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

Memory semi upgrades, Lyft downgrades and construction materials stock initiations among today’s top calls on Wall Street

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Check out today’s top analyst calls from around Wall Street:

Top 5 Upgrades: 

• Mizuho upgraded Micron (MU) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $72, up from $48. The firm says the memory market is close to a cyclical bottom, with Q1 potentially seeing the peak in inventories and a tough in revenue, with fundamentals set to recover in the second half of 2023. [read more]

• Stifel upgraded VF Corp. (VFC) to Buy from Hold with an unchanged price target of $30. The company’s dividend cut and resulting selloff in shares present an attractive entry point, the analyst tells investors. [read more]

• Mizuho upgraded Western Digital (WDC) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $50, up from $38. The analyst sees improving structural trends driving an accelerated path to supply/demand balance for memory. [read more]

• Gordon Haskett upgraded Walmart (WMT) to Accumulate from Hold with a price target of $155, up from $145. The analyst expects Walmart to see benefits from continued sales tailwinds and improving margin flow through as peak cost pressures ease. The firm also upgraded Tractor Supply (TSCO) to Buy from Accumulate and upgraded Five Below (FIVE) to Buy from Accumulate in its retail sector outlook note. [read more]

• Mizuho upgraded Seagate (STX) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $82, up from $62. A cyclical Q1 trough with structural improvement positions Micron, Western Digital and Seagate for upside with the shares 40%-50% below prior cycle peaks, Mizuho contends. [read more] 

Top 5 Downgrades: 

• Wedbush downgraded Lyft (LYFT) to Neutral from Outperform with a price target of $13, down from $17. Them firm says last night’s earnings conference call was one of the worst its ever heard and that management is "trying to play darts blindfolded with the expense structure going forward and gave an EBITDA outlook which was a debacle for the ages." Lyft was also downgraded to Neutral or equivalent ratings at JPMorgan, Citi, Wells Fargo, KeyBanc, Truist, DA Davidson and Loop Capital. [read more]

• Credit Suisse downgraded Exact Sciences (EXAS) to Neutral from Outperform with a price target of $70, up from $50. The Neutral rating reflects a view that the "durable value" of the company’s Cologuard test is realized in the share price while its pipeline could translate to sales more slowly than investors appreciate, the analyst tells investors. [read more]

• Morgan Stanley downgraded Affirm (AFRM) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $15, down from $46. The company’s "product ambitions are too large given narrow incremental benefits," the analyst tells investors. [read more]

• BofA downgraded Deutsche Bank (DB) to Underperform from Neutral with a price target of EUR 11.45, up from EUR 10.50. The analyst sees Deutsche Bank struggling to improve profitability, saying its growth is heavily volume reliant, consuming cost and capital resources. [read more]

• GLJ Research double downgraded U.S. Steel (X) to Sell from Buy with a price target of $13.85, down from $42.75. The analyst sees "problems on the horizon" coming out of the company’s Q4 results. [read more]

Top 5 Initiations: 

• Canaccord initiated coverage of Leonardo DRS (DRS) with a Buy rating and $17 price target. The firm says the company is unique in its strategy of targeting "high-growth" defense technology markets, including counter-drone, infrared sensing, network computing and ship electric drive. [read more]

• JonesResearch initiated coverage of Mainz Biomed (MYNZ) with a Buy rating and $11 price target. Mainz is investigating the addition of novel mRNA biomarkers that may be able to detect pre-cancerous polyps and the firm sees "best-in-class potential" for the company. [read more]

• BofA initiated coverage of Stem (STEM) with a Neutral rating and $11 price target. The company is a high growth story but has "very real risks in execution," the analyst tells investors in a research note. [read more]

• Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage of Ascend Wellness (AAWH) with a Neutral rating and $1.75 price target. A combination of great locations and superior retail service/execution makes Ascend stores stand out within the peer group, the analyst tells investors. [read more]

• Seaport Global initiated coverage of Vulcan Materials (VMC), Summit Materials (SUM) and Martin Marietta (MLM), all with Neutral ratings, as the firm expresses a neutral view on construction materials stocks given its belief that the stocks will be range bound as investors assess the impact of a cyclical downturn in residential and spill over to nonresidential sales. [read more]

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