Biogen upgrade, Qualcomm downgrade and EverQuote initiation among today's top calls on Wall Street Institutional investors and professional traders rely on The Fly to learn which companies the best analysts on Wall Street are saying to buy and sell.
Research analysts at Wall Street's largest banks issue recommendations on whether a stock should be bought, held, or sold. The Fly's team of financial market experts scours hundreds of research notes daily to uncover the best trading ideas. Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
Top 5 Upgrades:
- Wells Fargo analyst Mohit Bansal upgraded Biogen (BIIB) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $265, up from $235. The analyst believes the company's base-business may be worth more than what Street thinks and sees value at $180-$200/share in sum-of-the-parts scenario and $185/share on DCF without pipeline.
- UBS analyst Myles Walton upgraded Delta Air Lines (DAL) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $53, up from $44. The analyst cited the company's "much better than expected" second quarter TRASM that implies a 12% improvement relative to the second quarter of 2019.
- Baird analyst David George upgraded both Comerica (CMA) and Zions Bancorp (ZION) to Neutral from Underperform with price targets of $85 and $60, respectively. Following the significant underperformance of the shares and a "generally more constructive" pre-provision net revenue outlook for regional banks, the "aggressive short case for regionals is getting tougher to make given current valuations," George told investors in a research note.
- Deutsche Bank analyst David Begleiter upgraded H.B. Fuller (FUL) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $85, up from $72. The investor meeting last week reinforced the view that Fuller has "slowly but steadily become the world's best adhesives company with more to go on growth, margins and earnings," Begleiter told investors in a research note.
- Scotiabank analyst Paul Cheng upgraded ConocoPhillips (COP) to Outperform from Sector Perform with a price target of $115, up from $110, and recommends a pair trade idea of being long ConocoPhillips and short Pioneer Natural (PXD) and EOG Resources (EOG).
Top 5 Downgrades:
- SMBC Nikko analyst Srini Pajjuri downgraded Qualcomm (QCOM) to Neutral from Outperform with a price target of $155, down from $215. The analyst believes near-term risk to estimates, if any, is priced into the stock at current levels, but struggles to find many positive catalysts in the next 6-12 months for Qualcomm shares.
- BMO Capital analyst Andrew Strelzik downgraded Wendy's (WEN) to Market Perform from Outperform with a price target of $22, down from $28. Against the macro backdrop of rising pressures on discretionary spending, the downgrade reflects the view that Wendy's is less well positioned for a tighter U.S. consumer spending environment relative to some quick service peers, Strelzik told investors in a research note.
- UBS analyst Myles Walton downgraded United Airlines (UAL) to Neutral from Buy with an unchanged $51 price target. Following the stock's year-to-date 30% run-up, he sees "less compelling upside," as confidence in strong bookings offsetting peak fuel has "played out."
- Piper Sandler analyst Paul Newsome downgraded Progressive (PGR) to Underweight from Neutral with a price target of $100, down from $113. The analyst thinks Progressive's stock reflects too much optimism about how fast rising auto insurance prices will improve the company's profits.
- Piper Sandler analyst Alexander Potter downgraded Aptiv (APTV) to Underweight from Neutral with a price target of $90, down from $177. The analyst believes cost overruns and currency pressure are likely in 2022 for Aptiv.
Top 5 Coverage Initiations:
- B. Riley analyst Cullen Johnson initiated coverage of EverQuote (EVER) with a Buy rating and $20 price target. The company has grown revenues at 35% annually since 2017 and is poised to experience the associated benefits of scale, Johnson told investors in a research note.
- Loop Capital analyst Mark Schappel initiated coverage of Tyler Technologies (TYL) with a Buy rating and $520 price target. The analyst is positive on the company's leadership in the local government solutions market where Tyler has few "meaningful competitors" and where it is exposed to significant demand drivers.
- UBS analyst Weston Bloomer initiated coverage of Arthur J. Gallagher (AJG) with a Neutral rating and $192 price target. The analyst argued that his expectations of a continued strong M&A pipeline over the next 2-3 years have been priced in, even though the longer-term risk/reward for Arthur J. Gallagher shares looks "favorable."
- Lake Street analyst Kyle Bauser initiated coverage of SWK Holdings (SWKH) with a Buy rating and $26 price target. The specialized finance company that funds sub-scale healthcare companies has a proven track record of identifying high-quality life science companies, Bauser argued.
- Raymond James analyst Timur Ivannikov initiated coverage of Gossamer Bio (GOSS) with an Outperform rating and $19 price target. Gossamer's most near-term catalyst is a 12W readout for Phase 2 SHIFT-UC study of GB004 in UC, and while Ivannikov feels less confident in the success of the UC program compared to PAH's, given GB004 has a novel mechanism of action, the analyst thinks GB004 could become a $2B-plus business if the development is successful.
Symbols:
BIIB DAL CMA ZION FUL COP PXD EOG QCOM WEN UAL APTV EVER TYL AJG SWKH GOSS Keywords: analyst, analyst calls, upgrades, downgrades, initiations, research, wall street