Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
GE UPGRADED TO BUY AT UBS: UBS analyst Steven Winoker upgraded General Electric (GE) to Buy from Neutral with a $13 price target. The shares closed down 8% on Tuesday following the company's Q3 earnings report and dividend cut. Winoker has conviction that new CEO Larry Culp can lead a turnaround of the business and his upside/downside analysis for shares now stands at a favorable 3:1 skew following the recent selloff. "Peak uncertainty has been reached" and GE's portfolio moves should improve visibility and strengthen its balance sheet, Winoker said. In late morning trading, shares of GE were down 2.75%.
QUALCOMM CUT TO NEUTRAL AT BOFA: BofA/Merrill analyst Tal Liani downgraded Qualcomm (QCOM) to Neutral from Buy and lowered its price target to $70 from $75. Liani has built a new bottom-up revenue model which suggests P&L restructuring opportunities have been "exhausted," and earnings upside is not likely to drive shares higher. Qualcomm is facing licensing disputes with Huawei and Apple (AAPL), with resolution timing uncertain and royalty rates that are likely trend lower over time, the analyst said.
CLOVIS CUT TO NEUTRAL AT JPMORGAN: JPMorgan analyst Cory Kasimov downgraded Clovis Oncology (CLVS) to Neutral from Overweight and cut his price target for the shares to $16 from $71. The company's Q3 report was "clearly surprising and disappointing," as Rubraca sales of $22.8M fell well below consensus of $31.3M and represented a sequential decline versus $23.8M in Q2, Kasimov said. The analyst sees a lack of upside potential in the shares with Clovis guiding to essentially flat sales for Q4 and "no clear value inflecting clinical catalysts anticipated in the near term." He believes there are "too many unknowns" to stay long the stock. In late morning trading, shares of Clovis dropped almost 27%.
FACEBOOK TARGETS CUT AT MULTIPLE FIRMS: Facebook's (FB) price target was almost unanimously lowered by Wall Street research firms after the company's Q3 earnings report on Tuesday night. Targets were lowered to $160 from $180 at UBS, to $161 from $183 at Nomura Instinet, to $175 from $185 at Citi, to $175 from $190 at BMO Capital, to $176 from $206 at JMP Securities, to $185 from $200 at Oppenheimer, to $185 from $200 at Canaccord, to $186 and removed from the Select List at Stifel, to $190 from $200 at Piper Jaffray, to $190 from $225 at RBC Capital, to $195 from $215 at KeyBanc, to $200 from $220 at Wells Fargo, to $200 from $210 at Loop Capital, and to $220 from $245 at Mizuho. However, the majority of analysts at major research firms keep Buy or equivalent ratings on the shares of the social media giant, with Bloomberg data indicating that 80% of 52 analysts have Buys compared to there being only two Sell ratings.
FACEBOOK ADDED TO ANALYST FOCUS LIST AT JPMORGAN: JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth added Facebook to his firm's Equity Analyst Focus List as a value pick and reiterated an Overweight rating on the shares with a $195 price target following the Q3 results. The analyst said that while he recognizes concerns will remain around engagement and shifting social behavior, he viewed the company's 2B-plus user base "as stickier than many believe." Further, Facebook is both adapting to and shaping user behavior, Anmuth added in a post-earnings research note. He continues to model revenue deceleration, but believes it is "manageable" and views the Q3 results as "stabilizing."
GE Aerospace
-0.305 (-3.00%)
Qualcomm
-0.14 (-0.22%)
Clovis
-4.74 (-28.55%)
Ticker changed to META
+5.48 (+3.75%)