Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
NETFLIX DOUBLE UPGRADED TO BUY: Buckingham analyst Matthew Harrigan upgraded Netflix (NFLX) by two notches, to Buy from Underperform, stating that he has always viewed Netflix as the continued top streaming category winner but previously was skeptical about its elevated stock price. The stock's 27% decline from its July 12-month high is the primary upgrade catalyst, but Harrigan said he is also constructive on further Netflix pricing power. He increased his price target on Netflix shares to $406 from $349.
STARBUCKS UPGRADED TO BUY AT MIZUHO: Mizuho analyst Jeremy Scott upgraded Starbucks (SBUX) to Buy from Neutral and raised his price target for the shares to $75 from $56. The company's earnings growth is set to accelerate, Scott said following last week's Q4 results. He believes Starbucks is at a "critical pivot point in its transformation into a leaner, focused operator." Further, while still in the early days of its renewed digital initiatives in the Americas, Starbucks' momentum appears to be forming sooner than expected, said the analyst. Scott raised his fiscal 2019 and 2020 estimates along with his price target.
UNDER ARMOUR UPGRADED TO OVERWEIGHT AT PIPER: Piper Jaffray analyst Erinn Murphy upgraded Under Armour (UA, UAA) to Overweight from Neutral and raised her price target for the shares to $32 from $20. While the shares have moved considerably off the bottom over the last 12 months and reflect in part the company's opportunity to expand operating margin from 3.2% to low-double-digits over time, its sales opportunity remains underappreciated at current stock levels, Murphy said. The analyst believes favorable industry dynamics and direct-to-consumer mix benefit will enable Under Armour to be on a path towards mid-to-high single digit sales growth over time. Further, she points out the brand says "impressive mindshare gains" in her firm's Women's Survey this Fall.
ENCANA RATING CUT AT BMO, MORGAN STANLEY: BMO Capital analyst Randy Ollenberger downgraded Encana (ECA) to Market Perform from Outperform and lowered his price target to $12 from $18. The analyst said the company's "solid" Q3 results were "overshadowed" by its proposed $7.7B acquisition of Newfield Exploration (NFX) that produced a "material selloff" in its stock price, reflecting investors concerns over the "asset base and a shift in the underlying investment thesis" of the latter. Ollenberger contends that while the selloff may be overdone, he expects the stock to be range-bound until more visibility over the benefits of the deal emerge.
Morgan Stanley analyst Benny Wong downgraded Encana to Equal Weight from Overweight, stating that he gives 50% credit to the targeted $250M in synergies the company outlined in its announcement of its deal to buy Newfield Exploration, but not the other half since Encana's Cube approach has not been tried before in the STACK/SCOOP play. The OKC play comes with concern around inventory quality and higher gas-oil ratios, added Wong, who now views Encana as a "show me" story. He lowered his price target on Encana shares to $15 from $19 and also raised his price target on Newfield shares to $31 to $23.
GORDON HASKETT SEES POTENTIAL DOWNSIDE TO GE SHARES: Gordon Haskett analyst John Inch, who maintained an Underperform rating and $10 price target on General Electric (GE) shares, estimates the stock could trade down to about $5 per share, assuming that GE Capital does not ultimately face insolvency, if the market were to value the stock increasingly on a free cash basis. Right now, it seems to him that most of the bullish analysts and investors are basing their upside views on a sum-of-the-parts valuation, Inch noted. However, he sees this as "academic" as GE cannot completely dismantle due to the fact it must maintain a sufficient base to support all of GE Capital's tens of billions of dollars of debt securities, Inch said.
Netflix
+0.05 (+0.02%)
Starbucks
+0.58 (+0.90%)
Under Armour
+0.59 (+2.76%)
Under Armour
+0.65 (+2.74%)
Changed to OVV
+0.18 (+2.11%)
Newfield Exploration
+0.6 (+2.74%)
GE Aerospace
+0.05 (+0.54%)