Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
STIFEL MORE BULLISH ON FACEBOOK, WHILE HSBC BEARISH: Stifel analyst John Egbert upgraded Facebook (FB) to Buy from Hold this morning, telling investors that he is incrementally positive on the company's ability to sustain above-market ad revenue growth and maintain healthy levels of user growth and engagement following Facebook's Q3 earnings report. He also views Facebook's valuation as attractive relative to peers. Egbert, who forecasts 20% plus year-over-year revenue growth is fiscal 2020 and 15%-20% growth in FY21-FY23, raised his price target on Facebook shares to $240 from $215.
Meanwhile, HSBC analyst Nicolas Cote-Colisson initiated coverage of Facebook with a Reduce rating and $178 price target. A growing numbers of policy makers and regulators are determined to take decisive action against Facebook, Cote-Colisson tells investors. The analyst believes sustaining Facebook's pace of growth "will get harder" and he views current consensus estimates as "overly ambitious." Facebook faces a "huge regulatory overhang," adds Cote-Colisson, who finds that the overhang could have an impact equivalent to 38.5% of the company's current valuation.
STIFEL ALSO UPS ALPHABET: Fellow Stifel analyst Scott Devitt upgraded Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $1,525, up from $1,325. Earlier this year he had concerns around topline deceleration, when revenue growth fell below 20% in Q1, but trends subsequently re-accelerated, Devitt noted. He is also encouraged by Google's continued share gains of advertising dollars and sees a runway for healthy revenue growth, leading him to raise his long-term Properties revenue estimates. Devitt additionally said he views the streamlining of the management structure - with Sundar Pichai now the CEO of both Google and Alphabet - as a positive for investors.
GOLDMAN HAS CONVICTION IN BUYING NIKE SHARES: Goldman Sachs analyst Alexandra Walvis upgraded Nike (NKE) to Buy from Neutral with a $112 price target and added the shares to her firm's Americas Conviction List. Nike is on the cusp of a "sharp acceleration" in earnings growth, Walvis tells investors. The analyst expects Nike's earnings to grow 19% annually over the next three years versus 5% the prior three. Her 2022 earnings per share estimate of $4.22 is 5% ahead of consensus. China is the key driver as Nike can grow its China revenues at a high teens pace, contends Walvis.
CITI RAISES APPLE TARGET TO $300: Citi analyst Jim Suva raised his price target for Apple (AAPL) to $300 from $250 after "materially" increasing his sales and earnings estimates. The analyst keeps a Buy rating on the shares, which closed Wednesday up $2.29 to $261.74. Suva models sales for the December quarter of $89.5B, above the consensus estimate of $87.9B, and earnings per share of $4.58, above the consensus of $4.51. Looking beyond the December quarter, he's also "materially above" consensus for sales and earnings and believes consensus numbers will be moving higher. The consensus is underappreciating the Apple Watch and AirPods demand strength as well as Apple's wearables segment, which is likely to surpass $10B of quarterly sales this quarter, Suva tells investors.
MORGAN STANLEY CUTS ETSY TO UNDERWEIGHT: Morgan Stanley analyst Lauren Cassel assumed coverage of Etsy (ETSY) and downgraded the stock to Underweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $38, down from $52. The analyst's analysis indicates that headwinds from new state sales tax legislation and Etsy pulling back on its investment in Product Listing Ads could more than offset the benefits of free shipping. Further, a shorter holiday calendar and algorithm changes are two other Q4 risks, Cassel tells investors in a research note. While the analyst likes Etsy's business model and "competitive moat," she now anticipates slowing core gross merchandise sales growth to result in negative sales and EBITDA revisions. This could drive further multiple compression even through Etsy shares are already down 25% quarter-to-date, contends Cassel. Her 2020 EBITDA estimate is now 7% below consensus.
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Nike
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Alphabet
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Alphabet
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Apple
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Etsy
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