Federal Signal upgrade, Lyft downgrade, and Chewy 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:
- DA Davidson analyst Michael Shlisky upgraded Federal Signal (FSS) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $46, up from $39, after hosting an Industrials conference and holding a follow-up call with its management. The analyst contends that owning a government-focused Machinery company in a recession remains appealing, and this time it is backed by large and already-passed stimulus bills.
- Keefe Bruyette analyst David Konrad upgraded Goldman Sachs (GS) to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $429, up from $395. He believes Goldman has limited AOCI risk and sees the main driver of the stock as likely to be excess capital generated by harvesting on-balance sheet PE assets while growing its alternative asset management business.
- Jefferies analyst Yaron Kinar upgraded Progressive (PGR) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $142, up from $123, based on the view that it has better relative positioning compared to peers. This should allow Progressive to stand out in margin improvement this quarter and take market share over the next couple of years with a limited increase in ad spending, Kinar tells investors.
- Argus analyst Jasper Hellweg upgraded Biogen (BIIB) to Buy from Hold with a $300 price target. The analyst states that the stock had underperformed since June of 2021 on investor concerns with the challenging path for its Alzheimer's treatment Aduhelm. Hellweg notes however that the recent data from lecanemab - a separate Alzheimer's treatment - have proven "robust" as the drug saw a 27% reduction in patients' clinical decline on cognitive and functional metrics.
- Citi analyst Scott Gruber upgraded Core Laboratories (CLB) to Neutral from Sell with a price target of $17, down from $24. Following a pullback in the shares, the valuation appears "more appropriate" and better aligned with the fundamental outlook, Gruber tells investors.
Top 5 Downgrades:
- RBC Capital analyst Brad Erickson downgraded Lyft (LYFT) to Sector Perform from Outperform with a price target of $16, down from $30. The analyst states that the "structural advantages" of Uber (UBER) - shorter pick up times and cheaper prices - are generating "competitive intensity" for the company as it is forced to maintain moderate ongoing driver incentives.
- Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brett Knoblauch downgraded Shift Technologies (SFT) to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of 90c, down from $2.50. The downgrade is based on used vehicle prices declining at a quicker rate than previously expected, which results in the lowering of estimates after a meaningful cut at the Q2 results, Knoblauch tells investors in a research note.
- Baird analyst Garrett Holland downgraded Norfolk Southern (NSC) to Neutral from Outperform with a price target of $240, down from $280. He estimates 10% and 20% EPS downside in his bear and severe bear macro scenarios, respectively, and contends that rail and less-than-truckload shipper names screen as having most downside.
- JPMorgan analyst Mark Murphy downgraded Zoom Video (ZM) to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $85, down from $295, after assuming coverage of the name. The analyst is positive on Zoom's "underlying technology, continued innovation, and market position," and is "impressed" by its cash-generative financial profile, but these are offset by near-term growth and margin headwinds as Zoom pivots to optimize business mix and ramps spending to explore new avenues of growth as well as address competitive evolution, Murphy tells investors in a research note.
- Keefe Bruyette analyst Christopher McGratty downgraded Zions Bancorp (ZION) to Market Perform from Outperform with a price target of $72, down from $77, ahead of the Q3 results. Bank balance sheets and capital positions "both remain in solid shape, but the optics of further deposit outflows and additional declines in tangible book value have the potential to overshadow the strong net interest income results that investors are expecting, McGratty tells investors in a research note.
Top 5 Initiations:
- Oppenheimer analyst Rupesh Parikh initiated coverage of Chewy (CHWY) with an Outperform rating and $42 price target. With shares now down 70% from all-time highs, Parikh sees "an attractive entry point for longer-term players."
- Morgan Stanley analyst Alex Straton assumed coverage of Levi Strauss (LEVI) with an Equal Weight rating and $19 price target. Levi's Q3 results - with a headline EPS beat driven by SG&A conservatism and tax benefits masked revenue and gross margin pressure - mirror those of other retailers and brands this earnings season, Straton said.
- Piper Sandler analyst Luke Lemoine assumed coverage of Helmerich & Payne (HP) with an Overweight rating and $59 price target. The analyst assumed coverage of 27 oilfield service names. He believes there's long term value in the sector and that the crude pullback over the past months is "temporal."
- Needham analyst Bernie McTernan initiated coverage of Unity (U) with a Buy rating and $50 price target. The company's Create platform is "best in class" and should benefit from the rising demand for real-time, interactive, 3-D content in gaming and beyond, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
- JonesTrading analyst Justin Walsh initiated coverage of Plus Therapeutics (PSTV) with a Buy rating and $5 price target. The company's lead asset, 186RNL, is being tested in recurrent glioblastoma and leptomeningeal metastases with plans to enter a pediatric brain cancer trial in late 2022 or early 2023, Walsh tells investors.
Symbols:
LYFT UBER SFT FSS GS NSC ZM CHWY LEVI HP U PSTV PGR - $121.98 /
-0.105 (-0.09%)
BIIB CLB ZION Keywords: analyst, analyst calls, upgrades, downgrades, initiations, research, wall street