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

Meta Platforms upgrade, Alphabet downgrade, and FactSet 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:

• Loop Capital upgraded Meta Platforms (META) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $320, up from $220. The firm views the company’s expense rationalization as more a one-time driver but has become increasingly positive on Meta‘s revenue outlook. [Read more]
• Bernstein upgraded Tapestry (TPR) to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $55, up from $50. The firm believes any weakness has played out and is built into guidance/consensus, inventory is back under control, and China demand for Coach is surging. [Read more]
• Raymond James upgraded Charles Schwab (SCHW) to Outperform from Market Perform with a $63 price target. Recent data indicate that client cash-sorting at Schwab is tapering, which should support balance sheet and net interest margin "stabilization," the firm says. [Read more]
• Baird upgraded Albemarle (ALB) to Outperform from Neutral with a price target of $288, up from $222. Albemarle is down about 41% from its highs less than a year ago, notes the firm, which contends that the company’s Q1 results provide clarity on impact of lithium pricing and that last week’s merger of Allkem (OROCF) and Livent (LTHM) shows the value of vertical integration. [Read more]
• Deutsche Bank upgraded DuPont (DD) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $80, up from $70. The firm notes that the stock now trades at a 50% discount to peers. [Read more]

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Loop Capital downgraded Alphabet (GOOGL) to Hold from Buy with an unchanged price target of $125. Google’s event last week opened some eyes to the company’s strong position in artificial intelligence, but the firm thinks concern over whether Alphabet can maintain its dominant position through "this massive technology transformation" will hold back the stock’s valuation. [Read more]
• Wedbush downgraded SoFi Technologies (SOFI) to Underperform from Neutral with a price target of $2.50, down from $5. The firm believes the company may be nearing a tipping point on the fee income it recognizes related to loan origination and sales, and capital levels may be overstated using fair value accounting and it may look to raise capital this year to support growth. [Read more]
• Guggenheim downgraded Sphere Entertainment (SPHR) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $25, down from $78, to reflect uncertainty around Sphere profitability and its negative outlook on the Networks business. [Read more]
• BofA downgraded Camden Property (CPT) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $121, down from $132. The firm, which is reshuffling its residential REIT ratings, cites its view that demographics suggest that the market is now at or past peak demand for urban apartments. [Read more]
• Wolfe Research downgraded Essex Property Trust (ESS) to Underperform from Peer Perform with a $204 price target. The downgrade is based on a "high bar" for for ratings, valuation, given its recent performance, and fundamentals, the firm says. [Read more]

Top 5 Initiations:

• BMO Capital initiated coverage of FactSet (FDS) with a Market Perform rating and $424 price target. The firm believes FactSet’s sole focus on the financial services sector warrants "some pause" in the current environment. [Read more]
• Oppenheimer initiated coverage of WisdomTree (WT) with an Outperform rating and $9 price target. The firm views the stock as "moderately undervalued" against the company’s near-term earnings momentum.
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• Visteon (VC) research coverage was assumed at Morgan Stanley with an Equal Weight rating and $145 price target. Q1 earnings "featured more shakiness than anticipated" for the auto suppliers at the start of a year that was "supposed to be anchored in production recovery, favoring the supplier vertical,"the firm says. [Read more]
• Magna (MGA) research coverage was assumed at Morgan Stanley with an Overweight rating and $65 price target. While the EV slowdown in China and overall macro picture across all regions "has been well telegraphed," even suppliers who had "decent quarters" didn’t have enough confidence in the remainder of the year to raise their guidance, the firm noted. [Read more]
• Lear (LEA) research coverage was assumed at Morgan Stanley with an Equal Weight rating and $135 price target following quarterly results. [Read more]