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

Etsy upgrade, Boeing downgrade, and Sarepta Therapeutics 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: 

• Piper Sandler upgraded Etsy (ETSY) to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $140, up from $135. The company should see a reacceleration of active buyer growth over the medium term, which can support continued share gains, the firm says. [Read more]
• KeyBanc upgraded Comcast (CMCSA) to Overweight from Sector Weight with a $44 price target. The firm believes the near-term setup in cable and wireless is most attractive for cable. [Read more]
• Baird upgraded ServiceNow (NOW) to Outperform from Neutral with a price target of $548, up from $475, citing end-market "resiliency," the company’s "durable" growth trends and "reasonable" valuation. [Read more]
• Bernstein upgraded Canopy Growth (CGC) to Market Perform from Underperform. The company still faces headwinds from the structural challenges of the Canadian recreational cannabis market, but the firm says it believes these are now "largely priced-in." [Read more]
• JPMorgan upgraded Prudential (PRU) to Overweight from Neutral with an unchanged price target of $114, citing the company’s "superior" business mix, healthy balance sheet, negative sentiment, and the stock’s significant underperformance. [Read more]

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Northcoast downgraded Boeing (BA) to Sell from Neutral with an $180 price target as the firm expects changes to commercial aircraft production schedules and foresees a resetting of consensus forecasts that it says "look aggressive." [Read more]
• Benchmark downgraded WWE (WWE) to Hold from Buy with no price target after the company announced their plans to merge with Endeavor’s (EDR) subsidiary UFC and form a new global live sports and entertainment company. [Read more]
• KeyBanc downgraded Charter Communications (CHTR) to Sector Weight from Overweight without a price target. The firm sees a lack of visibility in Charter’s EBITDA margin expansion, contrary to its view on peers.
  [Read more]
• Morgan Stanley downgraded Ascendis Pharma (ASND) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $108, down from $151. Ascendis received a notice of deficiencies for the new drug application for TransCon PTH, which challenges the near-to-mid term setup for the shares, the firm says. [Read more]
• Mizuho downgraded Idacorp (IDA) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $107, down from $117. The company is entering a period where it should experience a lower return on equity from significantly higher capex as a result of the growth in its service territory, the firm says. [Read more]

Top 5 Initiations:

• Citi initiated coverage of Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT) with a Buy rating and $179 price target. The firm also added the stock to Citi’s Focus List and opened an "Upside 90-Day Catalyst Watch." [Read more]
• Benchmark initiated coverage of RXO Inc. (RXO) with a Hold rating and no price target. While Benchmark likes RXO‘s long-term opportunity in the secularly growing truck brokerage industry, it believes the current valuation accurately reflects the long-term opportunity and would be looking for a better entry point. [Read more]
• Stifel initiated coverage of Fastenal (FAST) with a Buy rating and $61 price target. The firm’s thesis centers on Fastenal sustaining a multi-year free cash flow compound annual growth rate of 12%. [Read more]
• BTIG initiated coverage of A10 Networks (ATEN) with a Neutral rating and no price target. In the current economic environment, the firm is cautious on businesses that rely on appliance sales, since it has consistently heard commentary about refresh delays in its fieldwork since the beginning of 2023. [Read more]
• DA Davidson initiated coverage of Crane (CR) with a Buy rating and $90 price target following the spinoff from Crane NXT (CXT). [Read more]