Target upgrade and downgrades, and Estee Lauder 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:
- Piper Sandler analyst Edward Yruma upgraded Target (TGT) to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $200, up from $190. The company has had a difficult 2022, but the stock's valuation now "looks compelling," Yruma tells investors in a research note.
- Summit Insights analyst Kinngai Chan upgraded Nvidia (NVDA) to Buy from Hold. The analyst sees a favorable risk-reward scenario for the stock, as Chan expects tailwinds through 2023 driven by the company's new product cycle, and believes the downside from crypto-mining demand and the export restriction of data center products to Chinese customers are now behind the company.
- UBS analyst Paul Gong upgraded XPeng (XPEV) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $13, down from $34. Gong believes XPeng could improve on its internal management and product lineup, which could drive its monthly sales volume from 5K units in October to 10K per month following personnel reshuffle and product adjustments.
- BofA analyst Craig Siegenthaler upgraded IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $132, up from $116. While he has become more cautious on the exchange industry, he is more bullish on IntercontinentalExchange than its peers given his positive view of the company's long-term growth path and improving earnings quality, both of which he sees being strengthened by the Black Knight (BKI) deal.
- Wolfe Research analyst Steve Fleishman upgraded Pinnacle West (PNW) to Peer Perform from Underperform and removed his previous $66 price target on the shares. Following the Arizona Corporation Commission election, he thinks the risk of a bad outcome in the pending rate case is reduced, Fleishman tells investors.
Top 5 Downgrades:
- BMO Capital analyst Kelly Bania downgraded Target (TGT) to Market Perform from Outperform with a price target of $165, down from $190. The analyst maintains her view that the company's EBIT margin would rebound to over 6% following depressed levels in 2022, though she also believes that the stock is "fairly priced and already reflects a rebound margin." Deutsche Bank analyst Krisztina Katai also downgraded Target to Hold from Buy with a price target of $144, down from $183.
- Monness Crespi analyst Brian White downgraded Salesforce (CRM) to Neutral from Buy after what he calls "a generous tech rally over the past week." He has concerns regarding the severity of this downturn and believes Salesforce will "face more challenging times over the next 12-18 months."
- UBS analyst Paul Gong downgraded Nio (NIO) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $13, down from $32. Sufficient expectations for its ET5 model have been priced into the stock, but he expects execution challenges.
- Credit Suisse analyst Benjamin Chaiken double downgraded Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) to Underperform from Outperform with a price target of $14, down from $20. The analyst sees downside risk to estimates and now prefers shares of Royal Caribbean (RCL).
- Citi analyst Patrick Donnelly downgraded Quest Diagnostics (DGX) to Sell from Neutral with a price target of $125, down from $145. The analyst sees risks to Quest 's long-term guidance of 4%-5% growth in the base business as well as additional cost headwinds.
Top 5 Initiations:
- Canaccord analyst Susan Anderson initiated coverage of Estee Lauder (EL) with a Hold rating and $228 price target. The company is seeing weakness in the travel retail channel and slower growth in China due to continued lockdowns, and it is uncertain when this will ease, Anderson tells investors in a research note.
- Canaccord analyst Brian McNamara initiated coverage of Middleby (MIDD) with a Buy rating and $171 price target. The analyst believes deferred commercial foodservice equipment spend could start to materialize in 2023, which should benefit Middleby and drive above-consensus numbers.
- Goldman Sachs analyst Susan Maklari reinstated coverage of Whirlpool (WHR) with a Neutral rating and $160 price target following completion of the InSinkErato acquisition. As demand for appliances moderates, production inefficiencies, ongoing inflationary headwinds and a normalization in promotions will pressure Whirlpool's results, Maklari tells investors in a research note.
- Northland analyst Nehal Chokshi initiated coverage of Franklin Covey (FC) with an Outperform rating and $100 price target. The company's "best-in-class content," plus improving delivery, can drive acceleration to high teen revenue growth, the analyst projects.
- Morgan Stanley analyst Matthew Harrison initiated coverage of Ventyx Biosciences (VTYX) with an Overweight rating and $45 price target. Ventyx's lead asset, VTX958, is a "potential best-in-class" TYK2 inhibitor for psoriatic and irritable bowel diseases, said Harrison, who points to Bristol-Myers' (BMY) Sotyktu, which has consensus peak sales estimates of about $4B, as highlighting the commercial potential for VTX958.
Symbols:
TGT NVDA XPEV ICE BKI PNW CRM NIO NCLH RCL DGX EL MIDD WHR FC VTYX BMY Keywords: analyst, analyst calls, upgrades, downgrades, initiations, research, wall street