Here are Wednesday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Citi reiterates Chipotle as buy Citi raised its price target on Chipotle to $2,699 per share from $2,292. “We expect 4Q earnings will continue to paint a picture of clear, controllable SSS drivers from here, including: thruput initiatives that will be further helped by an easing labor environment, investments to improve the off-premises/delivery business, and a strong digital platform with growing 1-1 marketing capabilities.” Daiwa upgrades Verizon to outperform from neutral Daiwa said a Verizon turnaround is in progress. “The Ship Is Turning; Upgrade Due To Turnaround Progress” Wells Fargo reiterates Netflix as overweight Wells raised its price target on Netflix to $650 per share from $460 and said it’s a “growth stock.” “We thought NFLX might tread water in H1’24 with OI margins set, paid sharing dwindling and ads scaling. Q4 outperformance indicates there’s a lot of growth/margin still ahead. Higher ests + stronger EPS CAGR = higher multiple and new $650 target.” Morgan Stanley names Amazon a top pick into earnings Morgan Stanley said it’s bullish heading into Amazon earnings on Feb. 1. “We find ourselves ~13%/30% above 4Q23/1Q24 Street EBIT as we see improving retail efficiency and profitability, a scaling digital ad business, and profitable, low-to-mid-teens AWS top-line growth leading to upward revisions to near-term earnings estimates.” Baird initiates Nikola as outperform Baird said it sees “significant potential” for the EV truck company. “We are launching coverage of NKLA with an Outperform rating and a $2 price target.” New Street upgrades Advanced Micro Devices to buy from neutral New Street said it sees an attractive entry point for AMD. “Our analysis shows upside for all names, with AMD and TSMC standing out, at each end of the risk spectrum. We upgrade AMD to buy as a result.” Bernstein initiates Polestar as underperform Bernstein said it likes the “innovative asset-light strategy” of the electric vehicle company, but that it needs more funding. ” Polestar : On a Road to Nowhere – Initiating Coverage with a target price of $1.15, Underperform.” UBS downgrades Biogen to neutral from buy UBS said in its downgrade of the stock that its concerned about a slowing ramp for the company’s Alzheimer’s drug, Leqembi. “We are downgrading BIIB to Neutral + lowering our PT to $276 (from $311).” JPM upgrades Webster to overweight from neutral JPM upgraded the commercial bank company and said it sees a “differentiated franchise.” “We are upgrading WBS shares to Overweight with a $65 price target.” Redburn Atlantic Equities initiates Tesla as sell Redburn said it sees “margin pressure” for Tesla shares. ” Tesla has largely retained its technical leadership in electrical architectures, offering scale advantages and lower unit costs.” Morgan Stanley reiterates Apple as overweight Morgan Stanley said it sees a “clearing event” for Apple earnings on February 1. “We expect Dec Q rev/EPS outperformance, driven by iPhone/ Services, but a March Q rev guide $3B (3%) below Consensus.” Morgan Stanley downgrades PagerDuty to equal weight from overweight Morgan Stanley said in its downgrade of PagerDuty that it sees better opportunities elsewhere for the IT cloud computing company. “We downgrade to EW as we see better opportunities in our coverage over the next 12 months.” Gordon Haskett downgrades Uber to hold from buy Gordon Haskett said in its downgrade of Uber that the positive catalysts are priced in. “See Incremental Multiple Expansion as Hard Fought w/ Catalysts Well Appreciated; Downgrading to Hold from Buy.” Oppenheimer reiterates PulteGroup as a top pick Oppenheimer said investors should buy the dip in the homebuilder. “The culprits for weakness in DHI were more company than industry specific, in our view. We continue to like how PHM is positioned in the current environment with a balanced buyer mix and sizable backlog.” Deutsche Bank downgrades Netflix to hold from buy Deutsche downgraded Netflix on valuation after its earnings report on Tuesday. “We are lowering our rating to Hold, from Buy, and raising our PT to $525, from $460, driven by our higher earnings and FCF estimates, as well as time value- of-money appreciation since our last PT update.” Barclays downgrades Danaher and Thermo Fisher to equal weight from overweight Barclays downgraded the life sciences companies mainly on valuation. “Downgrade the industry to Neutral, and DHR and TMO to EW on valuation.” Citi upgrades Sunoco to buy from neutral Citi said the oil and gas company is “compelling.” “We upgrade SUN to Buy and lift our TP to $65 following several cash flow accretive transactions.” Citi reiterates Microsoft as buy Citi raised its price target on the stock to $470 per share from $432 and said “ramping GenAI should keep growth accelerating.” “We are reiterating our Buy rating, raising estimates and target price on MSFT.” UBS upgrades First Horizon to buy from neutral UBS said the regional bank is “well positioned to return capital to shareholders.” “We upgrade shares of FHN to Buy from Neutral and increase our price target to $16.” BMO downgrades Plug Power to underperform from market perform BMO said it’s “pulling the plug” on shares of the EV charging company “Moving to Underperform on PLUG shares, lowering estimates, and reducing target price to $2.50 despite positives from annual update call that sparked 31% rally.” HSBC downgrades Stellantis to hold from buy HSBC said it sees a slowing earnings growth for the auto company. ” Stellantis looks to have been slower to prepare for a more ‘normal’ trading environment – that gives cause for concern.” UBS upgrades Tencent Music Entertainment to buy from neutral UBS said the China music company is a “safe haven.” “We upgrade Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) to Buy, as we see structural changes in the online music industry and are more confident in TME’s earnings outlook.” Wolfe reiterates Nvidia as outperform Wolfe said it’s standing by Nvidia as a top AI pick. ” NVDA is our Wolfe Alpha List pick given our confidence in the company’s earnings momentum over the next several quarters, as well as the long-term opportunities from its dominance in AI.” Citi initiates Valero and Phillips 66 as buy Citi said in its initiation of oil refining company Valero that it has “significant potential.” The firm also initiated Valero and says it likes its execution. “We see PSX as the most catalyst rich refiner with significant potential for operational improvements. VLO continues to lead the way in strong execution and best positioned to perform in any environment.
