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

Meta Platforms upgrade, UBS downgrade, and Dell Technologies initiation 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:

• Edward Jones upgraded Meta Platforms (META) to Buy from Hold. The company is reducing expense expectations, which addresses concerns about heavy spending on its metaverse initiative, the firm notes. [Read more]
• US Tiger upgraded Coinbase (COIN) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $200, up from $65. The firm is making a "non-consensus call" with a Street-high price target implying 167% upside. [Read more]
• Northcoast upgraded Kroger (KR) to Buy from Neutral with a $60 price target. The stock has receded into the mid-$40 range as some value has been surrendered since the company announced it plans to acquire Albertsons (ACI), but that transaction is "far enough into the future" that the firm thinks investors should focus on the value of Kroger stock "on its own merits." [Read more]
• Bernstein upgraded PepsiCo (PEP) to Market Perform from Underperform, saying the firm’s sell thesis on the shares was "wrong." [Read more]
• Williams Trading double upgraded VF Corp. (VFC) to Buy from Sell with a $27 price target. VF, the parent of Vans and The North Face, hosted a sell-side round table on March 17 and the event made it "clear that management realized that VFC had put undue pressure for growth at the potential expense of the brand sanctity of much of its portfolio," the firm notes. [Read more}

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Keefe Bruyette downgraded UBS (UBS) to Underperform from Market Perform with an unchanged price target of CHF 21. The firm sees "considerable uncertainty" around the company’s earnings trajectory amid the Credit Suisse (CS) takeover. [Read more] Oddo BHF also downgraded UBS to Underperform from Neutral. [Read more]
• Credit Suisse downgraded Pear Therapeutics (PEAR) to Neutral from Outperform with a price target of $1, down from $7, after the company said it would be exploring strategic alternatives that could include outright sale, asset divestitures and additional financing. [Read more]  Chardan also downgraded Pear Therapeutics to Neutral from Buy. [Read more]
• Stephens downgraded Lifecore (LFCR) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $2, down from $11, after the company released "a flurry of announcements" last Thursday, including Q2 results, a new customer win, the disclosure of a "going concern" warning and a strategic review. [Read more]
• H.C. Wainwright downgraded Co-Diagnostics (CODX) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $3, down from $6. The company’s revenue declined materially in Q4, the firm notes. [Read more]
• TD Cowen downgraded Cyxtera Technologies (CYXT) to Market Perform from Outperform with a price target of $1, down from $3. Given upcoming 2024 debt maturities, the firm sees elevated refinancing risk and says its checks lead it to believe Cyxtera’s ability to refinance is limited by capital markets conditions and elevated leverage. [Read more]

Top 5 Initiations:

• Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of Dell Technologies (DELL) with a Buy rating and $43 price target. The firm recognizes that Dell’s business is highly cyclical, but believes the stock’s valuation is attractive given its long-term target of at least 100% free cash flow to net income conversion to fund shareholder capital returns. [Read more]
• Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of HP Inc. (HPQ) with a Neutral rating and $26 price target. The firm sees limited visibility into the trajectory of the combined printing and PC markets "with less clear upside from growth initiatives." [Read more]
• Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of HP Enterprise (HPE) with a Neutral rating and $15 price target as it sees servers and storage being impacted by a normalizing supply chain and increasing enterprise IT budget scrutiny. [Read more]
• UBS initiated coverage of Hostess Brands (TWNK) with a Neutral rating and $26 price target. The firm believes the pace of Hostess’ share gains are likely to moderate as key competitors improve their service levels and begin to increase their promotions. [Read more]
• UBS initiated coverage of TreeHouse Foods (TREE) with a Buy rating and $60 price target. The firm believes the company is in the early innings of a "beat and raise cycle" as it stands to benefit from several strategic initiatives and secular tailwinds. [Read more]

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