Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly. MCDONALD'S CUT TO NEUTRAL: Cleveland Research analyst Steven Gojak downgraded McDonald's (MCD) to Neutral from Buy after his industry checks led him to believe that its comparable sale results in the second half will trend more in-line with consensus expectations. Gojak, who is still modeling Q2 U.S. comp sales growth of 3.7% for McDonald's, which is above the 3.1% consensus growth view, lowered his 2018 U.S. comp estimate to 3.2% from 3.4%, compared to the consensus of 3.1% growth. McDonald's is down 1% in midday trading. NOMURA INITIATES INTERNET SECTOR: Nomura Instinet initiated coverage on the Americas Internet sector. Nomura Instinet initiated Alphabet Class A (GOOGL), Facebook (FB), and Spotify (SPOT) with Buy ratings, and added that Alphabet and Facebook were the best positioned in this newly regulated industry. It initiated Twitter (TWTR) with a Reduce rating, saying that while it is a "stable long-term asset that has something for everyone," the firm believes the market is pricing in "a significant advertising reacceleration that implies a shift in ad spend," while the firm expects "stability instead of a reacceleration of growth." CREDIT SUISSE POSITIVE ON VERIZON, NEGATIVE ON AT&T: Credit Suisse analyst Douglas Mitchelson initiated Verizon (VZ) with an Outperform rating and a price target of $58. The analyst believes Verizon should benefit from its "major $10B cost savings plan, stable capex spending, record low churn, and the benefit of tax reform." Mitchelson also initiated AT&T (T) with an Underperform rating and a price target of $29. Mitchelson said that AT&T will require greater scale and a shift to global direct-to-consumer distribution, stating that the elevated execution risk under its ownership structure and its wireless business look mature with little chance for stabilization in spite of the coming 5G technology. DISNEY VALUATION NOT COMPELLING: Credit Suisse analyst Douglas Mitchelson initiated Disney (DIS) with a Neutral rating and a price target of $114. The analyst noted that the company is "the best positioned traditional media company", but believes the Street has not sufficiently discounted the costs associated with Disney's push into direct-to-consumer streaming services, adding that FY19 will be extra challenging because of high film comps and major theme park project launches.
