Alibaba downgraded, Kellogg 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:

• Evercore ISI upgraded Saia (SAIA) to Outperform from In Line with a price target of $360, up from $298, as the risk appears skewed to the upside. (Read more)
• Goldman Sachs upgraded Kellogg (K) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $83, up from $78. The firm believes that Kellogg stands out as one of the few who will be able to sustain increasingly scarce growth given its favorable end-market exposure and strong business momentum. (Read more)
• Stifel upgraded Guidewire (GWRE) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $85, up from $75. Stifel’s recent survey results suggest that Guidewire “has turned the corner” on its cloud transition and the industry’s gradual acceptance of the cloud, combined with a better product, will position the company for long-term growth. (Read more)
• Morgan Stanley upgraded Sunstone Hotel (SHO) to Equal Weight from Underweight with a price target of $10, up from $9. The firm cites better competitive supply in the company’s markets and lower leverage levels for the upgrade. (Read more)
• JPMorgan upgraded Coterra Energy (CTRA) to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $31, down from $33. The firm views the company’s commentary at JPMorgan’s conference as among the most positive in the group, and came away with increased confidence in its operations going forward. (Read more)

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Bernstein downgraded Alphabet (GOOGL) to Market Perform from Outperform with an unchanged $125 price target. The stock is up 40% from its November lows and looks fairly valued, with risk-reward now seen as balanced, the firm says. (Read more)
• Bernstein downgraded Alibaba (BABA) to Market Perform from Outperform with a price target of $98, down from $130. The firm believes that Alibaba’s comps will get harder from here, contributing to the stock’s “value trap” risk. (Read more)
• Truist downgraded Equinix (EQIX) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $815, down from $870. The firm believes that the stock is fully valued given the high expectations and potential deceleration in AFFO growth from tough comps, interest expenses, and CapEx. (Read more)
• Morgan Stanley downgraded Host Hotels (HST) to Underweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $15.50, down from $19. The firm cites weakening demand in several of Host’s key markets, higher supply than peers and what it sees as a “less compelling valuation” than for the group. (Read more)
• B. Riley downgraded Ballard Power Systems (BLDP) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $4, down from $6, as a new analyst at the firm took over coverage of the name. Ballard will continue to see challenges to gross margin into 2024 until its volumes and cost reduction initiatives ramp, the analyst tells investors. (Read more)

Top 5 Initiations:

• Wells Fargo initiated coverage of Zillow (Z) with an Equal Weight rating and $50 price target. The firm thinks the company is highly levered to the economic cycle and its operating results are “overly sensitive” to the macro environment and the level of interest rates. (Read more)
• Wells Fargo initiated coverage of Unity (U) with an Overweight rating and $48 price target. The firm says “waning metaverse hype” and questions around ironSource have overshadowed Unity’s “meaningful” mobile cross-sell opportunity, cost synergies, and industry total addressable market, and has created an attractive buying opportunity. (Read more)
• Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of GE HealthCare (GEHC) with an Equal Weight rating and $76 price target. The analyst thinks Street estimates are “already in the right place” and the stock’s valuation warrants a neutral rating. (Read more)
• Jefferies initiated coverage of Rockwell Automation (ROK) with a Hold rating and $335 price target. The firm believes high expectations are already baked into forecasts and the stock’s valuation, and sees a potential slowdown in the company’s 2025 growth. (Read more)
• Lake Street initiated coverage of Alkami (ALKT) with a Buy rating and $21 price target. Alkami offers a cloud-based digital banking platform for mid-market financial institutions, notes the firm, which believes this “large market” is in the “early innings of a transformational shift from on-prem to the cloud.” (Read more)