS TESLA TO NEUTRAL: Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives downgraded Tesla (TSLA) to Neutral from Outperform as he sees the demand story quickly changing and said the company has "unfortunately not adjusted to an evolving EV landscape." The analyst views this quarter as one of the "top debacles" he has ever seen while "Musk & Co. in an episode out of the Twilight Zone act as if demand and profitability will magically return to the Tesla story." Ultimately, Ives believes the company's guidance is aggressive and management/board is not taking aggressive enough cost cutting actions and shutting down future endeavors to preserve capital and give a sustained path to profitability for the Street. The analyst also lowered his price target on the shares to $275 from $365 to reflect his reduced numbers for the coming years and his loss of confidence in the story.
PTC CUT AT JPMORGAN, BOFA, WEDBUSH: PTC (PTC) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan, to Underperform from Neutral at BofA/Merrill, and to Neutral from Outperform at Wedbush.
JPMorgan analyst Sterling Auty downgraded PTC to Underweight from Neutral and lowered his price target for the shares to $85 from $88. After a disappointing December quarter, PTC reported in-line bookings for March and cut its bookings guidance for 2019 by $15M, with half of that coming from the fastest growing segment of the business, Internet of Things, Auty told investors in a research note. He now believes PTC shares will underperform relative to peers.
BofA/Merrill analyst Shankar Subramanian downgraded PTC to Underperform with an $86 price target following lowered bookings guidance for FY19. Subramanian said he has concerns around execution uncertainty and increasing competitive risks.
Wedbush analyst Steve Koenig downgraded PTC to Neutral from Outperform, saying that the company's 2019 bookings guidance reduction accompanying its Q2/March print was disappointing, especially after a messy Q1 on large deal execution. Although the analyst likes the risk reduction inherent in the new guide, the appointment of a seasoned finance veteran as CFO, and the return of large PLM deals in Q2, he is stepping to the sidelines on incremental caution concerning the IoT/AR business. Koenig also lowered his price target on the shares to $100 from $104.
XILINX CUT AT NEEDHAM, GOLDMAN SACHS: Xilinx (XLNX) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Needham and to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Needham analyst N. Quinn Bolton downgraded Xilinx to Hold after its Q4 results, saying that while the quarter was "in-line to slightly better," the gross margin guidance for Q1 was "well below" consensus. The analyst added that although he is impressed with growth in the company's Comms business, he sees a risk to multiple compression on the stock from deceleration in Wireless Comms and the possibility of delayed 5G deployments outside of Korea.
Goldman Sachs analyst Toshiya Hari downgraded Xilinx to Neutral from Buy with an unchanged price target of $122. The company's long-term thesis remains intact following Wednesday's fiscal Q4 results but the stock's valuation is now full, Hari told investors in a research note. The analyst added that an elongated spending cycle in 5G or increased market share in datacenter/automotive would make him more constructive on Xilinx shares.
JPMORGAN BOOSTS GENERAL DYNAMICS TO NEUTRAL: JPMorgan analyst Seth Seifman upgraded General Dynamics (GD) to Neutral from Underweight and raised his price target for the shares to $200 from $188. General Dynamics has underperformed the market by ~21% since the start of 2018, Seifman told investors in a research note. The analyst now sees a "reasonable valuation" and and "fewer obstacles ahead" for the company. He thinks the long-term challenges to Aero profitability from lower G650 production and new competition are well understood at current share levels.
Ticker changed to META
+10.87 (+5.95%)
Tesla
-7.2 (-2.78%)
PTC
-11.16 (-10.95%)
Xilinx
-23.15 (-16.56%)
General Dynamics
-2.21 (-1.22%)