Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
JEFFERIES CUTS EA TO HOLD: Jefferies analyst Timothy O'Shea downgraded Electronic Arts (EA) to Hold from Buy and lowered his price target for the shares to $95 from $139. The company's key profit engine Ultimate Team is plateauing, O'Shea told investors in a research note. Further, with a string of "mixed-reviewed" non-sports games, namely Mass Effect, Need for Speed and Star Wars Battlefront II, Electronic Arts "has a lot to prove as it brings a slate of unproven titles to market in 2019," added the analyst. He expects year-over-year operating income margin compression of 300 basis points in fiscal 2019 and views consensus earnings estimates as aggressive.
MIZUHO UPGRADES XILINX TO BUY: Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh upgraded Xilinx (XLNX) to Buy from Neutral with a $100 price target citing the company's exposure to 5G. Continued ramp and a "long runway" in 5G with higher dollar content should be a tailwind for Xilinx "versus some of the anemic growth in other verticals and peers," Rakesh tells investors in a research note. The analyst's top 2019 Semiconductor pick is Broadcom (AVGO).
COWEN UPGRADES PRESSURE PUMPING STOCKS: Cowen analyst Marc Bianchi upgraded both Halliburton (HAL) and ProPetro Holding (PUMP) to Outperform from Market Perform to reflect his more positive stance on pressure pumping stocks. With relatively more focus toward U.S onshore activity, and in light of "significantly" lower investors expectations and more attractive valuations, the analysts is more positive on pressure pumping. He sees completion activity growing in Q2 and beyond driving improved utilization and margins. Bianchi lowered his price target for Halliburton shares to $35 from $45, and lowered his price target for ProPetro Holding shares to $24 from $25.
MAXIM CUTS CHIPOTLE TO HOLD: Maxim analyst Stephen Anderson downgraded Chipotle (CMG) to Hold from Buy with an unchanged price target of $510 after shares reached his price target this week. The analyst also lowered his FY19 EPS view to $12.93 from $13.14 on expectations of higher marketing expenses to help support Chipotle's launch of new menu items and digital initiatives. While Anderson still expects the company to generate "margin expansion" with renewed unit growth and share buybacks this year, he sees risks more balanced with the positives after the 34% run-up in Chipotle stock price since late December.
WILLIAM BLAIR CUTS F5 NETWORKS TO MARKET PERFORM: William Blair analyst Jason Ader downgraded F5 Networks (FFIV) to Market Perform from Outperform, saying he sees more questions than answers. Recent channel checks suggest "stagnant demand" in F5's enterprise business, Ader told investors in a research note. Further, he sees uncertainty around the success of F5's upcoming cloud-native application delivery controller offering due to potential product positioning challenges and increasing competition in cloud-native ADCs. On top of that, the analyst views shares of F5 Networks as fairly priced following the 17% rally over the past 12 months.
F5 Networks
-5.05 (-3.12%)
Chipotle
+0.83 (+0.16%)
ProPetro Holding
-0.06 (-0.39%)
Halliburton
+0.1 (+0.33%)
Xilinx
+0.24 (+0.27%)
Electronic Arts
-1.73 (-1.92%)