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:
- Gordon Haskett upgraded Home Depot (HD) to Buy from Accumulate with a $450 price target. The firm says that while its survey results suggest home improvement demand remains subdued, trends may be bottoming as interest and mortgage rates are nearing the point where respondents indicate a greater interest in reengaging in the category.
- Wolfe Research upgraded Sphere Entertainment (SPHR) to Outperform from Peer Perform with a $60 price target. One year since the grand opening of the Las Vegas Sphere, the concept proposes 20%-plus Return on Invested Capital to developers of new Spheres while expanding experiences content will benefit Las Vegas and future developers, says the firm, which sees "minimal expansion upside" priced into stock.
- Barclays upgraded Diamondback Energy (FANG) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $210, down from $216. The firm believes Diamondback has one of the "clearest positive event paths" in the coming quarters as the company fully integrates Endeavor.
- JPMorgan upgraded SAIC (SAIC) to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $170, up from $150. The April investor day emphasized plans to transition SAIC towards higher value work and while this process remains in the early stages, last quarter's results showed the company is making progress, the firm tells investors in a research note.
- Evercore ISI upgraded M&T Bank (MTB) to Outperform from In Line with a price target of $210, up from $187. While the firm acknowledges M&T shares have outperformed in recent months as soft landing macro came into focus, it expects gradually abating commercial real estate, or CRE, credit concerns, improving fundamentals, and accelerating capital return to present incremental upside to valuation.
Top 5 Downgrades:
- Stephens downgraded Humana (HUM) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $250, down from $400, after the company released an 8-K disclosing preliminary 2025 Medicare Advantage STAR results with only about 25% of its members being in 4+ STAR plans for plan year 2025, or payment year 2026, versus about 94% in the prior year.
- Raymond James downgraded T-Mobile (TMUS) to Outperform from Strong Buy with a price target of $221, up from $208. The firm remains positive on the stock, but does not see the immediate share price upside as it did previously post the recent rally.
- Argus downgraded Kellanova (K) to Hold from Buy. The firm is retaining its favorable view of management's efforts to reduce costs and focus on product innovation, but with the company having recently entered into an agreement to be acquired by Mars for $83.50 per share in cash and the stock price near the purchase price, the stock is "fully valued."
- JPMorgan downgraded Booz Allen (BAH) to Underweight from Neutral with a price target of $158, up from $154. The firm thinks the bar is high for the company and that the stock "could be particularly vulnerable to any indications of decelerating growth."
- Baird downgraded Harley-Davidson (HOG) to Neutral from Outperform with a price target of $40, down from $44, after contacting the company's dealers for an update on Q3 trends. Dealers reported weak retail, excess inventory, and caustic sentiment - all of which suggest risk to Harley-Davidson's guidance, the firm tells investors in a research note.
Top 5 Initiations:
- RBC Capital initiated coverage of Tandem Diabetes (TNDM) with an Outperform rating and $65 price target. The firm sees "significant upside potential" driven by earnings revisions and multiple expansion.
- JPMorgan reinstated coverage of Diamondback Energy (FANG) with an unchanged Overweight rating and price target of $182, up from $167, following a period of restriction due to the Endeavor acquisition. In an oil macro environment that may remain challenged in the near term given the pending return of OPEC+ barrels, Diamondback will be a relative outperformer given its position at the low end of the cost curve in the Midland Basin with sub-$45 per barrel dividend coverage, the firm tells investors in a research note.
- Goldman Sachs reinstated coverage of Occidental Petroleum (OXY) with a Neutral rating and $55 price target following the CrownRock acquisition. The firm believes Occidental 's leverage in the medium- to longer-term is likely to remain elevated versus peers following the company's issuance of $9.7B in gross debt as a result of the now-closed CrownRock transaction.
- Jefferies initiated coverage of Atmos Energy (ATO) with a Hold rating and $155 price target. The firm says its annual earnings growth estimate of 7.2% through 2028 is above the Street's 6.3% and the company's 7.0% guidance midpoint.
- Craig-Hallum initiated coverage of Thryv Holdings (THRY) with a Buy rating and $25 price target. Investor perception of Thryv reflects a naive view of the legacy Yellow Pages business, indicative of a melting ice cube with revenue, profit, and cash flow declines, the firm says.