Estee Lauder downgraded, AB InBev upgraded: 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:
Morgan Stanley upgraded AB InBev (BUD) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $68.50, up from $64. The firm sees a favorable risk/reward in the parent of Budweiser and names the stock its top sector pick. [Read more]
Raymond James upgraded U.S. Bancorp (USB) to Market Perform from Underperform without a price target post the Q2 results. The firm U.S. Bancorp shares are now appropriately valued. [Read more]
Oppenheimer upgraded Host Hotels (HST) to Outperform from Perform with a $21 price target. The lodging REIT sector "appears to be on a slow road to nowhere," but Host "is an exception," given its size, scale, group exposure and balance sheet, the firm argues. [Read more]
Credit Suisse upgraded XP Inc. (XP) to Neutral from Underperform with a price target of $26, up from $15. The firm sees better prospects ahead for the company due to the monetary easing cycle ahead, a decompression in Ke, and a better capital markets outlook. [Read more]
Raymond James upgraded RB Global (RBA) to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $75, up from $60. The company is positioned for "increasingly robust countercyclical tailwinds" as the macro uncertainty increases, supply chains loosen, and total loss ratios normalize, the firm says. [Read more]
Top 5 Downgrades:
Barclays downgraded Estee Lauder (EL) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $193, down from $210. The disclosure of a cybersecurity incident that "caused and is expected to continue to cause disruption to parts of the company's business operations" increases concerns that operational challenges at Estee Lauder are broader and more systematic than initially thought, the firm tells investors in a research note. [Read more]
RBC Capital downgraded Carvana (CVNA) to Underperform from Sector Perform with a price target of $30, up from $9. The company's "better" Q2 results, debt restructuring and newly enabled access to equity capital reduced liquidity risks, but the firm is "sticking to fundamentals" in downgrading the shares. [Read more]
Barclays downgraded Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) to Equal Weight from Overweight with an unchanged price target of $115. The company's Apple (AAPL) content story ended up being flat this year and there is not much to look forward to in Android with the market still underperforming, the firm says. [Read more]
UBS downgraded Activision Blizzard (ATVI) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $96, up from $95. The new price target is based on the Microsoft (MSFT) offer of $95 per share in cash plus the new 99c dividend being paid to shareholders on August 17. [Read more] Jefferies also downgraded Activision Blizzard to Hold from Buy with an unchanged price target of $95. [Read more]
Wells Fargo double downgraded Omnicell (OMCL) to Underweight from Overweight with a price target of $56, down from $65. The shares are up 34% year-to-date but hurdle for the stock to keep advancing seems high given Omnicell's premium valuation and risks to its guidance and consensus estimates, the firm argues. [Read more]
Top 5 Initiations:
Wolfe Research initiated coverage of Nvidia (NVDA) with an Outperform rating and $570 price target. The firm sees more upside in the stock given Nvidia's strong free cash flow. [Read more]
Wolfe Research initiated coverage of AMD (AMD) with an Outperform rating and $150 price target. The firm expects AMD's share gains versus Intel (INTC) to continue. [Read more]
Wolfe Research initiated coverage of Qualcomm (QCOM) with an Outperform rating and $145 price target. Handsets are nearing a cyclical trough after more than a year of inventory correction, and Qualcomm is shipping below customer consumption, which will allow for positive mean reversion once inventory normalizes, the firm says. [Read more]
Wolfe Research initiated coverage of Intel with an Underperform rating and $27 price target. While an end of the inventory correction is in sight, pressure on the company's cash flow won't subside as Intel needs to continue investing, the firm says. [Read more]
Wells Fargo initiated coverage of Repligen (RGEN) with an Overweight rating and $185 price target. The firm recommends the shares based on the company's "solid" acquisitions, R&D strategy, and competitive positioning in emerging therapies and biosimilars. [Read more]
