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

Eli Lilly upgrade, Block downgrade and Nike initiation among today’s top calls on Wall Street

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Research analysts at Wall Street’s largest banks issue recommendations on whether a stock should be bought, held, or sold. The Fly’s team of financial market experts scours hundreds of research notes daily to uncover the best trading ideas. Check out today’s top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.

Top 5 Upgrades:

• UBS analyst Colin Bristow upgraded Eli Lilly (LLY) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $363, up from $335. The analyst now views Eli Lilly as the most attractive name in large cap pharma, with the greatest potential upside to estimates.
• Evercore ISI analyst Steve Sakwa upgraded Boston Properties (BXP) to Outperform from In Line with a price target of $100, down from $104. The analyst sees an "opportune time to buy" Boston Properties with the stock down 33% year-to-date, noting the firm’s target implies a 34% return, inclusive of a "well-covered" 5% dividend yield. Scotiabank analyst Nicholas Yulico also upgraded Boston Properties to Outperform from Sector Perform with a price target of $94, down from $102.
• Daiwa analyst John Choi upgraded Trip.com (TCOM) Group H shares to Buy from Hold with a price target of HK$275, up from HK$214, which represents 40% upside. The company posted "strong" second quarter results with a better-than-expected outlook for the third quarter, Choi noted.
• Citi analyst Samuel Burgess upgraded QinetiQ (QNTQY) to Buy from Neutral with a 428 GBp price target. The shares are "too cheap to ignore" and offer protection against inflation, Burgess told investors in a research note.
• Societe Generale analyst Jorge Suils upgraded Enagas (ENGGY) to Buy from Hold with an EUR 18.50 price target. Enagas offers "some shelter from political risk and economic deterioration" and the stock is currently providing a dividend yield of 10%, Suils told investors in a research note.

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Mizuho analyst Dan Dolev downgraded Block (SQ) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $57, down from $125. After years of rightfully being deemed the most innovative name in payments, "user fatigue, plateauing inflows, loss of the best-of-breed" point of sale status, and buy now pay later "misexecution" are blocking Block’s growth, Dolev told investors in a research note.
• Northland analyst Gus Richard downgraded Luminar (LAZR) to Market Perform from Outperform with a price target of $10, down from $13. The company confirms that it will be production ready by year-end, but he believes the adoption of its lidar is taking longer than expected.
• Wolfe Research analyst Timna Tanners downgraded Alcoa (AA) to Peer Perform from Outperform without a price target. Macro factors have "crushed the aluminum bull case," Tanners told investors in a research note.
• JPMorgan analyst Eric Joseph downgraded Novavax (NVAX) to Underweight from Neutral with a price target of $27, down from $132. Despite the "weak" second quarter print and downward revenue guidance revision for fiscal 2022, recent COVID vaccine dynamics in Europe and U.S. suggest further guidance cuts are in the offing, while also pointing to mid- and longer-term headwinds to meaningful Nuvaxovid uptake, Joseph contended.
• Stifel analyst Drew Crum downgraded Ubisoft (UBSFY) to Hold from Buy with a price target of EUR 35, down from EUR 50. He cited a combination of factors, including what he calls "overly ambitious" 2023 guidance, execution risk around the company’s game slate in the intermediate and longer-term, and reduced expectations for a takeout.

Top 5 Initiations:

• RBC Capital analyst Piral Dadhania initiated coverage of Nike (NKE) with an Outperform rating and $125 price target. The analyst views recover in China as the catalyst to improve investors sentiment, which he says is showing early signs of promise.
• MoffettNathanson analyst Jackson Ader initiated coverage of Intuit (INTU) with an Outperform rating and $500 price target for December 2023. Intuit’s stock is "a tank" that has outperformed in almost any environment in the last 15-20 years, Ader told investors.
• MoffettNathanson analyst Jackson Ader initiated coverage of DocuSign (DOCU) with an Underperform rating and $58 price target for December 2023. While he tells investors that he does not expect the macro environment to hit DocuSign particularly harder than others, he expects that navigating the macro environment will be more difficult than at peers given all the disruption in the organization with sales and operations leadership being brand new in a bunch of key areas. Ader also started coverage of LegalZoom (LZ) with an Underperform rating and $11 price target.
• MoffettNathanson analyst Jackson Ader initiated coverage of Monday.com (MNDY) with an Outperform rating and $170 price target. The analyst is a believer in the collaboration and work management software space.
• Raymond James analyst Wilma Burdis initiated coverage of MetLife (MET) with a Market Perform rating and $73 price target. MetLife is a solid, diversified company, with a track record of thoughtful management and robust capital returns, but given its large size and breadth, growth is tough to achieve, Burdis argued. The analyst also started coverage of Voya Financial (VOYA) with a Strong Buy rating and $84 price target.

Keywords: analyst, analyst calls, upgrades, downgrades, initiations, research, wall street