Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
FACEBOOK BOOSTED TO BUY AT GUGGENHEIM: Guggenheim analyst Michael Morris upgraded Facebook (FB) to Buy from Neutral and raised his price target for the shares to $200 from $175. Investors will continue to gain comfort with the incremental financial risk created by Facebook's content and privacy concerns, Morris told investors in a research note. Further, the analyst believes the company's usage trends have remained "solid" and sees the potential for commerce and messaging monetization opportunities "as attractively priced within shares." Morris expects Facebook shares to outperform his broader Media & Entertainment coverage given its "above-average growth rate at a modest premium to overall market valuation."
ROKU CUT TO NEUTRAL AT GUGGENHEIM: Guggenheim analyst Michael Morris downgraded Roku (ROKU) to Neutral from Buy and lowered his price target for the shares to $72 from $77. Apple's (AAPL) video product unveiled on March 25 represents an additional risk to Roku's active user base, the analyst told investors in a research note. Further, Amazon's (AMZN) and Viacom's (VIAB) greater pushes into advertising video on demand are also increasing competition on Roku, Morris contended. He adds that Roku CFO Steve Louden's sale of 100,000 shares has also "shaken" his confidence in the stock. Nonetheless, the analyst's view of the "strong" secular streaming and targeted video advertising tailwinds that the company is positioned to benefit from is unchanged.
MICRON CUT TO UNDERWEIGHT AT MORGAN STANLEY: Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore downgraded Micron (MU) to Underweight from Equal Weight, stating that the company's fundamentals have not changed but the stock has rallied amid recent optimism as cloud demand has started to come back and a competitor has experienced a "minor product qualification challenge." However, the growing consensus view that earnings will be near a bottom this quarter seems "much too optimistic" to Moore, who sees DRAM remaining oversupplied throughout the year and into next. NAND is closer to a bottom than DRAM, admitted Moore, but he sees difficult conditions persisting for NAND through the year as well. He kept a $32 price target on Micron shares.
NIO UPGRADED AT BOFA, CITI: Citi analyst Jeff Chung upgraded NIO Inc. (NIO) to Buy from Neutral while lowering his price target for the shares to $6.80 from $7.20. Chung is in part making a valuation call with the shares down 47% since the early-March peak. He also expects a valuation "re-rate" of China's electric vehicle sector. NIO's Q1 shipments beat consensus and ES6 deliveries, which start in early June, should be faster than consensus expects, Chung tells investors in a research note. The analyst also believes NIO's customer base is less price sensitive due to its premium brand positioning.
Additionally, BofA/Merrill analyst Ming Hsun Lee upgraded NIO Inc. to Neutral from Underperform with a price target of $6.20. The shares, after declining 47% from the peak in early March, have now factored in the company's lowered sales volume growth, Lee told investors in a research note. The analyst views NIO's current valuation as fair and expects its volume sales to grow sequentially in Q2 relative to Q1. The company just launched a six-seater ES8, which should gain some popularity from consumers, says Lee. Further, NIO is arranging more test-drive events in more cities, which the analyst believes should help orders improve.
ETSY STARTED WITH A BUY AT CANACCORD: Canaccord analyst Maria Ripps initiated Etsy (ETSY) with a Buy rating and $85 price target, telling investors in a research note that it takes a "special value proposition" for companies to prosper in an ecommerce landscape dominated by Amazon. Ripps said she sees Etsy benefiting from a unique supplier base, a differentiated value proposition for shoppers, and a customer experience that values other elements of a transaction above fast free shipping, with added tailwinds of a large, under-penetrated market and specific operating improvements that should continue to make the business more efficient. Additionally, she contended that Etsy's new management has done an "admirable" job bringing the platform closer to best-in-class peers, though she sees room for improving operating performance leading to robust growth and stronger profitability.
Micron
-1.32 (-3.00%)
Roku
-4.94 (-7.20%)
Ticker changed to META
+3.79 (+2.18%)
Nio
+0.11 (+2.09%)
Etsy
-1.49 (-2.15%)
Apple
+0.61 (+0.31%)
Amazon.com
-3.41 (-0.19%)