Wayfair upgraded, JD.com 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:

• Loop Capital upgraded Wayfair (W) to Hold from Sell with a price target of $50, down from $60. The company's revenue trend is shifting into growth territory in the current quarter, and while growth should bounce around given the volatile comps, the overall trend should be positive, the firm argues.

• Jefferies upgraded Pfizer (PFE) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $39, up from $38., after the company updated its fiscal 2023 guide, citing COVID revenue by $9B, and announced a cost cut program. The firm says the guidance revision is largely driven by Paxlovid as Comirnaty performance was ahead of buy-side expectations.

• UBS upgraded UnitedHealth (UNH) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $640, up from $520. The firm believes the "strong" Q3 release from UnitedHealth is a "clearing event that should pave the way for improved valuation for the stock."

• Stifel upgraded Colgate-Palmolive (CL) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $81, down from $85. The upgrade of Colgate reflects modest multiple expansion on improving fundamentals coupled with an "undemanding" current valuation, the firm analyst tells investors in a research note.

• Morgan Stanley upgraded Check Point (CHKP) to Equal Weight from Underweight with a price target of $144, up from $118. The firm thinks consensus estimates are now achievable, while the stock's valuation is "undemanding."

JD.com head office in Beijing. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Bernstein downgraded JD.com (JD) to Market Perform from Outperform with a price target of $31, down from $55. The firm notes JD.com's shares have been on a downward trajectory for most of this year, and fell sharply after the company signaled a much weaker trajectory for the remainder of 2023 than the Street had expected.

• Jefferies downgraded Verisk Analytics (VRSK) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $247, down from $265. The stock's valuation now appears full as Verisk's multiple has expanded to a record level above peers and further expansion is unlikely as growth moderates to more normal levels, says Jefferies.

• BMO Capital downgraded Enphase Energy (ENPH) to Market Perform from Outperform with a price target of $148, down from $175. The trough in U.S. residential solar demand appears to be deeper than anticipated and the timing of a recovery is uncertain, the firm says.

• Goldman Sachs downgraded KB Home (KBH) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $48, down from $54. The firm sees less upside to KB verses peers in the current operating environment.

• RBC Capital downgraded Crown Castle (CCI) to Sector Perform from Outperform with a price target of $100, down from $125. The downgrade reflects a lack of near-term catalysts for the stock, questions around the path of dividend growth relative to net leverage, and uncertainties around the pace of small cell/fiber growth, the firm says.

An instacart delivery in Washington, DC on October 07, 2023. (Craig Hudson for The Washington Post via Getty Images) (The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Top 5 Initiations:

• Citi initiated coverage of Instacart (CART) with a Buy rating and $34 price target. The firm says improving order efficiencies, growth of its higher-margin advertising business, and the launch of new ad products should lead to margin expansion for Instacart. Barclays, JPMorgan, JMP Securities, Oppenheimer, Baird, Stifel, Piper Sandler, and Goldman Sachs started the name with Buy-equivalent ratings. Meanwhile, BofA and Wedbush initiated Instacart with Neutral-equivalent ratings.

• Truist initiated coverage of Klaviyo (KVYO) with a Buy rating and $42 price target. The firm believes platform differentiation along with a proven go-to-market engine with emerging upside drivers could help the company maintain "best-in-class" sales growth "while impressively scaling profits and cash flow." Piper Sandler, Baird, William Blair, TD Cowen, Needham, Mizuho, and Canaccord started the name with Buy-equivalent ratings. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanely, Citi, Barclays, and Goldman Sachs initiated the stock with Neutral-equivalent ratings.

• Leerink initiated coverage of DexCom (DXCM) with an Outperform rating and $110 price target. Recent volatility in the shares has been largely driven by perceived headwinds to growth from broader GLP-1 adoption, but the firm's work suggests this will have limited impact on DexCom's ability to sustain double-digit growth over the intermediate term.

• Leerink initiated coverage of Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) with an Outperform rating and $342 price target. Leerink continues see an attractive setup for Intuitive Surgical's shares, with its analysis suggesting the total impact from declining bariatric procedure growth on Intuitive Surgical's total revenue is unlikely to surpass 5% even in the most extreme circumstances, while new market entrants on the horizon could ultimately help accelerate the overall growth of the surgical robotics market without capturing significant share from it. The firm also started coverage of Insulet (PODD), Vericel (VCEL), ShockWave (SWAV), Procept BioRobotics (PRCT), Axonics (AXNX), and AxoGen (AXGN) with Outperform ratings.

• Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage of Nextracker (NXT) with a Buy rating and $43 fair value estimate. Nextracker is the "leading provider" of tracking hardware for utility-scale PV developments and is well positioned within the U.S., where the firm expects the company to be a beneficiary of IRA tax credits both on an indirect and direct basis.