Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
BOFA REVERSES COURSE, UPGRADES APPLE: BofA Merrill Lynch analyst Wamsi Mohan upgraded Apple (AAPL) to Buy from Neutral and raised his price target for the shares to $210 from $180. The analyst, who downgraded Apple to Neutral on November 2, 2018, now sees "stability" of supply chain order cuts and a "large reversal of inventory overhang" in iPhones. He believes negative consensus estimates revisions for fiscal 2020 and 2021 have overshot to the downside and that the valuation, excluding Apple's cash position, is attractive. Further, a global survey of 151,262 total respondents across U.S., U.K, China, and India show a highly loyal user base with low churn, Mohan told investors in a research note.
NOMURA UPGRADES FACEBOOK TO BUY: Nomura Instinet analyst Mark Kelley upgraded Facebook (FB) to Buy from Neutral and raised his price target for the shares to $215 from $172. Facebook's transition to Stories appears to be occurring more quickly than we expected, Kelley wrote in a research note titled "A New Story to Tell." As such, the analyst said his concerns over engagement trends at core Facebook have eased. Given management's original commentary that operating margins would trend towards the mid-30% range over "the next several years," and considering guidance for 2019 expense growth essentially equates to 35%-36% operating margins right out of the gate, the expense growth outlook may be tempered as we progress throughout the year, said Kelley. Further, he continues to believe that increased regulation will be a net positive for large platforms like Facebook. The analyst finds the stock attractively valued at current levels.
NOMURA DOUBLE DOWNGRADES ORACLE: Nomura Instinet analyst Christopher Eberle double downgraded Oracle (ORCL) to Reduce from Buy and cut his price target for the shares to $42 from $53. Oracle's buyback program has helped drive the stock to near all-time highs, but the rate of $10B in buybacks per quarter "can't last forever," Eberle told investors in a research note. The analyst believes the company is "significantly underinvesting" in research and development compared to peers at the expense of revenue and operating income growth. Further, a reversion back to the historical average of ~$3B per quarter in buybacks over the next two years is not enough to meet consensus estimates, contended the analyst. He thinks Oracle's "financial engineering is reaching its breaking point."
BARCLAYS UPGRADES SPIRIT, CUTS JETBLUE: Barclays analyst Brandon Oglenski upgraded Spirit Airlines (SAVE) to Overweight from Equal Weight while downgrading JetBlue Airways (JBLU) to Equal Weight from Overweight. The analyst said that in a sector "besieged by seemingly permanent negative sentiment," he seeks airline managements "driving agendas and delivering tangible results." Improvements in network reliability, traction on revenue management initiatives, dynamic pricing of ancillary products and prime growth opportunities in the U.S. market suggest Spirit shares are "significantly undervalued," Oglenski said. He expects the company's earnings growth will exceed 40% in 2019, and sees upside of over 35% in the shares. Oglenski named Spirit his Top Pick in airlines. For JetBlue, the analyst believes the company's commercial initiatives can be subject to competitive pressure. While there is a lot to like, the company is not seeing much traction, said Oglenski.
JPMORGAN BOOSTS FIREEYE TO OVERWEIGHT: JPMorgan analyst Sterling Auty upgraded FireEye (FEYE) to Overweight from Neutral with an unchanged price target of $20. The stock's year-to-date performance has been 23% below the group's coverage, and the stock is now trading at 3.7 times estimated fiscal 2019 revenue estimates, Auty told investors in a research note. This represents an attractive risk/reward profile as the company's billings will accelerate through the course of 2019, adds the analyst. Further, he believes FireEye's new packaging and enterprise on demand offering could provide a lift to growth.
Apple
+4.92 (+2.84%)
Ticker changed to META
+3.54 (+2.09%)
Oracle
+0.14 (+0.27%)
Spirit Airlines
+0.55 (+1.06%)
JetBlue
+0.09 (+0.56%)
Changed symbol to MDNT
+1.07 (+6.65%)