UPS upgraded, PepsiCo 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:

• Redburn Atlantic upgraded UPS (UPS) to Buy from Neutral with an $180 price target. The firm believes UPS is at, or close to, trough revenue, volume, margin and share price levels.
• Citi upgraded Hologic (HOLX) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $95, up from $80. The firm believes the company’s fiscal year outlook looks conservative and does not rely on a significant second-half market recovery, differentiating itself from peers.
• JPMorgan upgraded Navient (NAVI) to Neutral from Underweight with a price target of $17, down from $18. The firm sees a more balanced risk/reward following the stock’s recent underperformance.
• Citi upgraded Integra LifeSciences (IART) to Neutral from Sell with an unchanged price target of $38. While ongoing supply challenges and the Boston remediation will weigh down expectations, these are likely in the stock already, the firm says.
• Citi upgraded Sotera Health (SHC) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $16, down from $18. The firm says the impact from the recent litigation news has driven the stock’s multiple to a point where it overstates the possibility of any near-term litigation risk.

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Argus downgraded PepsiCo (PEP) to Hold from Buy saying the company’s price hikes are likely to cause its revenue growth to slow as consumers choose dining out over meals at home.
• Gordon Haskett downgraded four names in the broadlines and hardlines retail sector, namely Five Below (FIVE) and Costco (COST) to Accumulate from Buy, Dollar Tree (DLTR) to Hold from Buy, and Lowe’s (LOW) to Hold from Accumulate. The firm is “waving a yellow flag” following the rally in the stocks year-to-date.
• Wells Fargo downgraded Wolfspeed (WOLF) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $30, down from $55. The downgrade reflects the difficulty in finding new silicon carbide leadership beyond Tesla (TSLA), silicon carbide wafer pricing, and how these factors impact Wolfspeed’s capital flexibility, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Citi downgraded Bio-Rad (BIO) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $365, down from $400. The firm says visibility remains limited on the company’s ability to achieve its life sciences revenue ramp given a lack of tangible catalysts.
• UBS downgraded Endeavor Group (EDR) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $27.50, down from $31, after the company entered into an agreement to be acquired by shareholder Silver Lake with remaining shareholders receiving $27.50 in cash. Seaport Research and Evercore ISI also downgraded Endeavor Group to Neutral-equivalent ratings.

Top 5 Initiations:

• B. Riley initiated coverage of Airbnb (ABNB) with a Neutral rating and $150 price target. The firm finds current growth and margin expectations already reflected in the stock and opts to be on the sidelines.
• B. Riley initiated coverage of Booking Holdings (BKNG) with a Buy rating and $4,400 price target. The firm’s positive view on the stock is supported by the company’s prospects for sustained above-market growth rates, margin expansion, and efficient capital allocation, with a sizable share buyback contributing to earnings growth.
• Needham initiated coverage of Affirm (AFRM) with a Hold rating. Needham rates the stock at Hold however due to a combination of valuation at 32-times its expected FY26 EPS, elevated stock-based compensation expense at 46% of last-12-months revenue, and a growing mix share of interest and other lending-related income that may make significant multiple expansion challenging, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Needham initiated coverage of SoFi Technologies (SOFI) with a Buy rating and $10 price target. The company is seen as a long-term winner in the digital lending/neobank space, largely due to its focus on prime and super-prime consumers and possession of a full banking license, which provides it superior unit economics compared to other consumer finance platforms that focus on lower income borrowers and/or lack a banking license, firm says.
• Keefe Bruyette initiated coverage of Robinhood (HOOD) with a Market Perform rating and $20 price target. The firm appreciates and respects what this management team has done over the past 18 months in rightsizing the company’s cost base and returning to GAAP profitability, but believes the stock price has adequately captured the baseline upside from new product launches, while also beginning to price in a higher level of normalized retail trading activity.