CVS upgraded, RTX 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:
Wolfe Research upgraded CVS Health (CVS) to Outperform from Peer Perform with an $80 price target. The firm cites confidence in Stars improvement coupled with potential for CVS to take steps to set more reasonable expectations for long term earnings growth at its December investor day for the upgrade.
BofA upgraded Cintas (CTAS) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $580, up from $523. The company is leader in uniform rental and other facility services, says the firm, whose confidence is building about a potential "soft landing" for the U.S. economy.
Citi upgraded BRP Inc. (DOOO) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $94, up from $81. After conducting a deep dive on power sports inventories, Citi thinks BRP is well positioned to go after its fiscal 2025 targets, "despite broad investor skepticism/disbelief."
BMO Capital upgraded AngloGold Ashanti (AU) to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $22, up from $19. The stock's 41% decline since the May peak presents a more attractive entry point, the firm says.
RBC Capital upgraded IAMGold (IAG) to Sector Perform from Underperform with a price target of $2.75, up from $1.75, after a different analyst at the firm assumed coverage of the name. RBC cites increased gold price forecasts for the upgrade.
Top 5 Downgrades:
Monness Crespi downgraded Oracle (ORCL) to Neutral from Buy. The firm is also lowering its 2024 sales and earnings estimates following the company's quarterly report.
Truist downgraded Enphase Energy (ENPH) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $135, down from $210. The firm sees the shares remaining range-bound on the potential for U.S. residential weakness extending into 2024.
RBC Capital downgraded RTX (RTX) to Sector Perform from Outperform with a price target of $82, down from $105, after the company provided an update on the impact of the recently disclosed powder metal issue with its GTF engine. Barclays also downgraded RTX to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $75, down from $100.
Piper Sandler downgraded Sight Sciences (SGHT) to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $5.50, down from $15. William Blair also downgraded Sight Sciences to Market Perform from Outperform without a price target after the company preannounced a Q3 miss and lowered its full year outlook. More bearish on the name, BofA cut Sight Sciences to Underperform from Neutral with a price target of $4.50, down from $10, as the uncertainty from proposed Medicare coverage changes for surgical glaucoma products has hurt ordering activity.
Stephens downgraded Hostess Brands (TWNK) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $34.25, up from $32, after J.M. Smucker (SJM) announced an agreement to purchase Hostess Brands for $34.25 per share in a cash and stock deal.
Top 5 Initiations:
Berenberg initiated coverage of Block (SQ) with a Buy rating and $75 price target. Block's share price has declined by more than 34% since the start of August, but its improving outlook for profitability reflects significant operating leverage and the pullback presents "an attractive entry point," the firm says.
Bernstein initiated coverage of GitLab (GTLB) with an Outperform rating and $62 price target. There are only a few developer tool companies "at scale and with a strong enough competitive durability," and GitLab is one of them, the firm notes. Canaccord also started coverage of GitLab with a Buy rating and $62 price target.
Macquarie initiated coverage of BeiGene (BGNE) with an Outperform rating and $259 price target. BeiGene's Brukinsa is poised to be the first "multi-blockbuster" by a Chinese firm and the most successful in Chinese history, the firm says.
B. Riley initiated coverage of Guess (GES) with a Buy rating and $31 price target. Georgina Rodriguez, the Spanish model and social influencer with 50M Instagram followers, is the face of Guess' fall campaign, which could be a potential upside catalyst in the second half, the firm tells investors.
TD Cowen initiated coverage of Endeavor Group (EDR) with an Outperform rating and $28 price target. The firm, which expresses "a favorable view" on the catalyst path in the next twelve months, calls out the public listing of TKO Group - which combines Endeavor's owned UFC with already publicly traded World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) - as the "topic du jour."
