Tesla upgraded, Rent The Runway 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 Upgrades:

• Morgan Stanley upgraded Tesla (TSLA) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $400, up from $250. The firm views Tesla as both an auto and tech company but sees the biggest value driver from here being its software and services revenue.
• Jefferies upgraded DoorDash (DASH) to Hold from Underperform with a price target of $90, up from $70, saying consensus expectations underappreciate the company’s tailwinds to EBITDA from further advertising penetration and enhancements to underlying unit economics.
• JPMorgan upgraded Tenable Holdings (TENB) to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $56, up from $51. The firm sees an “attractive opportunity” for better growth, margin expansion, and free cash flow moving through the back half of the year into fiscal 2024 for the company.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Kenvue (KVUE) to Buy from Hold with an unchanged price target of $27. The firm views the shares as oversold.
• JPMorgan upgraded Nu Holdings (NU) to Overweight from Neutral with a $9 price target. The firm is more confident on the company’s “secular winning strategy” and sees the recent share price correction as a good entry point.

Top Downgrades:

• Telsey Advisory downgraded Rent The Runway (RENT) to Market Perform from Outperform with a price target of $1, down from $4, following the Q2 miss. While the company’s shift to emphasize profitability is understandable, the “stark” slowdown in revenue and subscriber growth is concerning, the firm says.
• JPMorgan downgraded Brunswick (BC) to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $79, down from $109. The firm’s fieldwork is “flagging increasingly cautious” dealer sentiment into the second half of 2023, driven by elevated inventory levels notably in the value-segment, delayed consumer purchases on higher interest rates, and greater reliance on incentives to drive conversion.
• Wolfe Research downgraded Evergy (EVRG) to Peer Perform from Outperform without a price target. The firm has a “loss of confidence” in the Kansas regulatory environment following the “disappointing” Kansas Corporation Commission staff testimony.
• Melius Research downgraded RTX (RTX) to Hold from Buy with a $92 price target.

Top Initiations:

• BofA initiated coverage of Raymond James (RJF) with a Buy rating and $122 price target. The company is a diviserfieid broker that is better insulated from interest rates than peers, the firm notes.
• Citi reinstated coverage of L3Harris Technologies (LHX) with a Buy rating and $193 price target. The stock’s valuation is “compelling” when set against the company’s growing sales and potential for both margin expansion and de-levering in the years ahead, the firm says.
• Barclays initiated coverage of Blue Bird (BLBD) with an Overweight rating and $25 price target. The firm believes a slowdown in the rate of change of orders and backlogs compressing likely keeps the stock’s risk/reward more balanced than the opportunity set ahead of the industry.
• Jefferies initiated coverage of SharkNinja (SN) with a Buy rating and $67 price target. The company is well positioned to grow its market share across new and existing categories given its global “rapid innovation and commercialization flywheel model,” the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Citi initiated coverage of H.B. Fuller (FUL) with a Neutral rating and $78 price target. Citi is waiting to see progress on the announced restructuring and incremental synergies unlocked from bolt-on acquisitions as H.B. Fuller navigates the current macro environment.