Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
MICRON DOUBLE DOWNGRADED TO UNDERPERFORM AT BAIRD: Baird analyst Tristan Gerra downgraded Micron (MU) two notches, to Underperform from Outperform, as he now models eight consecutive quarters of gross margin and EPS contraction given the continued deterioration in both DRAM and NAND memory pricing. DRAM capacity is expected to increase 10%-15% in each of calendar year 2019 and 2020, while the NAND outlook continues to worsen, Gerra said. Given the pricing and margin concerns, he slashed his price target on Micron shares to $32 from $75.
MERRILL LYNCH CUTS SKYWORKS TO UNDERPERFORM: BofA Merrill Lynch analyst Vivek Arya downgraded Skyworks (SWKS) to Underperform from Neutral and lowered his price target on the shares to $75 from $92. Arya believes smartphone chip vendors could have a difficult 2019 due to lack of innovative features and content gains in 2019 iPhones, and does not expect growth to resume until the 5G cycle in 2020 at the earliest.
WESTERN DIGITAL DOWNGRADED TO NEUTRAL: Susquehanna analyst Mehdi Hosseini downgraded Western Digital (WDC) to Neutral from Positive, stating that he has lost confidence in the company's ability to benefit from SSD substitution of HDDs. Hosseini lowered his price target to $44 from $120 on Western Digital shares.
GOLDMAN LOWERS APPLE TARGET AGAIN: Following The Wall Street Journal's report yesterday about Apple (AAPL) seeing lower demand than the company had initially expected for its new iPhones, Goldman Sachs analyst Rod Hall noted that it appears that in addition to weakness in China and other emerging markets it also looks like the price and features of the iPhone XR may not have been well-received by non-U.S. users. While he believes the company likely included this more negative scenario in its guidance, Hall sees "material risk" to Apple's March quarter guidance if current demand trends continue, he tells investors. He lowered his price target on the shares to $182 from $209 and keeps a Neutral rating on Apple. The Fly notes that a week ago, on November 13, Hall lowered his iPhone units estimates after Lumentum (LITE) reduced its December quarter revenue guidance. At that time, he had lowered his price target on Apple shares to $209 from $222.
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