Tesla, Boeing downgraded: Wall Street’s top analyst calls

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:

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Avis Budget (CAR) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $248, up from $234. The firm notes the stock’s multiples continue to compress as sentiment has turned overwhelmingly negative as many bears appear to be casually assuming that issues at Hertz (HTZ) will eventually find their way over to Avis as well. 
• BofA upgraded RTX (RTX) to Neutral from Underperform with a price target of $100, up from $78, to reflect better execution in servicing contaminated powder-metal discs in Geared Turbo Fan, or GTF, engines at Pratt & Whitney.
• Oppenheimer upgraded Inovio Pharmaceuticals (INO) to Outperform from Perform with a $4 price target after hosting a call with a key opinion leader in recurrent respiratory papillomatosis and members of the company’s management team. Opco thinks Inovio could be a commercial company in 2025 given the high unmet need for RRP patients.
• BofA upgraded Heico (HEI) to Buy from Neutral with an unchanged price target of $220. The firm believes the pullback in the shares is “overdone” and sees continued strength at Heico.
• Truist upgraded Vericel (VCEL) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $51, up from $39. The firm says stock’s valuation does not reflect Vericel’s growth acceleration potential and coming profit inflection.

Top 5 Downgrades:

• KGI Securities downgraded Tesla (TSLA) to Neutral from Outperform with a price target of $213, down from $309. The company’s Q4 earnings slightly missed estimates with gross margin down quarter-over-quarter, the firm notes.
• BofA downgraded Boeing (BA) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $225, down from $255, in the wake of the Alaska Airlines (ALK) Flight 1282 incident and the subsequent 737 grounding.
• Deutsche Bank downgraded Humana (HUM) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $360, down from $595. Humana reported Q4 results and issued 2024 guidance that missed the most pessimistic investor expectations, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Williams Trading downgraded VF Corp. (VFC) to Sell from Hold with a price target of $13, down from $17. Based on channel checks and commentary from some retailers at the recent ICR conference, there are no indications that Vans will turnaround in the foreseeable future, the analyst tells investors.
• Deutsche Bank downgraded Hertz (HTZ) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $9, down from $16. Hertz’s well-chronicled electric vehicle strategy, which recently pivoted to include the sale of one-third of the fleet, leaves investors with little conviction in the company’s true run rate earnings power over the next few years, the firm says.

Top 5 Initiations:

• Seaport Research initiated coverage of IPG Photonics (IPGP) with a Buy rating and $125 price target. IPG has been mired in a period of earnings weakness since 2019, but the firm sees pressures that included COVID, supply chain, weak pricing, elevated costs in Russia and sluggishness in the General Industrial markets as “increasingly moving behind” the company.
• BTIG initiated coverage of Bloom Energy (BE) with a Buy rating and $21 price target. The firm continues to believe hydrogen adoption will gain momentum and play a role in the energy transition.
• RBC Capital initiated coverage of Axsome Therapeutics (AXSM) with an Outperform rating and $126 price target. The company’s lead value driver Auvelity is showing good Rx growth, and sales can reach $296M in 2024, ahead of $272M consensus thanks to the earlier than expected adoption of the drug, the firm says.
• OTR Global initiated coverage of CyberArk (CYBR) with a Positive view, stating that its checks showed CyberArk’s brand and new mid-market logo gains contributed to “strong” Q4 sales for partners and expectations for their 2024 business to benefit from continued large enterprise success and expanded PAM adoption.
• Benchmark initiated coverage of DDC Enterprise (DDC) with a Buy rating and $8 price target. The firm’s positive views on the consumer brand company providing ready-to-heat, ready-to-cook, and ready-to-eat plant-based meal products are based on a belief that the RTE industry in China is at an onset of a multi-year growth trajectory and that DDC is poised to reap the benefit of high growth in the next three to five years.