Here are Wednesday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: HSBC downgrades Home Depot to reduce from hold HSBC said it sees a lack of catalysts for shares of Home Depot. “Downgrade to Reduce (from Hold) while retaining target price of USD323 on valuation and lack of near-term catalysts.” JPMorgan downgrades Wendy’s to neutral from overweight JPMorgan said in its downgrade of Wendy’s that the stock is likely to “remain range-bound in an industry where price promotion + capital intensity across the category is likely to increase.” “Stock likely to remain range-bound as competitive price & capital intensity picks up – Moving to Neutral.” Piper Sandler downgrades Palo Alto Networks to neutral from overweight Piper downgraded the stock following earnings and says it’s concerned that billings can drag down growth. ” PANW is the largest platform player in the segment and, in hopes to accelerate that positioning, will take an aggressive approach in offering free product with the promise of longer-term, platform contracts. This should negatively impact the business for 12-18 months – eliminating $600M from billings estimates in the back half of this year.” Barclays upgrades Norfolk Southern to overweight from equal weight Barclays said it sees upside potential in the railroad company. “Potential for board and management change are likely to accelerate operational improvements at Norfolk Southern; we see significant long-term upside potential in NSC shares.” JPMorgan reiterates Amazon as a top idea JPMorgan said it sees further share gains for shares of Amazon. “Expecting Slight Acceleration & Continued Online Share Gains in 2024; AMZN Best Idea.” HSBC downgrades Walgreens Boots Alliance to reduce from hold HSBC said it sees too many challenges ahead for Walgreens. “It takes time, effort and financial discipline to turn around and reposition a company like Walgreens; easier comps in H2. New leadership has the experience and board support to carry out initiatives, but there are plenty of challenges ahead.” Redburn Atlantic Equities reiterates Microsoft as buy Redburn said it sees Microsoft’s Azure gaining market share in cloud. “Cloud adoption is moving into the next phase as organisations increasingly start adopting advanced ML/AI technologies. Azure is well positioned to capture a meaningful portion of the market upside, which is underestimated by the market.” Cantor Fitzgerald initiates Sabre Corporation as buy Cantor says the travel tech company has market share potential. “We are initiating coverage of Sabre Corporation with an Overweight rating and 12-month PT of $5.00.” Wells Fargo reiterates Target as overweight Wells raised its price target on the stock to $165 per share from $155. “Shrink has been a problem for TGT, but we see reason for optimism in ’24. Mitigation to date should yield benefits, and recent testing of self-checkout changes holds further promise. Sales have yet to inflect, but margin upside buys time.” Morgan Stanley reiterates Dell as overweight Morgan Stanley said it’s standing by shares of Dell. ” DELL remains a core OW levered to a cyclical hardware recovery, ramping AI infrastructure spend, and accelerating capital returns trading at just 10x CY25 EPS.” Jefferies upgrades COPT Defense Properties to buy from hold Jefferies said in its upgrade of the real estate defense contractor that Copt shares are underapprecaited. “Good Defense Leads to Offense; Shares Undervalued, Upgrade to Buy.” Stifel initiates Confluent as buy Stifel said in its initiation of the software company that it can “sustain healthy 20%+ growth and drive margin expansion over the coming years.” “We are initiating coverage of Confluent with a Buy rating and $40 target Benchmark initiates ChargePoint as buy Benchmark said the EV charging company is a “market leader re-invigorated.” “We are initiating coverage of ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. with a Buy rating and a $4.25 Price Target. UBS upgrades US Foods to buy from neutral UBS upgraded the stock after its earnings report and says it sees sustainable growth emerging. “We’re upgrading USFD following the company’s 4Q’23 results.” Goldman Sachs reiterates SolarEdge as sell Goldman said it’s sticking with its sell rating on the stock following earnings on Tuesday. ” SEDG reported a mixed quarter with revenue in line but margins below our estimates.” Morgan Stanley reiterates HP as overweight Morgan Stanley said it’s standing by shares of HP. “Improving fundamentals share gains, and accelerating capital returns support multiple expansion in the NTM [next twelve months].”
