Carnival upgraded, Norwegian Cruise downgraded: Wall Street's top analyst
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:
Bernstein upgraded UnitedHealth (UNH) to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $603, up from $595. The firm cites an attractive valuation, potential for hardening pricing in 2024, and attractive long-term growth in value based care and OptumInsights for the upgrade. [Read more]
Evercore ISI upgraded Pinterest (PINS) to Outperform from In Line with a $41 price target. The firm cites what it sees as "clear evidence" of digital ad spend stabilizing and a current valuation that is "reasonable for a company with the potential to generate sustained 30%+ EBITDA growth." [Read more]
Argus upgraded Carnival (CCL) to Buy from Hold with a $21 price target, citing the company's increased marketing spending and its improved liquidity and efforts to reduce debt. [Read more]
Odeon Capital upgraded Citi (C) to Buy from Hold with a $50.51 price target. The bank, unlike its peers, "clearly benefited" from higher interest rates and it has "a more positive longer-term outlook," the firm says. [Read more]
Credit Suisse upgraded Casey's General Stores (CASY) to Outperform from Neutral with a price target of $285, up from $235. The firm likes the "resiliency" of the convenient store industry, especially for larger operators such as Casey's, in a macro environment which will continue to pressure consumers for the "foreseeable future." [Read more]
Top 5 Downgrades:
Baird downgraded Activision Blizzard (ATVI) to Neutral from Outperform with a $90 price target. The shares are trading close to the proposed deal price with Microsoft (MSFT) of $95 per share and Baird's standalone valuation analysis of over $90 per share. [Read more] Atlantic Equities also downgraded Activision Blizzard to Neutral from Overweight with a $95 price target [Read more], while Wells Fargo cut Activision Blizzard's rating to Equal Weight from Overweight with an unchanged price target of $95. [Read more]
New Street downgraded Trade Desk (TTD) to Sell from Neutral with a price target of $69, up from $57. The firm sees Trade Desk shares trading down from recent highs, and then remaining range-bound as the market focuses more on evolving competitive dynamics, and the effectiveness of the company's post-cookie identity strategy entering 2024. [Read more]
Evercore ISI downgraded Shopify (SHOP) to In Line from Outperform with a $69 price target. The firm finds the risk reward outlook on the stock "less compelling," and sees few clear catalysts going forward. [Read more]
BofA downgraded Lumentum (LITE) to Underperform from Neutral with a $50 price target, citing "sluggish" telco capex, stretched valuation and "overstated" AI benefits. [Read more]
Truist downgraded Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $23, up from $17. The "massive outperformance" year-to-date and especially over the past two months of the cruise sector brings the equities far closer to a theoretical fair value than when Truist became more positive on the sector last September, the firm tells investors in a research note. [Read more]
Top 5 Initiations:
Redburn initiated coverage of Trade Desk with a Sell rating and $34 price target. The firm thinks consensus expectations and market valuations are "too high" for Trade Desk. [Read more]
Piper Sandler initiated coverage of Darden (DRI) with a Neutral rating and $167 price target. The firm believes there are better risk-reward opportunities elsewhere within the coverage universe, but would look to potentially become more constructive on any market-related pullbacks. [Read more]
Piper Sandler initiated coverage of Cheesecake Factory (CAKE) with a Neutral rating and $36 price target. The firm contends that at "a high level, there is no denying that the full service segment continues to lose share to limited service, which makes for somewhat of a tricky backdrop for the sector." [Read more]
Piper Sandler initiated coverage of Texas Roadhouse (TXRH) with an Overweight rating and $126 price target. Texas Roadhouse is poised to take share in the years to come via unit growth, Piper Sandler says. [Read more]
Barclays initiated coverage of CDW (CDW) with an Equal Weight rating and $198 price target. The firm says the company's improving software/services mix and small business upside in the long run will be offset by near-term macro and PC pressures as well as a longer-term IT move to the cloud from on-premise. [Read more]
