The most talked about and market moving research calls around Wall Street are now in one place. Here are today's research calls that investors need to know, as compiled by The Fly.
Top 5 Upgrades:
- JMP Securities upgraded Oracle (ORCL) to Outperform from Market Perform with a $175 price target. The company reported better than expected fiscal Q1 results, while guidance was better on earnings and in line on revenue, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
- BofA upgraded Johnson Controls (JCI) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $80, up from $76. The firm cites a combination of data center exposure, valuation and the forthcoming addition of a new CEO.
- JPMorgan upgraded Delek US (DK) to Neutral from Underweight with a price target of $26, up from $23. The company has generated consolidated EBITDA of $45M on a value-neutral basis by reinvesting high multiple proceeds into lower multiple acquisitions and organic projects, the firm tells investors in a research note.
- Deutsche Bank upgraded Equity Residential (EQR) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $83, up from $62. The firm sees the company's coastal exposure as a "major positive given limited oncoming supply and healthy tenant demand."
- Jefferies upgraded Relay Therapeutics (RLAY) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $16, up from $10.60, after the company reported interim data for RLY-2608. Management's thesis on higher selectivity equaling better safety and tolerability seems to have held up based on the data, the firm tells investors in a research note.
Top 5 Downgrades:
- Redburn Atlantic downgraded Costco (COST) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $890, up from $860. The firm says that while Costco's ongoing comp and market share gains should continue to drive "decent" earnings growth, the stock's current risk/reward profile is "skewing less favorably given the even higher than normal expectations" priced into a starting point of a 50-times price-to-earnings ratio on fiscal 2025 estimates.
- Goldman Sachs downgraded Nutrien (NTR) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $53, down from $69, represents 14% upside from current levels. The company's retail segment could be a source of incremental volatility and risk over the next 12 months from potential increases in bad debt expense and loss reserves relating to NTR Financial, the firm tells investors in a research note.
- Barclays downgraded Methanex (MEOH) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $44, down from $56. The firm believes the OCI ownership will present overhangs on the stock.
- Lake Street downgraded Limoneira (LMNR) to Hold from Buy with an unchanged price target of $25. Limoneira's operations continue to show solid improvement, its asset monetization strategy "still has room to run," and its avocado expansion strategy is increasingly well considered, but the firm believes Limoneira is "reasonably valued" at a $450M market cap.
- BTIG downgraded Bionano Genomics (BNGO) to Neutral from Buy without a price target after the company announced its fourth workforce reduction since early 2023. The downgrade is driven by the ongoing challenging capital markets environment, particularly for small cap companies, the firm tells investors in a research note.
Top 5 Initiations:
- DA Davidson initiated coverage of Alphabet (GOOGL) with a Neutral rating and $170 price target. As the company faces challenges in its core Search business, its opportunity will migrate to the rest of its portfolio, where its positioning is mixed, the firm tells investors in a research note.
- DA Davidson initiated coverage of Meta Platforms (META) with a Buy rating and $600 price target. The firm calls Meta a top pick within the mega-cap space, citing its "combination of emerging leadership in the most important future technology platforms and an attractive relative valuation."
- Susquehanna initiated coverage of Dell Technologies (DELL) with a Neutral rating and $120 price target. The firm sees two risk factors that have led to its below-consensus EPS estimates, namely the economics of AI hardware remain uncertain and the strategy for scaling AI services remains unclear.
- Bernstein initiated coverage of GE Aerospace (GE) with an Outperform rating and $201 price target. As a focused aerospace company, GE is "set in a commercial aviation market at a uniquely positive time," the firm tells investors in a research note.
- Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage of MKS Instruments (MKSI) with an Overweight rating and $140 price target. The firm views MKS as the market leader in wafer fab equipment subsystems and substrate equipment.
