DraftKings upgraded, Home Depot 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:
Truist upgraded DraftKings (DKNG) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $44, up from $31. The firm cites the company's inflection to profitability in Q2 as the management navigated around numerous early threats, and the path to "significant and sustainable" profitability has become clearer. [Read more]
JPMorgan upgraded U.S. Cellular (USM) to Overweight from Neutral with a $52 price target after the company said it is exploring strategic alternatives. [Read more]
JPMorgan upgraded Telephone and Data Systems (TDS) to Overweight from Neutral with a $38 price target after the company announced that U.S. Cellular is exploring strategic alternatives. Telephone and Data owns 82% of U.S. Cellular, and the stake represents the majority of its value. [Read more]
Piper Sandler upgraded Novocure (NVCR) Overweight from Neutral with an unchanged price target of $45. The "overwhelming pressure" on the shares has pushed the stock to levels where the risk/reward is "simply too attractive to remain on the sidelines" ahead of the soon-to-be-released Phase 3 data in recurrent ovarian cancer, the firm says. [Read more]
BofA upgraded Axsome Therapeutics (AXSM) to Neutral from Underperform with a price target of $81, up from $59, telling investors that the Auvelity launch in Major Depressive Disorder, or MDD, is tracking ahead of the firm's expectations. [Read more] Piper Sandler also upgraded Axsome Therapeutics to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $90, up from $70. [Read more]
Top 5 Downgrades:
Telsey Advisory downgraded Home Depot (HD) to Market Perform from Outperform with an unchanged price target of $315. While the stock likely reflects much of the negative news and challenging operating environment, the shares are unlikely to outperform the market in the near term, the firm says. [Read more]
Telsey Advisory downgraded Lowe's (LOW) to Market Perform from Outperform with an unchanged price target of $225. The firm expects Lowe's to experience a "slightly steeper slowdown" in the near-term related to weak housing market trends, consumers remaining cautious on big ticket items and projects, and continued normalization from the strong COVID-19 and government stimulus related gains from the past three years. [Read more]
Craig-Hallum downgraded RingCentral (RNG) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $38, down from $52. The firm cites management turnover and says that with recent product introductions that mirror those of competitors, it feels to the firm that RingCentral isn't leading the market, it is simply joining the crowd. [Read more]
JPMorgan downgraded Freshpet (FRPT) to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $84, up from $78. The firm says this is "purely a valuation call" with the stock up 111% over the last 12 months. [Read more]
JPMorgan downgraded Westlake (WLK) to Underweight from Neutral with a price target of $123, up from $120. Westlake shares have outperformed the other deeper cyclical petrochemical companies since June, but Westlake does not offer the high free cash flow yield and large share repurchase capabilities of Olin nor does it offer the high 5%-plus dividend yields of Dow and Lyondell, the firm says. [Read more]
Top 5 Initiations:
Stifel initiated coverage of Apogee Therapeutics (APGE) with a Buy rating and $34 price target. The firm's "optimistic view" of Apogee is based on the belief that large inflammatory indications like atopic dermatitis remain under-penetrated with meaningful white space opportunity for entrants with improved profiles. [Read more] TD Cowen [Read more], Wedbush [Read more], Stifel [Read more], Jefferies [Read more], and Guggenheim [Read more] also started coverage of the name with Buy-equivalent ratings.
SVB Securities initiated coverage of Exelixis (EXEL) with a Market Perform rating and $18 price target. The firm notes Cabozantinib is the only revenue generating asset for Exelixis and that the composition of matter patent expiry in 2030 could allow for generic entry, which could significantly affect the top-line. [Read more]
SVB Securities initiated coverage of Ideaya Biosciences (IDYA) with an Outperform rating and $33 price target. The key driver of shares and investor interest is IDE397, a MTA2A inhibitor being investigated in combo with AMGN's PRMT5 inhibitor. [Read more]
SVB Securities initiated coverage of Nuvalent (NUVL) with a Market Perform rating and $42 price target. The focus for investors is on NVL-655, an ALK inhibitor, coming into a key catalyst for shares in the second half of 2023, the firm notes. [Read more]
Piper Sandler initiated coverage of Sagimet Biosciences (SGMT) with an Overweight rating and $67 price target. The company's lead asset denifanstat is currently being tested in a 52-week Phase 2b trial with topline biopsy data in Q1 of 2024, the firm notes. [Read more] JMP Securities also initiated coverage of Sagimet Biosciences with an Outperform rating and $30 price target [Read more], while Goldman Sachs started coverage of of the name with a Buy rating and $33 price target. [Read more]
