Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
JPMORGAN BOOSTS UNDER ARMOUR TO OVERWEIGHT: JPMorgan analyst Matthew Boss upgraded Under Armour (UA, UAA) to Overweight from Neutral and raised his price target for the shares to $29 from $23. After meeting with management including CEO Kevin Plank, Boss said the clear tone from the top was "controlled confidence" in the brand direction with "disciplined" fiscal 2020 global top- and bottom-line growth acceleration. This will be driven by the combination of product, innovation, and marketing after management's three-year strategic "shrink phase" completed exiting fiscal 2019, Boss told investors in a research note. He believes this translates into a favorable multi-year risk/reward on shares of Under Armour.
DEUTSCHE BANK CUTS BAIDU TO HOLD: Deutsche Bank analyst Han Joon Kim downgraded Baidu (BIDU) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $147. The company's growth is slowing more than feared as it is losing market share in advertising at a faster pace than expected, Kim told investors in a research note. With virtually no sales growth expected for Baidu's core business for several quarters, and a sharp drop in profits to coincide with continued investments, Baidu's earnings are likely to be "paddling through low waters for some time to come," said the analyst following Thursday's Q1 results.
B. RILEY BOOSTS FOOT LOCKER TO BUY: B. Riley FBR analyst Susan Anderson upgraded Foot Locker (FL) to Buy from Neutral and raised her price target for the shares to $73 from $62. The analyst views Foot Locker as a "best-in-class" footwear retailer and sees an attractive entry point at current valuation levels.
Additionally, Barclays analyst Matthew McClintock said in a research note that he's an "aggressive" buyer of Foot Locker shares into the company's Q1 results. McClintock kept an Overweight rating on the shares with an $85 price target.
TWO FIRMS CUT NEOPHOTONICS: NeoPhotonics (NPTN) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at MKM Partners and to Hold from Strong Buy at Needham.
MKM Partners analyst Michael Genovese cited the uncertainty associated with the U.S. government move against China's Huawei, whose business is tied to nearly half of NeoPhotonics' revenue. Genovese sees about a 50% probability that the Huawei ban is permanent however, adding that if the current action is just a "negotiating bargaining chip" that will be revisited during trade negotiations, then the sell-off in NeoPhotonics could become a "great buying opportunity."
Needham analyst Alex Henderson issued the double-downgrade of NeoPhotonics to Hold from Strong Buy, citing Thursday's decision by the U.S. Export Administration Regulations to add Huawei to its Entity List, alleging activity deemed "contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States." While NeoPhotonics may be granted an exemption, Henderson contends that with 45% of its revenues tied to Huawei, the risk to the stock price is too great in spite of its low valuation.
ANALYSTS DIVERGE ON PINTEREST: Baird analyst Colin Sebastian views the post-earnings selloff in shares of Pinterest (PINS) as an attractive buying opportunity. Pinterest reported results confirming the company's preliminary Q1 numbers, with a modest uptick in full-year guidance, Sebastian said. While some media headlines suggest a revenue and/or earnings miss, this is largely "noise" as a few high-end estimates skewed the consensus, says the analyst. He believes Pinterest's "ongoing strength" in U.S. advertising growth and early signs of traction from its international growth efforts are more important. As such, Sebastian believes the company's fundamentals are intact and he kept an Outperform rating on the name with a $36 price target.
Barclays analyst Ross Sandler said he's not surprised to see shares of Pinterest down 15% following the company's in-line results given the run-up to a 14 times revenue valuation ahead of the print. From here, the analyst expect shares to trade "sideways to down for a bit" until the valuation is "compelling enough compared to its peers." This is somewhere in the low $20s per share, said the analyst, who adds he'd become more constructive on Pinterest at those levels. Sandler has an Equal Weight rating on the name with a $28 price target.
Under Armour
+1.09 (+5.60%)
Under Armour
+1.19 (+5.40%)
Baidu
-6.02 (-4.35%)
Foot Locker
+0.16 (+0.29%)
NeoPhotonics
-1.16 (-25.61%)
+1.58 (+6.07%)