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

AMD upgrade and downgrade, and Weatherford 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: 

• Craig-Hallum upgraded AMD (AMD) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $100, up from $76. AMD‘s Client PC business, which was down 65% year-over-year in Q1, is believed to have bottomed in the quarter, the firm says.
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• Susquehanna upgraded Uber Technologies (UBER) to Positive from Neutral with a price target of $48, up from $40. The company posted "another nice quarter," as it is seeing continued solid sales traction while demonstrating discipline on the cost side, the firm tells investors in a research note. [Read more]
• BofA upgraded Zimmer Biomet (ZBH) to Neutral from Underperform with a price target of $160, up from $120, to account for continued earnings upside. [Read more]
• Vertical Group upgraded Trade Desk (TTD) to Positive from Neutral ahead of the company’s first quarter results on May 10. [Read more]
• Bernstein upgraded Marriott International (MAR) to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $204, up from $178, following the Q1 report. [Read more]

Top 5 Downgrades:

• BofA downgraded AMD to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $95, down from $98. The company reported an in-line Q1 but a "weak" Q2 outlook on a sluggish market recovery, the firm notes. [Read more]
• Citi downgraded NerdWallet (NRDS) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $14, down from $15. While the company reported better-than-expected revenue growth and adjusted EBITDA margin in Q1, NerdWallet is now pulling back on planned marketing spending for FY23 "despite the good results" as the company is seeing increased credit tightness, particularly in the credit card vertical, the firm notes. [Read more]
• Scotiabank downgraded Thomson Reuters (TRI) to Sector Perform from Outperform with a price target of $138, up from $127, citing valuation. [Read more] Canaccord also downgraded Thomson Reuters to Hold from Buy with a price target of $131, up from $124, post the Q1 results. [Read more]
• Baird downgraded Premier (PINC) to Neutral from Outperform with a price target of $30, down from $43. The firm "can’t look past" the company’s softening demand and waning adjacent market organic growth. [Read more]
• BofA downgraded Clarus (CLAR) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $10, down from $12. The firm sees risk to the company’s second half of 2023 guidance, which implies an acceleration in revenue. [Read more]

Top 5 Initiations:

• Raymond James initiated coverage of Weatherford (WFRD) with a Strong Buy rating and $100 price target. The firm notes that after several years of disappointments, Weatherford’s current management team has strung together 11 quarters in a row of solid results, generating more free cash flow from 2020-2022 than it had in multiple decades prior. [Read more]
• Citi initiated coverage of NGM Biopharmaceuticals (NGM) with a Buy rating and $6 price target. With multiple myeloid checkpoint and oncology assets in the clinic, NGM has "multiple shots on goal," the firm says. [Read more]
• Craig-Hallum initiated coverage of AudioEye (AEYE) with a Buy rating and $10 price target. Craig-Hallum believes AudioEye is an "attractively" valued way for investors to get exposure to a niche industry in the early innings of its growth curve that "will start to get more eyeballs as rulemaking processes by the DOJ progress." [Read more]
• Macquarie initiated coverage of Kanzhun (BZ) with an Outperform rating and $24.10 price target.  The firm thinks a "strong network effect and sticky user mindshare" could boost the company’s’ monetization and profitability. [Read more]
• Roth MKM initiated coverage of Figs (FIGS) with a Buy rating and $9 price target. The firm views the business and brand as "healthy, despite some missteps in a tough 2022." [Read more]