Delta Air Lines upgrade, Airbnb downgrade and Nike coverage initiation among today's top calls on Wall Street Institutional investors and professional traders rely on The Fly to learn which companies the best analysts on Wall Street are saying to buy and sell.
Research analysts at Wall Street's largest banks issue recommendations on whether a stock should be bought, held, or sold. The Fly's team of financial market experts scours hundreds of research notes daily to uncover the best trading ideas. Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
Top 5 Upgrades:
- Argus analyst John Staszak upgraded Delta Air Lines (DAL) to Buy from Hold with a $46 price target. The company's customers are among the most satisfied of any legacy carrier and have provided Delta with sustained pricing power, the analyst contended.
- Oppenheimer analyst Ian Zaffino upgraded Six Flags (SIX) to Outperform from Perform with a $54 price target after speaking with newly-appointed CEO Selim Bassoul. The analyst believes his strategy of "premiumization" is the right one.
- William Blair analyst Kamil Mielczarek upgraded Snowflake (SNOW) to Outperform from Market Perform without a price target. The analyst cited the company's "better-than-expected" growth in 2021 and recent pullback in the shares.
- Truist analyst Patrick Scholes upgraded Hyatt (H) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $106, up from $78. The combination of Hyatt's Apple Leisure Group, or ALG, acquisition and the $2B of planned dispositions is a "game changer" in how he values the stock. Macquarie analyst Chad Beynon also upgraded Hyatt to Outperform from Neutral with a $110 price target.
- BMO Capital analyst Simeon Siegel upgraded Under Armour (UAA) to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $25, up from $23, as he believes the recent selloff discounts Under Armour's pandemic transformation by re-focusing on profits over growth for growth's sake.
Top 5 Downgrades:
- Gordon Haskett analyst Robert Mollins downgraded Airbnb (ABNB) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $172, down from $216. The analyst sees headwinds to the company's growth and not enough upside catalysts.
- Morgan Stanley analyst Simeon Gutman downgraded Dollar General (DG) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $225, down from $250, citing "modestly" reduced estimates and a slightly lower target multiple.
- Morgan Stanley analyst Kimberly Greenberger downgraded Gap (GPS) to Underweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $14, down from $20. Greenberger is most cautious on mall-based specialty retailers and department stores after a year of record operating margin gains and thinks their EBIT margins and earnings are likely to suffer some erosion, which could continue for "the next several years."
- Wells Fargo analyst Truman Patterson downgraded Sherwin-Williams (SHW) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $335, down from $380, following another EPS reduction and as his confidence in forecasting the margin side continues to be challenged.
- Wedbush analyst Nick Setyan downgraded Brinker (EAT) to Neutral from Outperform with a price target of $42, down from $54. The analyst no longer believes that the probability of higher annual top- and bottom-line growth rates going forward relative to Brinker's growth rates pre-COVID is high enough to justify a premium to its pre-COVID valuation multiples.
Top 5 Coverage Initiations:
- Seaport Global analyst Mitch Kummetz initiated coverage of Nike (NKE) with a Buy rating and $175 price target, citing his feelings about the company and the stock valuation." His overall view on the space is that the tough 2021 comparison "isn't as difficult as what's implied by the valuations. Kummetz also started Foot Locker with a Buy rating and $59 price target.
- Wells Fargo analyst Colin Langan initiated coverage of Lithia & Driveway (LAD) with an Overweight rating and $345 price target. Lithia's omnichannel strategy, combining online and brick and mortar, has compelling strategic advantages such as lower logistics costs, leveraging servicing facilities for reconditioning, and better inventory selection, Langan argued.
- Wells Fargo analyst Colin Langan initiated coverage of AutoNation (AN) with an Overweight rating and $135 price target. The analyst noted AutoNation is trading at only 6.1-times 2022 consensus EPS, significantly below its historical range of 9-15-times.
- Goldman Sachs analyst Michael Ng initiated coverage of SoFi Technologies (SOFI) with a Neutral rating and $16 price target. The analyst views SoFi's growth opportunity as largely reflected in current valuations.
- BTIG analyst Gregory Lewis initiated coverage of Marathon Digital (MARA) with a Buy rating and $50 price target. The analyst believes the company is well positioned for the ongoing bitcoin mining up-cycle.
Symbols:
DAL SIX SNOW H UAA UA ABNB DG GPS EAT NKE FL LAD AN SOFI MARA Keywords: analyst, analyst calls, upgrades, downgrades, initiations, research, wall street