Biogen upgraded, Take-Two downgraded: Wall Street's top analyst calls
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:
Raymond James upgraded Biogen (BIIB) to Outperform from Market Perform with a $283 price target. The firm likes the setup for the shares in 2024, saying it believes the Leqembi launch will begin to gain traction next year and the Skyclarys U.S launch will continue at its strong pace in 2024, bolstered by a launch in the European Union early next year.
Stifel upgraded Datadog (DDOG) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $140, up from $98. The firm states that its recent Datadog customer survey focused on growth expectations, usage trends, security adoption, and GenAI interest indicated that installed-base optimization showed a marked decline of about 38% vs. 50% in its prior two surveys and about half of the customers still optimizing indicated they were close to completing their optimizations, which is an improvement from 8% in the last survey.
UBS upgraded J.B. Hunt (JBHT) to Neutral from Sell with a price target of $205, up from $176. UBS sees an improving outlook for intermodal volume growth in 2024 and believes the reset down in EPS expectations for 2024 has nearly run its course.
Stephens upgraded Q2 Holdings (QTWO) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $46, up from $36. Q2 has transitioned from "a hyper-revenue growth to a margin expansion story," argues the firm, which sees the bar for revenue and margin as achievable looking into 2024.
Wells Fargo upgraded Schneider National (SNDR) to Equal Weight from Underweight with a price target of $25, up from $23. The firm views the risk/reward balanced given the backdrop of stabilizing freight trends and the opportunity for earnings acceleration in the second half of 2024.
Top 5 Downgrades:
BofA downgraded Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) to Neutral from Buy with an unchanged price target of $170. The firm expects fiscal 2025 consensus estimates, which assume a GTA 6 launch by March 2025, to fall by 20% before August 2024.
Goldman Sachs downgraded Danaher (DHR) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $205, down from $215. At the stock's current valuation, there are more attractive opportunities in the tools space, the firm says.
BTIG downgraded Sprinklr (CXM) to Neutral from Buy without a price target following the Q3 report as the company pointed to lower sales growth in fiscal 2025.
Stephens downgraded Alkami (ALKT) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $24, up from $22. The firm cites valuation for the downgrade following the stock's 56% rally year-to-date.
Mizuho downgraded FMC Corporation (FMC) to Neutral from Buy with an unchanged price target of $59. Despite the pullback in the shares, the firm believes a lack of catalysts and the unwillingness of investors to look through the near-term uncertainty will remain an overhang and render the stock range-bound.
Top 5 Initiations:
Wells Fargo initiated coverage of Match Group (MTCH) with an Equal Weight rating and $32 price target. The firm sees Match's valuation as compelling but is concerned Tinder is over-earning and that Hinge top of funnel share gains have limited incrementality to the company overall.
Guggenheim initiated coverage of Pure Storage (PSTG) with a Buy rating and $48 price target. The firm sees a path to 20%, or even 50%, revenue share, which would imply $10B, or 3.5 times incremental revenue.
Wells Fargo initiated coverage of Bumble (BMBL) with an Overweight rating and $19 price target. The firm, which is "optimistic" on the sustainability of Bumble app growth, notes that its EBITDA multiple implies a slight premium to peer Match to account for faster growth at Bumble.
Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of Avis Budget (CAR) with a Sell rating and $164 price target. While Avis Budget has been executing better than Hertz (HTZ) year-to-date, it has a more limited catalyst path from here, contends Goldman, which expects further downside to consensus estimates in 2025.
Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of Hertz (HTZ) with a Neutral rating and $10 price target. Hertz's electric vehicle strategy has proved costly thus far, but there are steps the company can take to materially improve its EBITDA trajectory, contends Goldman.
