Roku upgraded, Lucid Group 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:
Cannonball Research upgraded Roku (ROKU) to Buy from Neutral with a $116 price target. The firm believes "room for upside" to fiscal 2024 consensus estimates is enough to allow for more meaningful upward estimates revisions than it has seen in recent quarters.
RBC Capital upgraded Mondelez (MDLZ) to Outperform from Sector Perform with a price target of $83, up from $75. The firm notes that Mondelez has consistently delivered on earnings and is one of the very few staples names to deliver volume growth in 2023.
Melius Research upgraded Carnival (CCL) to Buy from Hold with a $19 price target. The cruise industry was the hardest hit by the pandemic and the last to reopen, but the positive demand momentum witnessed at hotels, airlines and other travel sectors is now playing out within the cruise industry, the firm says.
UBS upgraded Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $13, up from $11. Teva is "uniquely positioned to undergo a significant transition" to a more brand focused company, which can drive stock outperformance, the firm tells investors in a research note.
Evercore ISI upgraded Federal Realty (FRT) to Outperform from In Line with a price target of $108, up from $104. Federal has lagged peers year-to-date and its relative value has improved significantly, argues the firm, which sees a good risk/reward profile moving into 2024 with the stock trading north of a 7% implied cap rate.
Top 5 Downgrades:
Citi downgraded Foot Locker (FL) to Sell from Neutral with an unchanged price target of $18. The firm anticipates Q3 earnings per share of 10c from Foot Locker, below the consensus of 23c, based on weaker comps and gross margin.
Needham downgraded Lucid Group (LCID) to Hold from Buy. Despite being bullish on the potential for Lucid's recently unveiled Gravity SUV, the firm is lacking "enough faith" in near-term demand to drive unit volumes.
UBS downgraded GE HealthCare (GEHC) to Sell from Neutral with a price target of $66, down from $86. Soft orders, tough compares and a lack of prices rises puts UBS estimates below the 2024 consensus, the firm tells investors in a research note.
JMP Securities downgraded Okta (OKTA) to Market Perform from Outperform without a price target after resuming coverage of the name. OKta's brand "has been significantly degraded" following the most recent security incident announced on October 20, the firm tells investors in a research note.
Berenberg downgraded Corteva (CTVA) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $52, down from $63. The firm says two years of "supercharged growth" in the crop protection industry are now reversing.
Top 5 Initiations:
New Street initiated coverage of Pinterest (PINS) with a Buy rating and $48 price target. The firm made Pinterest its new top SMID cap pick, saying near-term adjusted EBITDA consensus estimates have upside and the company's long term guidance is conservative.
Jefferies initiated coverage of Lennar with a Hold (LEN) rating and $117 price target amid starting coverage on the three largest U.S. homebuilders. While the firm believes the builders have favorable long-term demand trends, the next several quarters could be "choppy" with buyers facing affordability issues. Jefferies also started D.R. Horton (DHI) and PulteGroup (PHM) with a Buy.
Jefferies initiated coverage of Lancaster Colony (LANC) with a Hold rating and $166 price target. The firm says the company is a "differentiated" U.S. food play but is facing near-term pressures from still elevated supply chain costs, high private label exposure, brand reinvestment needs, and restaurant traffic deceleration that could slow its margin recovery progression.
Truist initiated coverage of Vital Energy (VTLE) with a Buy rating and $70 price target. The firm says the company has seen a material step up in cumulative per well oil production with both its Midland and Delaware Basin totals materially higher than the legacy assets beginning early in the wells life and continuing through the first year.
Evercore ISI initiated coverage of Gracell (GRCL) with an Outperform rating and no price target. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) "took a leap into cell therapy" with Chinese company Legend Biotech (LEGN) to commercialize their BCMA CAR-T in multiple myeloma, or MM, and now Carvykti is one of J&J's key products, notes the firm, which identifies Gracell as "another Chinese company with a unique CAR-T construct for MM" that "grabbed people's attention at ASCO this year."
