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

Qorvo upgrade, Wingstop downgrade, and ZoomInfo 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: 

• Summit Insights upgraded Qorvo (QRVO) to Buy from Hold. Qorvo is now returning to topline growth, primarily due to content gains in a muted demand environment as the industry ends the inventory correction cycle, the firm tells investors. [Read more]
• BofA double upgraded Verisk Analytics (VRSK) to Buy from Underperform with a price target of $243, up from $167. The shares look attractive given Verisk’s "defensive" business model in an uncertain environment, the firm says. [Read more]
• Raymond James upgraded Wix.com (WIX) to Outperform from Market Perform with a $96 price target. The firm expects continued steady bookings and revenue growth in 2023 for the company with continued strength in revenue and subscriber. [Read more]
• Guggenheim upgraded Neurocrine (NBIX) to Buy from Neutral and introduced a $145 price target for the shares following strong Ingrezza sales performance in Q1. [Read more]
• Citi upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) to Neutral from Sell with a price target of $36, up from $30, after the company reported first quarter results with inline revenue and Spinraza royalties. [Read more]

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Citi downgraded Wingstop (WING) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $224, up from $204, post Q1 results. The firm continues to have confidence in Wingstop’s ability to win share going forward, but says "cracks are forming" in the U.S. macro environment, including softer industry sales trends as of late. [Read more]
• TD Cowen downgraded Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) to Market Perform from Outperform with a price target of $28, down from $38. The firm cites reduced cash flow prospects for the downgrade following the company’s Q1 results. [Read more]
• BofA downgraded Upwork (UPWK) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $9, down from $28. While Upwork reported "solid" Q1 results, management lowered revenue but raised EBITDA guidance for 2023. [Read more]
• BofA downgraded Incyte (INCY) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $84, down from $93. A key driver of the firm’s prior Buy rating had been excitement for uptake of Opzelura in skin disorders, but the firm now thinks the strong initial uptake may give way to more measured growth. [Read more]
• Raymond James downgraded Revolve Group (RVLV) to Market Perform from Outperform without a price target. The company’s Q1 results missed expectations and reflected a steeper softening of trends than expected, the firm notes. [Read more]

Top 5 Initiations:

• DA Davidson initiated coverage of ZoomInfo (ZI) with a Buy rating and $30 price target. The stock represents a rare value investment within software, the firm says. [Read more]
• Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage of Li-Cycle (LICY) with a Buy rating and $8.50 price target. Li-Cycle is "closing the loop in the battery supply chain" with a "proven and patented process," the firm says. [Read more]
• UBS initiated coverage of Ferguson (FERG) with a Buy rating and $165 price target. The firm expects the U.S. residential business, which represents more than 50% of Ferguson’s revenue, to remain relatively resilient despite macro uncertainty. [Read more]
• H.C. Wainwright initiated coverage of Absci (ABSI) with a Buy rating and $4 price target. The firm believes novel therapeutics, such as bispecific antibodies, antibody fragments, and antibody-drug conjugates, hold promising therapeutic value and market potential. [Read more]
• Research coverage of Vertex Pharmaceutics (VRTX) was assumed at Piper Sandler with an Overweight rating and $385 price target. With one of the deepest and most diverse pipelines in all of biotech, Vertex offers "multiple opportunities for upside from here," the firm says. [Read more]