Lyft upgraded, Philip Morris 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:

• Argus upgraded Lyft (LYFT) to Buy from Hold with a $20 price target after the company’s better-than-expected Q4 results reported last month.
• Wolfe Research upgraded AT&T (T) to Outperform from Peer Perform with a $21 price target. Fundamentally, AT&T is “on course” and with a fairly concentrated industry structure, improving capital structures and extremely low valuations, the range of outcomes for AT&T “looks good,” the firm tells investors.
• MoffettNathanson upgraded Cable One (CABO) to Buy from Neutral with a $615 price target. At a time when private equity investors are “still clamoring” for competitive fiber builds and media is reporting that Charter (CHTR) is “considering” a bid for Altice USA (ATUS), the valuation for Cable One is “at the very least eye-catching” as the company is still trading below the replacement cost of its assets, the firm tells investors.
• JPMorgan upgraded Sea Limited (SE) to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $70, up from $43. In the current competitive environment, Sea is likely to continue increasing commissions while reducing the intensity of sales and marketing spend, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Leerink upgraded ARS Pharmaceuticals (SPRY) to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $18, up from $6. The firm now has stronger conviction in ARS’s ability to execute the remaining regulatory steps for neffy ahead of a potential approval in the second half of 2024.

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Argus downgraded Philip Morris (PM) to Hold from Buy with no price target. Tobacco usage has been on decline and the company is also facing a range of legal and regulatory risks, including smoking bans, restrictions on package advertising, and FDA regulation of both smoke-free and combustible products, the firm says.
• UBS downgraded Floor & Decor (FND) to Neutral from Buy with an unchanged price target of $135. The firm cites valuation for the downgrade with the shares within 9% of the price target.
• Susquehanna downgraded GlobalFoundries (GFS) to Neutral from Positive with a price target of $48, down from $65. Although downside risk to the consensus estimates appears to be limited, a lack of potential upside and near-term catalysts should negatively weigh on the share price, the firm argues.
• Loop Capital downgraded Williams-Sonoma (WSM) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $220, up from $200. The downgrade is based on the stock’s current valuation as opposed to a more bearish view of the company’s fundamentals, the firm says.
• UBS downgraded Chemours (CC) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $21, down from $37. The firm sees the company’s ongoing investigation and internal changes as an overhang for the stock.

Top 5 Initiations:

• KeyBanc initiated coverage of Array Technologies (ARRY) with a Sector Weight rating and no price target. The firm believes the shares “will likely remain in the penalty box for the foreseeable future,” as the company’s recent commentary and the 2024 outlook point to a slow recovery.
• DA Davidson initiated coverage of TopBuild (BLD) with a Buy rating and $470 price target. The company has demonstrated the ability to leverage increasing scale within insulation installation and distribution into strong operating leverage and increasingly attractive returns on capital, says the firm, who sees “a constructive operating environment alongside single-family tailwinds.”
• DA Davidson initiated coverage of Installed Building Products (IBP) with a Buy rating and $275 price target. Shares have “enjoyed a strong run over the last year” and year-to-date, but the firm still sees a constructive 2024 operating backdrop in which the company can deliver double-digit top- and bottom-line growth.
• BMO Capital initiated coverage of Metagenomi (MGX) with an Outperform rating and $22 price target. The firm believes Metagenomi’s partnerships offer early validation and has high conviction in its platform. JPMorgan, Chardan, TD Cowen, Wells Fargo, and Jefferies also started the stock with Buy-equivalent ratings.
• Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of BBB Foods (TBBB) with an Equal Weight rating and $22 price target. While the firm sees “growth runway” for Tiendas 3B, the leader in Mexico’s “hard discount” grocery industry, it believes the base case growth runway is largely priced into the shares. BofA and UBS also started coverage of the name with Buy ratings.