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

Meta Platforms upgrade, D.R. Horton downgrade, and Live Nation 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:

• KeyBanc upgraded Meta Platforms (META) to Overweight from Sector Weight with a $240 price target. The firm believes the advertising market is settling "on more stable footing," which shifts its preference back towards Meta. [Read more]
• Barclays upgraded Nike (NKE) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $154, up from $110. The company’s "significant beat" in fiscal Q3 is evidence of broad-based brand strength in spite of a weakening consumer macro backdrop, the firm says. [Read more]
• Guggenheim upgraded Spotify (SPOT) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $155, up from $120, citing the view that the global music industry has the potential for "market-leading financial growth" over the next several years. [Read more]
• Susquehanna upgraded Enphase Energy (EPNH) to Positive from Neutral with a $275 price target. The setup for Enphase has become much more attractive since Susquehanna downgraded the stock to Neutral in mid-December, the firm notes. [Read more]
• Loop Capital upgraded Ross Stores (ROST) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $115, up from $105, citing "improved brands and values in the company’s stores" and guidance given in February that now "looks conservative" as spending is holding steady. [Read more

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Wolfe Research downgraded D.R. Horton (DHI) to Peer Perform from Outperform without a price target. The firm cites valuation for the downgrade, saying the equity will generally perform inline with the group moving forward. [Read more]
• Mizuho downgraded Invitation Homes (INVH) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $32, down from $33. The firm remains a long-term fan of Invitation’s "well-established platform," but sees incremental internal and external headwinds that indicate the stock is relatively fairly valued with a less-compelling risk/reward profile versus direct peers. [Read more]
• Bernstein downgraded Wipro (WIT) to Underperform from Market Perform with a price target of $3.90, down from $5.10. Macro headwinds combined with liquidity issues of banks is likely to further soften the tech spending environment for the Indian IT services sector, the firm says. [Read more]
• Goldman Sachs downgraded Altimmune (ALT) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $6, down from $20. The firm states that the weight loss reported in the 24-week interim data from the Phase 2 MOMENTUM study of pemvidutide in obese patients is within the range of its prior intermediate case expectation, but the stock fell following the reported discontinuation rates of 24.0% across the treatment arms of study. [Read more]
• Goldman Sachs downgraded Luminar (LAZR) to Sell from Neutral with a $5 price target. The firm downgraded the stock to reflect what it believes is margin risk and a premium valuation, with 35% downside to its price target. [Read more]

Top 5 Initiations:

• Roth MKM initiated coverage of Live Nation (LYV) with a Neutral rating and $72 price target. The firm believes that in the near-term, capital appreciation for the shares appears limited given its concerns about economic pressures weighing on consumer spending in the latter part of 2023 and the perceived overhang of government interference. [Read more]
• Craig-Hallum initiated coverage of Nextracker (NXT) with a Buy rating and $41 price target. The firm sees Nextracker as well positioned for strong multi-year growth and EBITDA margin expansion. [Read more]
• Jefferies initiated coverage of Howmet Aerospace (HWM) with a Buy rating and $50 price target. Howmet is an engineered material supplier technology leader with 85% of sales from first and second market share positions, capable of net price realization that supports mid-20% adjusted EBITDA margins and 100% free cash flow conversion in out years, the firm notes. [Read more]
• Baird initiated coverage of Academy Sports (ASO) with an Outperform rating and $80 price target. Some in the market still fear Academy is materially "over-earning," but Baird believes several structural, "self-help" improvements implemented pre-pandemic have "created a strong foundation for continued profitable growth." [Read more]
• Goldman Sachs reinstated coverage of ChargePoint (CHPT) with a Neutral rating and $10 price target. The firm believes the company is well positioned for growth as a full solution provider of chargers/software/services, but sees the margin of improvement for ChargePoint to be somewhat limited by industry mix shift toward DC fast charging and competition. [Read more]

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