Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
VERTICAL RESEARCH CUTS BOEING TO HOLD: Vertical Research analyst Robert Stallard "belatedly" downgraded Boeing (BA) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $294, down from $388, acknowledging he is "throwing in the towel" as another push out in the estimated return to service of the MAX is "bad enough" but the ramifications "have yet to reverberate" and it could get worse for the company before it gets better. Customer compensation costs are likely to be higher than previously thought and it "now looks guaranteed" that Boeing's upcoming results will be "an absolute disaster," Stallard tells investors. Following another three month push out of the return to service of the MAX, his free cash flow forecast has been cut by an aggregate of $16B over the 2019-22 period, Stallard added.
WELLS FARGO BOOSTS BAUSCH HEALTH TO EQUAL WEIGHT: Wells Fargo analyst Jacob Hughes upgraded Bausch Health Companies (BHC) to Equal Weight from Underweight with a $32 price target. The analyst sees "solid" near-term organic growth for Bausch & Lomb and international organic growth. However, he sees this being offset by potential competitive threats to Xifaxan, mixed Sig7 sales trends, and Bausch's debt levels.
NEEDHAM UPGRADES NEOPHOTONICS TO BUY: Needham analyst Alex Henderson upgraded NeoPhotonics (NPTN) to Buy from Hold with an $11 price target. The analyst had downgraded the shares on risks associated with the Huawei Export Administration Regulations but he now said that those risks have not been born out. NeoPhotonics management reacted to the risk by sharply improving the cost structure and efficiency of the company, Henderson told investors in a research note. His upgrade to Buy reflects an improving demand environment in China, "firmer-than-expected" demand out of Western accounts, improved visibility in Q1, and "strong" recent new product introductions.
RAYMOND JAMES RAISES FORTINET TO OUTPERFORM: Raymond James analyst Michael Turits upgraded Fortinet (FTNT) to Outperform from Market Perform with a $133 price target. Turits said that among network security vendors, Fortinet checks were strongest, reporting improved enterprise execution, SD-WAN leadership among security vendors, success with its broad portfolio and continued high-end price/performance. Additionally, he told investors that its long-term guidance looks beatable at 15% revenue/billing growth vs. 19%/20% growth year-to-date. While not low, he said the valuation is reasonable at 21x 20E adjusted free cash flow, roughly in line with year-to-date growth.
WEDBUSH BOOSTS TESLA PRICE TARGET TO $550: Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said he believes "Musk & Co." will not disappoint Tesla (TSLA) bulls next week when the company reports earnings and gives guidance, noting that underlying strength in demand in China and Europe look robust based on his analysis. The analyst, who thinks Tesla's delivery guidance is likely to be strong and believes the China opportunity is worth "at least $100 per share," or $300 in a bull case scenario, raised his price target on Tesla shares to $550 from $370 ahead of earnings. Ives, whose new long term bull case scenario on the stock is $900, maintained a Neutral rating on Tesla shares.
Boeing
-6.11 (-1.95%)
Bausch Health
+0.02 (+0.07%)
NeoPhotonics
+0.44 (+5.13%)
Fortinet
+1.59 (+1.35%)
Tesla
+35.86 (+6.55%)