Street Wrap: Today’s Top 15 Upgrades, Downgrades, Initiations

VF Corp. double upgrade, Rivian downgrade, and Philip Morris resumption among today’s top calls on Wall Street

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:

• Goldman Sachs double upgraded VF Corp. (VFC) to Buy from Sell with a price target of $27, up from $26. VF’s revenue and earnings trajectory has underperformed the market, but the stock is nearing an inflection point with the balance of catalysts "now weighted to the upside," the analyst tells investors in a research note. [read more]
• Barclays upgraded Mosaic (MOS) to Equal Weight from Underweight with a price target of $54, up from $52. Global agriculture markets "remain tight," and while record earnings from 2022 won’t be repeated in 2023, there is "enough buckets of opportunities" in the broader seed, fertilizer and ag processing space, the analyst tells investors in a research note. [read more]
• Compass Point upgraded Argo Blockchain (ARBK) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $3, up from $2. The firm is revising estimates to reflect the most recent bitcoin price and global hash rate forecasts now that most crypto miners in its coverage have reported earnings and Q1 bitcoin production. [read more]
• JPMorgan upgraded Huya (HUYA) to Neutral from Underweight with a price target of $3, up from $2.30. The analyst sees a better outlook for the China live streaming industry in 2023. [read more]
• Northcoast upgraded Casey’s General Stores (CASY) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $270, up from $247. [read more]

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Piper Sandler downgraded Rivian Automotive (RIVN) to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $15, down from $63. The analyst still likes Rivian’s strategy, but says the problem is that the strategy is costly. [read more]
• Raymond James downgraded Check Point Software (CHKP) to Market Perform from Outperform without a price target. Broader software spending intentions have decelerated and could ultimately lead to a period of deflation, the analyst tells investors in a research note. [read more]
• BTIG downgraded ViewRay (VRAY) to Neutral from Buy without a price target. The company announced preliminary Q1 results below expectations, cut its full-year guidance, discussed a high Q1 burn that means cash will only last into Q1 of 2024, and announced it is evaluating strategic alternatives, the analyst tells investors in a research note. [read more] ViewRay was also downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer [read more] and to Hold from Buy at Stifel. [read more]
• Piper Sandler downgraded Steris (STE) to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $197, down from $215. The analyst sees risk that management guides fiscal 2024 earnings growth below the Street and to levels that warrant a lower valuation than what Steris has established in recent years. [read more]
• Maxim downgraded Biocept (BIOC) to Hold from Buy. The company announced that it has commenced a process to explore and evaluate strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value in January, with potential strategic alternatives that may be explored or evaluated as part of this process including an acquisition, merger, reverse merger, or other business combinationy, the analyst tells investors in a research note. [read more]

Top 5 Initiations:

• Stifel resumed coverage of Philip Morris (PM) with a Buy rating and $114 price target. The analyst, who identifies Philip Morris as among the firm’s top ideas in the space, believes it offers "superior growth potential" compared to both its tobacco and consumer staples peers. [read more]
• Roth MKM initiated coverage of LiveOne (LVO) with a Buy rating and $2.80 price target. LiveOne has created an ecosystem centered around live music and streaming audio, and has seen "rapid advances" in its ability to monetize the networks across a growing range of revenue sources, the analyst tells investors in a research note. [read more]
• BMO Capital reinstated coverage of Tyson Foods (TSN) with a Market Perform rating and $66 price target. The company is implementing internal actions to improve performance, deploying capital to expand capacity and building its earnings potential over time, the analyst says. [read more]
• Stifel resumed coverage of Lamb Weston (LW) with a Hold rating and $115 price target. The firm is seeing pricing push up significantly and contends the "sales recovery is compelling," while adding that it believes the multiple can continue to expand as investors "appreciate the growth and ultimate margin opportunity." [read more]
• Stephens initiated coverage of Shift4 Payments (FOUR) with an Equal Weight rating and $80 price target. After the 27% year-to-date run-up in the stock, Shift4’s premium valuation fairly reflects the above peer growth and margin profile as well as the firm’s confidence in the company’s FY23 outlook, the analyst tells investors in a research note. [read more]