Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
SUSTAINED GROWTH, PROFITABILITY: Credit Suisse analyst Phil Winslow assumed coverage of Microsoft (MSFT) with an Outperform rating and $400 price target. The analyst forecasts Microsoft to deliver mid-to-high teens revenue growth for at least the next five years along with high-teens to +20% earnings per share and free cash flow per share growth. Winslow also believes these levels of sustained growth and profitability are still not properly reflected in consensus estimates or the stock's valuation.
The analyst also assumed coverage of Palo Alto Networks (PANW) with an Outperform rating and $625 price target.
Additionally, Winslow also started coverage of
BUY PAYPAL: Loop Capital analyst Hal Goetsch initiated coverage of PayPal (PYPL) with a Buy rating and $269 price target. PayPal operates the "most formidable 2-sided fintech enabled platform" in the market, Goetsch told investors in a research note. The analyst also argued that the consumer and merchant value propositions curated by the company drives "tremendous network effects." The recent 30% pullback in the stock and "modest reset" of 2022 expectations presents an attractive entry point, he contended.
'ABRUPT CESSATION' OF USER GROWTH: Atlantic Equities analyst John Heagerty downgraded Robinhood (HOOD) to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $35, down from $65. The company saw "abrupt cessation" of user growth in the third quarter and its guidance for the fourth quarter indicates growth will be dramatically lower than original expectations, at least in the near-term, Heagerty told investors in a research note. Further, Robinhood's investment in new products is likely to lower adjusted EBITDA growth and the switch of focus to crypto trading will increase the volatility of revenues, the analyst added.
Q3 COMPS, MARGINS MISS: Argus analyst John Staszak downgraded Wendy's (WEN) to Hold from Buy following quarterly results. The analyst continues to expect the company to benefit from its unit expansion, new menu items, and digital business investment, but after the third quarter miss on comps and margins, he is also cutting his full year 2021 earnings per share view by 2c to 84c and full year 2022 view by 5c to 95c. Staszak added that based on this weaker outlook, he sees Wendy's shares as "fully valued" at 23-times his revised expected 2022 earnings. The analyst further stated that he is more positive on McDonalds (MCD) and Chipotle (CMG) within the restaurant group.
SELL AVIS BUDGET: Barclays analyst Brian Johnson downgraded Avis Budget Group (CAR) to Underweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $217, up from $125. Following Avis's print last week, data points "remain firm," and qualitatively, the likelihood of higher pricing through at least mid-decade is increasing, Johnson told investors in a research note. Additionally, the emergence of a key competitor from bankruptcy and the advent of a new secular growth story "seems to be supportive of a re-rating in the rental car space," the analyst added. However, Johnson is moving to an Underweight rating "following the short-squeeze induced run-up" post earnings. He believes Avis Budget's valuations is now "overstretched even on our optimistic forecasts."
Acquired by AVGO
+0.69 (+0.55%)
Microsoft
+0.405 (+0.12%)
Palo Alto Networks
+4.68 (+0.90%)
Salesforce
+0.745 (+0.24%)
Oracle
+1.6 (+1.70%)
Snowflake
+0.2 (+0.05%)
Workday
+1.91 (+0.65%)
Confluent
-1.04 (-1.30%)
ZoomInfo
-0.015 (-0.02%)
ServiceNow
+3.84 (+0.56%)
MongoDB
+5.44 (+0.97%)
Autodesk
+3.26 (+1.00%)
UiPath
+1.26 (+2.35%)
Zscaler
+1.68 (+0.49%)
Adobe
+2.18 (+0.33%)
Zendesk
-0.4 (-0.39%)
Palantir
-0.695 (-2.97%)
Zeta Global
-0.195 (-2.10%)
Cloudflare
-1.33 (-0.64%)
Teradata
-1.3 (-2.65%)
Check Point
-1.095 (-0.94%)
PayPal
+2.41 (+1.13%)
Robinhood
-1 (-2.86%)
Wendy's
-0.015 (-0.07%)
McDonald's
+0.725 (+0.29%)
Chipotle
-5.01 (-0.27%)
Avis Budget
-1.09 (-0.40%)
Bought by CSCO
+1.76 (+1.28%)