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:
- Evercore ISI upgraded Darden (DRI) to Outperform from In Line with a price target of $205, up from $165. The firm's upgrade is based on growing confidence on incremental sales drivers at Olive Garden, which accounts for 45% of sales, including the company "going on the offensive" with more price point advertising, limited time offers and menu news and the opportunity with Uber Eats (UBER) as a delivery option.
- Jefferies upgraded Assembly Biosciences (ASMB) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $35, up from $2. The upcoming Phase IA data for the company's long acting oral for recurrent genital herpes should support once weekly dosing with good safety, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
- Wells Fargo upgraded Aptiv (APTV) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $87, up from $78. "With expectations reset, we think it's time to step in," the firm says.
- Scotiabank upgraded Millicom (TIGO) to Outperform from Sector Perform with a price target of $37.30, up from $30. The stock has done little since the conclusion of the Atlas offering, but the free cash flow yield at 14.2% is one of the sector's highest, the analyst says.
- Wells Fargo upgraded Annaly Capital (NLY) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $23, up from $19. The firm says agency mortgage-backed security real estate investment trusts typically trade well in Federal Reserve rate cut cycles.
Top 5 Downgrades:
- Morgan Stanley downgraded FedEx (FDX) to Underweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $200, down from $215, following the earnings report. The company will need to earn almost $17 in earnings per share in the next three quarters to hit guidance "despite several market and idiosyncratic headwinds ahead," the analyst says.
- Morgan Stanley downgraded PepsiCo (PEP) to Equal Weight from Overweight with an unchanged price target of $185. The company's' organic sales growth weakness "has lingered" as price interventions and higher consumer spend do not seem to be driving a meaningful snacks sales payback, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
- Bernstein downgraded Darden to Market Perform from Outperform with a price target of $180, down from $190, following the Q1 report. With upside from the company's strategic actions embedded in the guidance, creating no more near-term catalysts, "market exuberance" on the Uber Direct partnership, labor inflation risk and the recent stock rally, Bernstein "tactically" downgrades the shares, says the analyst.
- Wells Fargo downgraded Dana (DAN) to Underweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $9, down from $13. The firm cites commercial and off-highway market headwinds, tough Super Duty compares, and high recession risk for the downgrade.
- Piper Sandler downgraded Valero (VLO) to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $123, down from $169. The combination of incremental refined product capacity and weaker than expected demand have led Piper to adjust its 2025 refined product outlook, where it now expects global supply/demand balances to be roughly flat with 2024.
Top 5 Initiations:
- B. Riley initiated coverage of Snap (SNAP) with a Neutral rating and $11 price target. The company's sizable audience positions the company to generate growing advertising and subscription revenue streams and to increase profitability, but while its direct-response ads are viewed to be the primary drivers of growth in the near term, the brand ad growth on its platform is set to lag, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
- Citi initiated coverage of Capital One Financial (COF) with a Buy rating and $190 price target. The firm says its work found that Capital One has substantial competitive advantage in credit cards, which is one of banking's most profitable segments.
- Susquehanna initiated coverage of Affirm (AFRM) with a Positive rating and $52 price target. The firm is "generally constructive" on Affirm as a "new way to pay" with various lanes of growth that include rapidly broadening merchant acceptance and a high-velocity funnel of new consumer accounts coming on file, the analyst tells investors.
- B. Riley initiated coverage of Reddit (RDDT) with a Buy rating and $75 price target. The company offers "monetization opportunities aplenty" as it offers a differentiated value proposition to users, advertisers, and content licensees through its "unique" platform powering tens of millions of users across 100K+ communities while creating a large and growing repository of curated content, the firm says.
- RBC Capital initiated coverage of CyberArk (CYBR) with an Outperform rating and $328 price target. The firm calls CyberArk a top mid-cap cybersecurity idea.
