Gap upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley analyst Alex Straton upgraded Gap to Equal Weight from Underweight. Straton views 2023 as a tale of two halves, with inventory, recession fears, and EPS risk driving stocks to a bottom sometime in Q1, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The analyst sees a potential inflection in fundamentals in the second half of the year on easier compares, some margin pressure relief, inventory normalization, the 53rd week benefit, and a recovering macro, among other tailwinds.