On Monday, Wall Street made several significant calls with big-name companies. Evercore ISI reiterated their recommendation for Apple as an outperform stock, citing the company’s “underappreciated” AI beneficiary status. Similarly, Barclays showed bullishness for Walmart, expecting positive Q4 earnings, but also anticipated some conservatism in guidance. However, Barclays downgraded Rivian to equal weight from overweight due to supply constraints for the electric vehicle company. At the same time, JPMorgan gave a nod to Lowe’s, upgrading it to overweight from neutral in anticipation of strong earnings. Piper Sandler recommended buying shares of Teva for the first time since 2011, upgrading it to overweight from neutral due to positive financial indicators.
Continuing on the wave of buy recommendations, Jefferies initiated TKO as a buy, deeming the combined UFC and WWE company to be a “knockout combo.” JPMorgan reiterated its overweight rating on Netflix, citing the company’s ability to accelerate revenue growth and drive multi-year FCF growth. Additionally, Citi upgraded Willis Towers Watson to buy from neutral, seeing attractive potential in the insurance company’s shares. The bank also saw a compelling setup for PepsiCo’s stock, upgrading it to buy from neutral. Meanwhile, UBS upgraded Urban Outfitters to neutral from sell, taking a cautiously optimistic outlook ahead of earnings.
On the downgrading side, Morgan Stanley downgraded Hershey to underweight from equal weight due to concerns about cocoa inflation. Loop also downgraded Big Lots to sell from hold after perceiving the discount retailer as having “lost consumer relevance.” Loop also reiterated Meta as a buy, raising its price target on the stock to $550 per share from $440. At the same time, Loop raised its price target on Alphabet while reiterating it as hold. Stifel upgraded Viavi Solutions to buy and UBS reinstated its buy recommendation on Target. Citi reinstated Rocket Lab as buy, Bank of America upgraded Marqeta to buy, and downgraded Duke Energy to neutral. Raymond James downgraded Newel Brands to market perform, Piper Sandler upgraded Old Republic to overweight, Melius reiterated Nvidia as buy, Loop upgraded Corteva to buy, and Deutsche Bank upgraded Mohawk Industries to buy. Lastly, Roth MKM initiated SilverBow Resources as a buy. Guggenheimer reiterated Sunrun as a buy, albeit with minor adjustments, driven mainly by the company’s “cash” story.
Overall, the article highlights a range of stock investments recommendations, upgrades and downgrades made by various Wall Street firms, all reflecting diverse viewpoints on the potential growth, current standing, and future prospects of the highlighted companies. These range from companies involved in tech, retail, pharmaceuticals, and entertainment, amongst others. It is evident that investors are carefully reassessing their portfolios to navigate the volatile markets and position themselves to more efficiently capitalize on the opportunities presented by the companies mentioned. The calls offer a useful insight into how institutional investors are currently positioning themselves in the stock market. Each of these calls is supported by an in-depth analysis providing detailed reasoning for their respective recommendations.