Buy/Sell: Wall Street’s top 10 stock calls this week

What has Wall Street been buzzing about this week? Here are the top 5 Buy calls and the top 5 Sell calls made by Wall Street’s best analysts during the week of September 22-26. 

Find all top-rated stocks by the best-rated analysts on TipRanks.

Top 5 Buy Calls:

1. Wells Fargo upgrades Amazon on expected AWS sales acceleration

Wells Fargo upgraded Amazon.com (AMZN) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $280, up from $245. Following its cloud market and Anthropic contribution analysis, Wells has increased conviction that Amazon Web Services will see revenue acceleration. The firm expects AWS sales to rise 22% in 2026, four points above consensus, with its share losses peaking in 2025. Project Rainier, the company’s compute capacity build with partner Anthropic, will be the primary driver of the growth acceleration, the firm tells investors in a research note. Wells views the AWS revenue pickup as the key to reversing Amazon’s stock underperformance year-to-date.

2. Dick’s Sporting reinstated with a Buy at Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs reinstated coverage of Dick’s Sporting (DKS) with a Buy rating and $274 price target. The firm says Dick’s is now the largest sporting goods retailer in the world following the acquisition of Foot Locker. It believes the “strong” sporting goods industry backdrop along with the scale of the combined company will result in better vendor relationships, which will further differentiate the banners against its competitors.

3. Ulta Beauty upgraded to Buy at Argus following another earnings beat

Argus upgraded Ulta Beauty (ULTA) to Buy from Hold with a $570 price target. Last month the company reported its fourth consecutive earnings beat, though shares have underperformed the S&P 500 and the industry ETF IYC over the past quarter, the firm tells investors in a research note. Ulta’s recent acquisition of Space NK also enables the company to enter one of the largest beauty markets, and while there have been concerns regarding consumer spending, Ulta’s customers continue to prove they are “committed to their beauty regimens,” Argus added.

4. General Motors upgraded to Buy at UBS

UBS upgraded General Motors (GM) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $81, up from $56. The firm’s 2026 and 2027 earnings estimates are 35% and 42% above consensus, respectively, as it believes GM North America margins can return to their existing target 8%-10% range. Consensus estimates have the margins in the 6%-6.5% range over the coming years, UBS tells investors in a research note. The firm says that while tariffs have added costs that GM won’t pass through to the consumer, the company has a number of levers to offset the headwind. In addition, GM is a potential beneficiary from U.S. interest rate cuts and U.S. capex cycles, adds UBS.

5. ServiceNow upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded ServiceNow (NOW) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $1,250, up from $1,040. The company’s “consistent” executions has been overshadowed by risks related to generative artificial intelligence and federal spending concerns, the firm tells investors in a research note. However, Morgan Stanley believes ServiceNow is well positioned to deliver generative AI capabilities, creating an attractive risk/reward for the shares. It sees the company positing 20% subscription and over 20% free cash flow growth through fiscal 2027.

Top 5 Sell Calls:

1. Oracle initiated with a Sell at Rothschild & Co Redburn

Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage of Oracle (ORCL) with a Sell rating and $175 price target. The firm believes the market “materially overestimates” the value of Oracle’s contracted cloud revenues. The company’s role in single-tenant, large-scale deployments is closer to that of a financier than a cloud provider, “with economics far removed from the model investors prize,” Rothschild tells investors in a research note. The firm’s analysis suggests Oracle’s five-year cloud revenue guidance equates to $60B in value, indicating the market is already pricing in a “risky blue-sky scenario that is unlikely to materialize.”

2. Northcoast downgrades Wendy’s to Sell on launch delays

Northcoast downgraded Wendy’s (WEN) to Sell from Neutral with a $7 price target. The firm’s channel checks indicate Wendy’s is facing a “leadership vacuum” while its marketing is not working, which is driving product launch delays. The stock will lag peers until Wendy’s announces new leadership and marketing strategies, the firm tells investors in a research note.

3. Lennar downgraded to Underperform at Raymond James

Raymond James downgraded Lennar (LEN) to Underperform from Market Perform without a price target following the fiscal Q3 report and reduced outlook. The new guidance acknowledges that Lennar’s volume-based operating strategy is “overdue for a re-calibration,” the firm tells investors in a research note. At current share levels, Raymond James believes the market is underestimating the amount of time it may take for the company to restore its margins and returns to historical averages.

4. BNP downgrades Keurig Dr Pepper to Underperform after poorly received deal

BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) to Underperform from Neutral with a $24 price target, calling the company’s agreement to merge with JDE Peet (JDEPF) “one of the worst-received deals by investors we can recall in consumer staples.” The deal was poorly received by the market and management and the board have to “sell” it to a shareholder base “that is in an unforgiving mood,” says the analyst, who sees risk to current expectations, deal risk related to synergy realizations and a “credibility setback.”

5. Bloom Energy downgraded to Underperform at Jefferies

Jefferies downgraded Bloom Energy (BE) to Underperform from Hold with a price target of $31, up from $24. The firm believes the share risks are to the downside given limited visibility into Bloom’s growth post 2026. In addition, there are “some early signs of over-exuberance” in the stock, the firm tells investors in a research note. Jefferies cites Bloom’s “rich valuation” for the downgrade. It wants to see “significantly incremental company-specific data points” to justify current share levels.