Roku upgraded, Amazon initiated: 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:

• Pivotal Research upgraded Roku (ROKU) to Hold from Sell with a price target of $75, up from $58, post the Q3 report. The firm cites the in-line net new active account results, better than expected revenue, good prospects for Roku to materially beat its “as usual conservative” guidance, the high likelihood the company will easily be able to hit its 2024 positive EBITDA targets and what appears to be the end of the actor’s strike soon for the upgrade.
• New Street upgraded Trade Desk (TTD) to Neutral from Sell. The shares have “de-risked” due to cautious commentary on brand advertising spending by Snap (SNAP), Meta (META) and Amazon as well as macro concerns and spending pauses owing to the conflict in the Middle East, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Truist upgraded Amgen (AMGN) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $320, up from $260. The firm says Amgen has historically shown the ability to grow mid-cycle assets, despite underwhelming initial launches.
• Citi upgraded Clorox (CLX) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $150, up from $135. The company delivered better than expected fiscal Q1 results compared to guidance provided post the August cybersecurity incident, and lowered fiscal 2024 guidance, as expected, to account for the impact of the cyberattack, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Bernstein upgraded Chevron (CVX) to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $182, down from $184. The company’s volumes were sequentially down in Q3 but guided up in Q4 amid a “barrage of issues that veered toward mundane rather than impactful,” the firm tells investors in a research note.

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Telsey Advisory downgraded Estee Lauder (EL) to Market Perform from Outperform with a price target of $115, down from $210, post the fiscal Q1 report. Despite a solid start to fiscal 2024, Estee is taking a more cautious view of the balance of the year, reflecting slower growth in prestige beauty in mainland China, an incremental 22c drag from business disruption in Israel/Middle East, and continued pressure in Asia travel retail, the analyst tells investors in a research note. RBC Capital also downgraded Estee Lauder to Sector Perform from Outperform with a price target of $115, down from $195.
• Summit Insights downgraded Qorvo (QRVO) to Hold from Buy. The firm cites the company’s Q2 results and notes that while it is positive on Qorvo’s diversification strategy and believes that it has sufficient enough catalysts to outperform through the first half of 2024, it also sees the company struggling again in the second half of next year due to increased competition from Qualcomm (QCOM).
• Deutsche Bank downgraded Moderna (MRNA) to Sell from Hold with a price target of $60, down from $125, calling the company’s Q3 report “another tough update.” Preliminary FY24/25 guidance confirms the company is looking at “another couple of years of heavy cash burn” and the report “incredibly” featured a further R&D increase despite the headwinds Moderna is seeing on revenue and gross margin, the firm tells investors.
• Daiwa downgraded Bristol Myers (BMY) to Neutral from Outperform with a price target of $54, down from $68. The company’s medium-term plan delays achieving new product sales targets and lowers operating profit margin, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Guggenheim downgraded SolarEdge (SEDG) to Neutral from Buy and removed the firm’s prior price target on shares as the firm is giving up on a positive stance on the shares given that the depth and duration of the downturn in revenue has exceeded its expectations. BMO Capital and Truist also downgraded SolarEdge Technologies to Neutral-equivalent ratings.

Top 5 Initiations:

• HSBC initiated coverage of Amazon.com (AMZN) with a Buy rating and $160 price target. Amazon’s structural opportunity in cloud surpasses even the lock-in effect with consumers in e-commerce, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• JPMorgan initiated coverage of WK Kellogg (KLG) with a Neutral rating and $11 price target. The firm sees the potential for gross margin expansion over time, lowered by supply chain investments, but says it is not sure if this will translate into quite the level of EBITDA growth that WK Kellogg expects.
• Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage of Immatics (IMTX) with an Overweight rating. Immatics features a comprehensive suite of pipeline candidates, platforms, and partnerships centered around directing T cells to solid tumors, and a modest stock valuation makes shares highly attractive, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage of Immunocore (IMCR) with an Overweight rating and no price target. Immunocore represents an exceedingly rare “all-in-one” Product, Pipeline, and Platform story and is a top pick, the firm says.
• H.C. Wainwright initiated coverage of OKYO Pharma (OKYO) with a Buy rating and $4 price target. If the Phase 2 trial meets both sign and symptom endpoints, it would be a major de-risking event for OK-101, says the firm.