Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
JMP UPGRADES INTERCEPT TO OUTPERFORM: JMP Securities analyst Liisa Bayko upgraded Intercept (ICPT) to Outperform from Market Perform as she thinks the REGENERATE trial, which will be reading out this quarter, has "a good shot" to hit on the fibrosis endpoint. REGENERATE would technically be considered a success if obeticholic acid hits either primary endpoint, but she thinks for "OCA" to be a commercial success the trial needs to hit on the fibrosis endpoint, Bayko tells investors. While she maintains a 60% probability of success view of the trial, she could see Intercept share trading above $200 with positive fibrosis data to support regulatory submissions, the analyst added. However, she could see downside to about $75 per share for the stock on a miss. Bayko has a $175 price target on Intercept shares.
RBC CUTS WHIRLPOOL TO UNDERPERFORM: RBC Capital analyst Mike Dahl downgraded Whirlpool (WHR) to Underperform from Sector Perform with an unchanged price target of $111 after the stock rallied 10% in spite of the disappointing Q4 earnings and a soft FY19 guidance. The analyst believes that the rally was driven by the perception of the guidance being conservative, since it did not assume the impact of buybacks and also modeled "healthy level of cost inflation assumptions including tariffs." While he sees these areas as "supportive", Dahl believes the that uncertainty in industry market share and pricing dynamics for the company warrant caution. In late morning trading, shares of Whirlpool were down 4.3% to $130.68.
JUNIPER DOUBLE DOWNGRADED AT BOFA: BofA Merrill Lynch analyst Tal Liani double downgraded Juniper Networks (JNPR) to Underperform from Buy after the company reported "weak" Q4 results and guidance and management said the demand and pricing trends that are hurting them will likely not improve in the foreseeable future. The company's effort to penetrate cloud vendors with switches will require new products and may take time, Liani added. He lowered his estimates in the wake of the results and guidance and cut his price target on Juniper shares to $25 from $33. Shares of Juniper were lower by 8.2% to $25.65 in late morning trading.
AK STEEL DOUBLE DOWNGRADED AT BOFA: BofA Merrill Lynch analyst Timna Tanners downgraded AK Steel (AKS) two notches, to Underperform from Buy, following the company's "disappointing" 2019 guidance, stating that higher contract prices into 2019 were eclipsed by higher raw material costs and maintenance needs. As the most levered U.S. steel company she covers, Tanners believes free cash flow is "critical" to AK Steel and that more limited debt paydown assumptions can hurt sentiment and limit its options, she tells investors. Tanners cut her price target on AK Steel shares in half, lowering it to $2.50 from $5.00 after cutting her 2019/20 EBITDA and EPS estimates.
CITI SAYS XEROX COULD BE ACQUIRED: Xerox's (XRX) results Tuesday morning "show real steps of the company turning around its cost and cash flow structuring," Citi analyst Jim Suva told investors in a research note. The analyst continues to view Xerox as his "top deep value and restructuring stock" and he believes the company could be acquired by private equity or potentially resume its discussions to be acquired by Fuji or even HP (HPQ). He maintained a Buy rating on the shares with a $34 price target. In late morning trading, shares of Xerox were higher by 3.2% to $27.94.
Xerox
+0.81 (+2.99%)
AKS
+
Juniper
-2.53 (-9.06%)
Whirlpool
-6.1 (-4.47%)
Intercept
+2.42 (+2.15%)