SunPower, Accenture 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:

• Bernstein upgraded General Mills (GIS) to Market Perform from Underperform with a price target of $70, up from $62. The firm cites an expected second half of 2024 improvement in volume growth and the stock’s recent underperformance which has led to a 20-plus year low valuation for the upgrade.
• Bernstein upgraded Campbell Soup (CPB) to Market Perform from Underperform with a price target of $46, up from $42. The firm thinks U.S. food sector volume growth will inflect positive in the second half of 2024, as companies lap price declines in single-ingredient food categories more associated with cooking from scratch.
• JPMorgan upgraded Nio (NIO) to Neutral from Underweight with a price target of $5.40, up from $4.80. The firm notes the stock has rebounded from its mid-April decline thanks to the Chinese government stimulus policy to boost auto demand and Nio’s s latest battery as a service strategy.
• Evercore ISI upgraded Park Hotels & Resorts (PK) to Outperform from In Line with a $20 price target. The firm, which has been “waiting for a pullback” in shares after a strong outperformance last year, notes the about 10% pullback quarter-to-date and believes the underlying dividend yield will be supportive.
• Oppenheimer upgraded Alcon (ALC) to Outperform from Perform with a $103 price target. The firm says that following a firm Q1, several new drivers are coming into view, namely a new opportunity in glaucoma with the announced acquisition of BELKIN Vision, approval of two enhancements to PanOptix IOL, significant new capital upgrade cycle opportunity beginning later this year in Surgical, and market share opportunity in AT-IOLs in China following a VBP win.

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Deutsche Bank downgraded Accenture (ACN) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $295, down from $409. After the company’s organic revenues contracted an estimated 2.5% in fiscal Q2, Deutsche believes Accenture has gone from a share gainer for most of its history to now losing market share to its peers in IT services.
• Wolfe Research downgraded SunPower (SPWR) to Underperform from Peer Perform with a $2 price target. The firm says SunPower is the “most extreme example of the meme stock resurgence” within clean technology with the stock up 100% this week on a “massive short squeeze despite no positive fundamental updates.”
• Deutsche Bank downgraded Six Flags (SIX) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $27, down from $29. The firm says the downgrade is “more mechanical than tactical in nature.”
• JPMorgan downgraded Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $41, up from $38, after resuming coverage following a period of restriction. The firm sees solid fundraising levels in 2024, but hasn’t seen the fee related earnings growth in 2023 and early 2024 that it had been modeling.
• Stifel downgraded Bolt Biotherapeutics (BOLT) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $1.50, down from $6, following the company’s discontinuation of lead asset trastuzumab imbotolimod and concomitant 50% workforce reduction. Guggenheimer, and H.C. Wainwright also downgraded the stock to Neutral-equivalent ratings.

Top 5 Initiations:

• Morgan Stanley resumed coverage of Exxon Mobil (XOM) with an Overweight rating and $145 price target after the company’s close of the Pioneer (PXD) acquisition on May 3. The firm contends that the company’s scale and integration across the energy, chemicals, and emerging low- carbon value chains support sustainable competitive advantages, above-average growth and a differentiated value proposition within the Energy sector and the broader market.
• Deutsche Bank resumed coverage of Sea Limited (SE) with a Hold rating and $60 price target. The firm says the company’s earnings have been volatile.
• Raymond James resumed coverage of Knight-Swift (KNX) with a Strong Buy rating and $58 price target. Raymond James sees Knight-Swift as one of the most idiosyncratic stories under the firm’s transport coverage with its entrance into the structurally sounder LTL space even though the market inflection will take more time to develop given a cloudy demand environment and still resilient truckload supply base.
• Raymond James resumed coverage of Landstar System (LSTR) with an Outperform rating and $205 price target. The company’s “unique” agent structure, more industrial end market exposure, and highly cash generative model allows for a substantial and opportunistic buyback strategy, the firm tells investors in a research note. Raymond also resumed coverage of Marten Transport (MRTN) with an Outperform rating.
• Raymond James resumed coverage of C.H. Robinson (CHRW) with a Market Perform rating and no price target. The firm says C.H. Robinson’s near-term free cash flow dynamics, while positive, will likely flow towards maintaining net debt since its leverage near record levels. Raymond also resumed coverage of RXO Inc. (RXO) and Schneider National (SNDR) with Market Perform ratings.