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

Intel upgrade, Reliance Steel downgrade, and Cogent Biosciences initiation 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:

• Benchmark upgraded Intel (INTC) to Buy from Hold with a $39 price target. Intel last night posted revenue and earnings upside for the March quarter and provided similar guidance for its June period, which accounts for continued inventory digestion in the PC and server markets and further expected share loss in the data center, the analyst tells investors. [read more] Wedbush also upgraded Intel to Neutral from Underperform with a price target of $30, up from $20. [read more]
• RBC Capital upgraded International Paper (IP) to Outperform from Sector Perform with a price target of $39, down from $40. The company lowered its 2023 adjusted EBITDA guidance by 14% at the midpoint of its range, but the current share price reflects "greater pessimism than warranted and represents a solid entry point," the analyst said. [read more]
• Stephens upgraded FIS (FIS) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $75, up from $70, citing a clearer path to revenue growth acceleration in FY24 along with lower than previously anticipated dis-synergies that refute the bear thesis around the split. [read more]
• Wolfe Research upgraded Mobileye (MBLY) to Outperform from Peer Perform with a $46 price target. The company’s long-term story "appears even more compelling" following the Q1 results, the analyst tells investors in a research note. [read more]
• Jefferies upgraded Fortune Brands Innovations (FBIN) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $84, up from $67. The stock is lagging the builders and trading at pre-COVID levels, notes the firm, which believes Fortune Brands is "due for a catch up trade." [read more]

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Wolfe Research downgraded Reliance Steel (RS) to Peer Perform from Outperform without a price target following the Q1 beat. The analyst sees softer volumes and prices heading into the second half of 2023. [read more]
• HSBC downgraded Banco Santander (SAN) to Hold from Buy with a price target of EUR 3.90, down from EUR 4.80. With headwinds in Brazil and the U.S. still there and unlikely to change in the short term, the stock’s low valuation is no longer a reason to keep a positive stance. [read more]
• DA Davidson downgraded Tyler Technologies (TYL) to Neutral from Buy with an unchanged $395 price target. The company’s Q1 earnings were "nicely above" expectations but the stock is now trading at a "modest premium" to long-term averages, the analyst tells investors in a research note. [read more]
• BofA downgraded Sangamo (SGMO) to Underperform from Neutral with a price target of $1.50, down from $5. The company’s strategic restructuring is a positive step towards focusing on its innovative programs and extending the cash runway, but Sangamo’s recurring revenue opportunities are "distant" and much of its platform is in need of de-risking data. [read more]
• Goldman Sachs downgraded Ono Pharmaceutical (OPHLY) to Sell from Neutral with a 2,500 yen price target. The firm believes strong earnings driven by cancer treatment Opdivo are now largely priced in and sees "large downside risk" after Opdivo goes off patent. [read more]

Top 5 Initiations:

• Wedbush initiated coverage of Oculis (OCS) with an Outperform rating and $27 price target. The firm believes Oculis is an opportunity to invest in a differentiated, clinical-stage pipeline of topical, eye drop therapies for ocular diseases, and thinks OCS-01 in DME is the company’s biggest value driver, the analyst tells investors in a research note. [read more]
• Berenberg initiated coverage of MicroStrategy (MSTR) with a Buy rating and $430 price target. The analyst views the stock as offering equity investors an attractive way to express a view on bitcoin. [read more]
• Baird initiated coverage of Cogent Biosciences (COGT) with an Outperform rating and $20 price target. Cogent’s lead agent bezuclastinib is in late-stage development for the treatment of systemic mastocytosis and gastrointestinal stromal tumors, the analyst tells investors in a research note. [read more]
• Piper Sandler assumed coverage of Gilead (GILD) with an Overweight rating and $105 price target. The company’s Q1 performance highlighted the resilience of its core virology commercial business alongside an "increasingly more compelling" oncology portfolio, the analyst said. [read more]
• Citi resumed coverage of Global Payments (GPN) with a Buy rating and $136 price target. The analyst said that the company has "evolved considerably" in the past 12 months as the EVO Payments acquisition broadens its geographic reach and functional capabilities while the sale of its gaming business and Netspend Consumer divestiture improve its focus. [read more]