Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
HOME DEPOT DOWNGRADED TO NEUTRAL: BofA Merrill Lynch analyst Elizabeth Suzuki downgraded Home Depot (HD) to Neutral from Buy and reduced her price target to $195 from $219 saying peak growth has passed. Suzuki believes 2018 was a peak earnings growth year and 2017 was a likely peak in comps, coinciding with a peak in house sales. The analyst expects home improvement conditions to soften in the second half of 2019 and for earnings beats to get smaller, keeping investors on the sidelines.
NVIDIA DOWNGRADED AT B. RILEY, REMOVED FROM CONVICTION LIST AT GOLDMAN: B. Riley FBR analyst Craig Ellis downgraded Nvidia (NVDA) to Neutral and cut his price target for the shares to $190 from $240. The analyst cites the gaming revenue miss in last night's Q3 results as well as the slowdown in data center growth for the downgrade. Goldman Sachs analyst Toshiya Hari removed Nvidia from his firm's Conviction List and lowered his price target for the shares to $200 from $283 following last night's Q3 results. The analyst, however, keeps a Buy rating on the name. Hari admits to being "clearly wrong" on the stock, saying he underestimated the magnitude of the channel inventory build in mid-range Gaming GPUs. While Hari views the inventory correction in Gaming as a "one-time reset as opposed to a change in the long-term growth profile," he believes it could take a few quarters before the market regains confidence in the growth trajectory of the business.
CITI UPGRADES CALIFORNIA UTILITIES AFTER CPUC "STEPS UP BIGTIME": Citi analyst Praful Mehta upgraded PG&E (PCG) to Buy from Neutral while lowering his price target for the shares to $40 from $48. In a statement yesterday, the California Public Utilities Commission indicated that it will apply a cap when evaluating wildfire-related expenses, including the 2018 fires, Mehta tells investors in a research note partially titled "CPUC Steps-Up Bigtime." The analyst does not think the CPUC would be "taking this aggressive step to support the utilities" without some support from the legislative side. Mehta also upgraded Edison International (EIX) to Buy from Neutral, citing a similar rationale.
COWEN SEES TAKEOVER OFFER COMING FOR ZAYO: After hosting an investor call with Zayo Group (ZAYO) CFO Matt Steinfort, Cowen analyst Colby Synesael said that he expects Zayo to receive a takeout offer based on conversations with his contacts. Synesael believes financial sponsors, strategic buyers and activist investors are all currently evaluating the company, he added. The decision to split the company will "effectively quarantine the bad revenue" and allow the good InfraCo business to show, but private equity investors and strategics familiar with the fiber business "know this and in our view are unlikely to wait," Synesael wrote in a note to investors. He maintains an Outperform rating on Zayo Group shares with a $37 price target.
J.C. PENNEY CUT TO SELL: Argus analyst John Eade downgraded J.C. Penney (JCP) to Sell from Hold, anticipating continued losses for the stock for the next two years while also warning that at a current share price below $2, the company is operating with a more elevated risk.
Home Depot
-0.79 (-0.45%)
Nvidia
-35.11 (-17.33%)
JCP
+
PG&E
+6.81 (+38.32%)
Edison International
+6.28 (+13.34%)
Zayo Group
+1 (+4.50%)