Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
INTEL UPGRADED TO BUY AT BOFA: BofA Merrill Lynch analyst Vivek Arya upgraded Intel (INTC) to Buy from Neutral, stating that the stock provides attractive exposure to growth trends in cloud computing, AI, advanced autos and 5G. He forecasts total semiconductor industry sales to decelerate to down 3% year-over-year in 2019 and still expects enterprise, data center and parts of networking infrastructure to perform better than cyclical sectors such as industrial, automotive and smartphones, Arya told investors. Risks, such as AMD (AMD) share loss, 7nm product delays, and tougher PC/data center comps, do exist, but now appear to be reflected in Intel shares, the analyst added. He raised his price target on Intel shares to $60 from $52. In late morning trading, shares of Intel are trading higher by 4.7% to $46.59.
NETFLIX ADDED TO CONVICTION LIST AT GOLDMAN: Goldman Sachs analyst Heath Terry added Netflix (NFLX) to his firm's Conviction List while keeping a Buy rating on the shares. With the stock down 36% since record highs in July, Netflix represents one of the best risk/reward propositions in the Internet sector, Terry told investors in a research note. His $400, 12-month price target implies 49% upside to Netflix's closing share price on January 2. The analyst continues to believe Netflix's investment in content, technology and distribution will drive subscriber growth "well above consensus expectations" both in the U.S. and internationally. In late morning trading, shares of Netflix are higher by over 6% to $287.52.
SHUTTERFLY UPGRADED TO OVERWEIGHT AT KEYBANC: KeyBanc analyst Edward Yruma upgraded Shutterfly (SFLY) to Overweight from Sector Weight with a $55 price target, telling investors in a research note that valuation is "compelling" despite concerns about the promotional environment that have materialized. He thinks that Lifetouch will help drive new customer growth at Shutterfly and believes $50M in merger synergies will materialize. While upgrading Shutterfly, the analyst downgraded Qurate Retail (QRTEA) to Sector Weight from Overweight.
SNAP CUT TO NEUTRAL AT GOLDMAN: Goldman Sachs analyst Heath Terry downgraded Snap (SNAP) to Neutral from Buy and lowered his price target for the shares to $6 from $10. The analyst believes Snap's sequential user declines are likely to continue in Q4. In order to generate a Twitter-like turnaround, the company will have to return to user growth, Terry told investors in a research note. However, he sees uncertainty around Snap's new Android app and its ability to reaccelerate daily active user growth, particularly in the midst of growing competition from Facebook's (FB) Instagram and ByteDance's Tik Tok. The analyst, nonetheless, still believes there is "significant value" in Snap's users.
MORGAN STANLEY SAYS SURVEY NEGATIVE FOR ALIGN, POSITIVE FOR STRAUMANN: Morgan Stanley analyst Steve Beuchaw noted that the firm surveyed 30 dentists and 42 orthodontists in the U.S. and said the results points to slower aligner mix shift and emerging share movements, both of which he said are negative for Align Technology (ALGN). He further pointed out that the survey was run during Q4, in advance of the full launch of competing products from 3M (MMM), Danaher (DHR), and Dentsply Sirona (XRAY). Given the survey findings, Beuchaw cut his U.S. volume estimates for Align by 400bps for 2019 and lowered his price target on the stock to $210 from $300 to account for lower estimates and a lower market multiple. He maintained an Equal Weight rating on Align Technology shares. Beuchaw added that the survey was positive for Straumann (STMN), which is covered by Michael Jungling. While investors tend to focus on new entrants from the other three mentioned above, ClearCorrect with support from Straumann was the bigger share winner prospectively in the survey, Beuchaw said.
Intel
+2.07 (+4.65%)
Netflix
+15.52 (+5.72%)
Snap
+0.08 (+1.41%)
Align Technology
-2.32 (-1.26%)
Taken private
+2.18 (+5.29%)
Qurate Retail
+0.36 (+1.86%)
Straumann
+ (+0.00%)