Here are Monday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Baird upgrades Albemarle to outperform from neutral Baird said the lithium company is well positioned to take advantage in the growth of lithium. ” ALB is down ~41% from its highs less than a year ago, and we believe that clarity on the impact of pricing, a reset of guidance, and ALB’s vertically integrated system position it as a leader for the near and longer term.” Morgan Stanley upgrades BorgWarner to overweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley said investors should buy the dip in shares of the auto supplier. “We upgrade BWA to OW following a recent pullback in share price, and our increased conviction in their ICE portfolio.” Loop upgrades Meta to buy from hold Loop said it sees a “brighter revenue picture” for the social media giant. “We are upgrading Meta to Buy and raising out PT to $320. The stock has already re-rated meaningfully this year mostly on expense reductions; consensus EPS for next year is up 44% YTD on a 3% revision to revenue.” Read more about this call here. Loop downgrades Alphabet to hold from buy Loop said it’s concerned about AI uncertainty as it relates to the Google parent. “We think long-term structural uncertainties surrounding the AI transition will keep investors nervous as the landscape evolves and put a ceiling on valuation.” Read more about this call here. Wedbush downgrades SoFi to underperform from neutral Wedbush downgraded SoFi on slowing growth concerns. “We’re downgrading shares of SOFI to UNDERPERFORM from NEUTRAL as we believe 1) the company may be nearing a tipping point on the fee income it recognizes related to loan origination and sales, 2) capital levels may be overstated using fair value accounting and we believe the company may look to raise capital this year to support growth.” Oppenheimer initiates WisdomTree as outperform Oppenheimer said the global ETF company is well positioned for growth. “We are initiating coverage on WT with an Outperform rating because we believe the stock is moderately undervalued against its near-term earnings momentum, and we see significant longer-term upside potential from three sources.” Morgan Stanley reiterates Exxon Mobil as overweight Morgan Stanley said it has “high confidence” in the oil and gas giant. “Last week, we hosted investor meetings with XOM’s management team at their headquarters in TX. The benefits from the company’s portfolio of advantaged growth projects are clear, and we came away with high confidence in XOM’s ability to deliver > 2x earnings by ’27 (vs ’19).” Raymond James upgrades Charles Schwab to outperform from market perform Raymond James said it sees “balance sheet stabilization” for the brokerage. “We believe recent data indicate that client cash sorting at Schwab is tapering, which should support balance sheet and net interest margin stabilization in 2H23. We do think consensus estimates for 2023/24 remain too high but believe the buy-side is more aligned with our below-consensus views.” Citi initiates AerCap as buy Citi said demand should remain attractive for the aviation leasing company. “Both companies’ long-term demand prospects look attractive, but AerCap’s more significant global footprint, its better FCF performance, more attractive valuation and stronger trading liquidity seem to leave AerCap better positioned than Air Lease.” Citi adds a positive catalyst watch on Lam Research Citi said the semiconductor company is a “self-help” story. “Moreover, we believe Lam has the most ‘self-help’ story coming out of the downturn as the company expands its broader Asia manufacturing footprint to structurally improve gross margins to 47-48% from current 44% once the growth resumes.” Baird adds Crocs as a fresh pick Baird said in it has “high conviction” in shares of Crocs. “We have high conviction in CROX’s ability to meet/exceed 2023E guidance and to deliver on the attractive long-term algorithm (+double-digit revenue, 26%+ EBIT margin). Bernstein upgrades Tapestry to outperform from market perform Bernstein said Tapestry’s valuation is attractive. “We like the LT investment case for Tapestry, but downgraded to neutral in Jan 2023 expecting short-term N.Am weakness. Two Qs later, that weakness has played out and is built into guidance/Cons, inventory is back under control, and China demand for Coach is surging.” KeyBanc reiterates Apple as overweight KeyBanc said it’s standing by its overweight rating Apple shares. “We’re NT cautious but LT positive as we believe the user growth and capital return story continue to play out.” Wells Fargo reiterates JPMorgan as overweight Wells said it’s bullish heading into the banking giant’s investor day. ” JPM is a best-in-class global bank, and the May 22 investor day should highlight the ‘Goliath is Winning’ theme.” Deutsche Bank upgrades DuPont to buy from hold Deutsche said DuPoint is well positioned in an uncertain macro. ” DuPont is confident it will outperform its multi-industry peers in a recession as it is already seeing recession-like conditions in 40% of its businesses with volumes down in the high-teens in Q1 and likely Q2 in electronics and construction.” Citi reiterates Analog Devices as a top pick Citi said it likes stocks with “secularly increasing EPS.” ” ADI remains our top pick given our defensive stance. When the downturn ends, we prefer to own stocks with secularly increasing EPS such as Micron, ON, GlobalFoundries and AMD as they should offer the most upside.”
