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:
- Seaport Research upgraded American Airlines (AAL) to Buy from Neutral with a $20 price target. 2024 was "a rough year," but based on Q1 schedules and today's credit card deal, the firm is "comfortable" the airline executes on revenue in 2025, which should drive a rerate in shares.
- Bernstein upgraded Okta (OKTA) to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $129, up from $123. The "time is right to get incrementally bullish on Okta," the firm tells investors in a research note.
- Morgan Stanley upgraded HP Enterprise (HPE) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $28, up from $23. The firm sees the value proposition of the Juniper (JNPR) acquisition as attractive in the near term, saying Juniper is coming out of inventory digestion and recognizing new cloud customers.
- Wolfe Research upgraded Mobileye (MBLY) to Outperform from Peer Perform. Wolfe believes Mobileye can play an important role in providing Western automakers with autonomous driving solutions, and near-term expectations seem to have been properly reset.
- Wolfe Research upgraded Magna (MGA) to Peer Perform from Underperform. While the firm still remains cautious on fundamentals, Magna is in a position to support cash flow by significantly reducing capex and R&D spend in 2025, factors fully within management's control and could be a $500M+ support to free cash flow, more than offsetting potential declines in underlying EBITDA.
Top 5 Downgrades:
- Benchmark downgraded Shift4 Payments (FOUR) to Hold from Buy and removed the firm's prior price target on the shares after founder and CEO Jared Isaacman was nominated by President-elect Trump to be the next Administrator of NASA.
- Wolfe Research downgraded Ford (F) to Underperform from Peer Perform with an $8 price target. While the firm expects 2025 to be challenging for all automakers, it sees the "most downside risk to Ford."
- DA Davidson downgraded Toast (TOST) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $38, down from $44, following management's commentary on 2025 margin expansion at an investment conference.
- Morgan Stanley downgraded Applied Materials (AMAT) to Underweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $164, down from $179. The firm says its downgrade isn't for substantial downside but as a relative Underweight within group as it thinks it will be hard for the stock to outperform with the company's end market exposure.
- Barclays double downgraded Roper Technologies (ROP) to Underweight from Overweight with a price target of $569, down from $625. Amid a "slightly brighter demand outlook" for short cycle industrial goods, the firm adjusted ratings in the U.S. multi-industry group as part of a 2025 outlook.
Top 5 Initiations:
- Jefferies initiated coverage of Disney (DIS) with a Hold rating and $120 price target. The company's recent multi-year guidance appears priced into the shares, the firm tells investors in a research note.
- Scotiabank initiated coverage of Trade Desk (TTD) with a Sector Perform rating and $133 price target as the firm initiated coverage of sic companies in the advertising technology space. While the firm acknowledges The Trade Desk's "strong" execution and market position, it believes the current valuation leaves little room for multiple expansion.
- TD Cowen initiated coverage of GE Vernova (GEV) with a Buy rating and $400 price target. GE Vernova appears well-positioned to benefit from an inflection of investment in electricity supply after a successful turnaround in most of its businesses, the firm tells investors in a research note.
- Truist initiated coverage of VF Corp. (VFC) with a Hold rating and $20 price target. Vans turnaround efforts are underway, but "there's a long road ahead," says the firm, which adds that the Supreme divestment helped ease near-term balance sheet concerns, but puts more pressure on other brands for profitable growth.
- Wells Fargo initiated coverage of Wyndham Hotels (WH) with an Equal Weight rating and $103 price target. The firm says that while there's a lot to like about Wyndham Hotels, with the stock up 29% quarter-to-date, it awaits a better entry point.
