Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
SQUARE CUT TO NEUTRAL ON VALUATION: Susquehanna analyst James Friedman downgraded Square (SQ) to Neutral from Positive. The analyst cited valuation and the lack of a CFO at the company. While he sees Square taking about $10B of cumulative revenue share from incumbent merchant acquirers, ISOs and ISVs, he would await a better re-entry point pending management visibility, Friedman said. In the meantime, Friedman suggests investors look at First Data (FDC) instead, stating that Clover is generally performing as well as Square's payments products while the stock's discount to Square "seems compelling." Friedman maintained his $77 price target on Square shares. In late morning trading, shares of Square were down over 8%.
JPMORGAN UPGRADES AXON TO OVERWEIGHT: JPMorgan analyst Mark Strouse upgraded Axon Enterprise (AAXN) to Overweight from Neutral with an unchanged price target of $68. The stock pulled back 16% yesterday following the company's Q3 results and guidance that implies a dip in revenue growth during Q4, Strouse noted. However, the analyst believes the dip in growth is temporary, caused by agency evaluation of the new Taser 7. He thinks Axon's growth should reaccelerate in 2019. The shares are now elow the price of the May secondary offering, despite recent developments that are long-term positives such as the launch of the Taser 7 and Axon Body 3, and new Officer Safety payment plans with enhanced features and premium pricing, says Strouse. He viewed yesterday's selloff as overdone.
JEFFERIES CUTS DEAN FOODS TO HOLD: Jefferies analyst Akshay Jagdale downgraded Dean Foods (DF) to Hold from Buy and lowered his price target for the shares to $6 from $13. The analyst believes the company's cost savings opportunity is significant enough to more than offset secular headwinds. However, Dean's "disappointing" Q3 results and guidance indicate its margin turnaround will take much longer to materialize, Jagdale said in a post-earnings research note. Meanwhile, competitive activity remains elevated, volume declines persist and Dean continues to lose share, says Jagdale. His downgrade reflects low visibility into the timing of the company's margin inflection and a belief its turnaround will take much longer to achieve.
JEFFERIES UPGRADES VEONEER TO BUY: Jefferies analyst Ashik Kurian upgraded Veoneer (VNE) to Buy from Hold while lowering his price target for the shares to $42 from $50. A capital raise and less favorable outlook for the Active Safety business is priced into the shares following the recent pullback, Kurian tells investors in a research note. The analyst believes Veoneer can use other funding options rather than issue equity, and he expects order strength to reverse sentiment and the implied valuation for company's Active Safety unit.
MORGAN STANLEY CUTS MONSTER TO EQUAL WEIGHT: Morgan Stanley analyst Dara Mohsenian downgraded Monster Beverage (MNST) to Equal Weight from Overweight after the company indicated on its Q3 earnings call that Coca-Cola (KO) has developed two energy products it believes it can market under exceptions with its non-compete restrictions with Monster. Coke has delayed the test launch until April of 2019, pending arbitration, the analyst noted. If the launches do occur they would be a competitive threat to Monster which would, along with Bang's recent success in the U.S., increase competition and in his mind lower Monster's strategic potential, Mohsenian said. The analyst lowered his price target for Monster shares to $57 from $69. In late morning trading, shares of Monster Beverage were down over 6%.
Block
-6.63 (-8.02%)
First Data
-0.39 (-1.99%)
Symbol AXON
+0.28 (+0.55%)
Dean Foods
+0.04 (+0.67%)
Taken private
+0.065 (+0.18%)
Monster Beverage
-3.68 (-6.59%)
Coca-Cola
-0.2 (-0.41%)