Warner Bros. Discovery upgrade, Zoom Video downgrade and Boyd Gaming initiations 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:
- Cowen analyst Doug Creutz upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $24, down from $31. While still cautious on the "highly competitive" streaming space, the analyst thinks the management's approach to not trying to "win" the direct-to-consumer spending war is a more sustainable strategy than some of the company's peers.
- Credit Suisse analyst Maheep Mandloi upgraded EVgo (EVGO) to Outperform from Neutral with a $14 price target. The analyst believes valuation looks attractive after year-to-date underperformance and sees multiple tailwinds for faster EV charging growth and potential incentives from distribution of federal infrastructure funds.
- Jefferies analyst David Katz upgraded International Game (IGT) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $26, down from $30. The company's first quarter results show gaming business stabilization, but more important than the quarterly report is the fact that the shares have reached a more attractive level, said Katz, who cited the current trough levels for the shares coupled with the stability inherent in the business for his upgrade.
- Truist analyst Matthew Thornton upgraded SciPlay (SCPL) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $15, up from $14. The analyst sees a more favorable risk reward on the stock, with valuation turning "attractive" and board additions that bring in "valuable experience."
- Stephens analyst Chris Cooley upgraded Alcon (ALC) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $92, up from $86, following the company's first quarter report and reaffirming of its 2022 guidance.
Top 5 Downgrades:
- Piper Sandler analyst James Fish downgraded Zoom Video (ZM) to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $96, down from $157. The analyst sees limited upside to paid video with adjacent products like Phone and Rooms given the slowdown and size of video.
- Goldman Sachs analyst Gabriela Borges double downgraded Coupa Software (COUP) to Sell from Buy with a price target of $64, down from $83. The analyst believes the risk/reward for the stock is "skewed negative" over the next 12 months.
- Wolfe Research analyst Bill Carcache downgraded the credit card issuers to Underweight from Market Weight on his view that a recession is likely. He downgraded American Express (AXP) to Peer Perform from Outperform with a price target of $146, down from $213, Capital One (COF) to Underperform from Peer Perform with a price target of $86, down from $131, Discover (DFS) to Peer Perform from Outperform with a price target of $97, down from $136, and Synchrony (SYF) to Underperform from Peer Perform with a price target of $22, down from $38.
- Barclays analyst Benjamin Theurer downgraded Beyond Meat (BYND) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $25, down from $80. The analyst views the first quarter results as "disappointing," with guidance for the second quarter that is "less upbeat" than expectations.
- BWS Financial analyst Hamed Khorsand double downgraded Avaya (AVYA) to Sell from Buy with a $1 price target. The company has "exhausted investor patience" with its quest to transform into a subscription revenue business and the timeline offered for reaching revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth "are now difficult targets to achieve," Khorsand told investors in a research note.
Top 5 Coverage Initiations:
- Berenberg analyst Zachary Silverberg initiated coverage of Boyd Gaming (BYD) with a Buy rating and $78 price target. Boyd, along with Red Rock Resorts (RRR), has a "duopoly" in the Las Vegas local casino market, where he sees improving demographics and competitive barriers to entry, Silverberg told investors. The analyst also started coverage of Red Rock with a Buy rating and $50 price target.
- Goldman Sachs analyst Gabriela Borges initiated coverage of DigitalOcean (DOCN) with a Buy rating and $49 price target, which implies 59% upside. The analyst views the company as a "clear leader" in the cloud infrastructure market for small- to mid-sized business and individual developers.
- Citi analyst Michael Rollins initiated coverage of Starry (STRY) with a Neutral rating and $9.50 price target. The company's broadband can offer competitive speeds with incumbent cable and expanding fiber services, but the spectrum used to differentiate its product may see a slower sales ramp, Rollins told investors in a research note.
- BTIG analyst Ryan Zimmerman initiated coverage of Treace Medical (TMCI) with a Buy rating and $22 price target. Zimmerman believes that shares look "attractive" and Treace can sustainably grow in the bunion correction market for years to come while expanding "up the foot" as new products are added.
- B. Riley analyst Yuan Zhi initiated coverage of Iveric bio (ISEE) with a Neutral rating and $12 price target. The analyst is making a "contrarian call" due to "potential pitfalls" in the Street's "relatively bullish stance" on Iveric's lead drug, Zimura, currently in Phase III testing for geographic atrophy. Zhi does not see a favorable risk/reward profile at current shares levels based on uncertainty related to compliance issues stemming from Zimura's benefit/risk profile.
Symbols:
WBD EVGO IGT SCPL ALC ZM COUP AXP COF DFS SYF BYND AVYA BYD DOCN STRY TMCI ISEE Keywords: analyst, analyst calls, upgrades, downgrades, initiations, research, wall street