Here are Wednesday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: JPMorgan upgrades Upstart Holdings to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said it’s getting more constructive on shares of the fintech lender. “We are upgrading Upstart to OW (from N). We lean positive on the more seasoned fintech lenders, given a favorable macro backdrop (e.g., stable credit and potential rate cuts), and we believe Upstart offers the best risk/reward among personal loan originators.” Read more. KeyBanc reiterates Nvidia as overweight KeyBanc raised its price target to $215 per share from $190 ahead of earnings next week. “We expect NVDA to report strong F2Q (Jul) results and guide F3Q (Oct) slightly below cons, as we expect NVDA’s outlook to exclude direct revenue from China given pending license approvals and uncertainty on timing.” Citi upgrades Nu Holdings to buy from sell Citi said it sees earnings quality for the Brazilian digital bank. “We are upgrading Nubank to Buy (from Sell) while adjusting our TP to US$18 (from US$9).” Read more . HSBC downgrades Goodyear Tire to hold from buy HSBC downgraded the tire stock following earnings. “Goodyear has been making restructuring progress, but savings have less incremental impact than expected.” Piper Sandler upgrades Vita Coco to overweight from neutral Piper said to buy the the dip in the beverage company despite the tariff threat. “We upgrade COCO to OW as its recent stock pullback, likely driven by revised tariffs, looks overdone to us. One could make a case that the breadth of tariffs do not fit the emergency measures the President has the authority to take, but even if they stick, COCO has some sourcing flexibility and (most importantly) pricing power to mitigate them.” JPMorgan downgrades Kroger to neutral from overweight The firm downgraded Kroger on valuation. “At the same time, we do not view the current valuation as compelling, especially when considering the lack of operating profit growth and unclear strategic direction (e.g., interim CEO, evaluation of ecommerce business).” Citi initiates Roper Technologies as buy Citi said it’s bullish on shares of the software company. ” Roper is a vertical software and technology-enabled product leader that has undergone a dramatic shift over the last 2+ decades from its history as an industrial conglomerate to a vertical software leader today.” JPMorgan upgrades J.M. Smucker to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said it sees a slew of positive catalysts ahead for the food products company. “Longer term, SJM seems better positioned for top-line and earnings growth compared to similarly valued companies, supported by growth in Uncrustables, an eventual rebound in pet food demand, and stability in coffee.” Citi downgrades Urban Outfitters to neutral from buy Citi downgraded the stock mainly on valuation. “We are downgradin g URBN from Buy to Neutral. The stock is +86% since November/hit our prior TP (showing market expectations are now higher), there is additional risk from higher India tariffs (which could pressure the GM story), and we are taking a more cautious view toward specialty apparel retailers in 2H in general.” Citi downgrades Gap to neutral from buy Citi said it sees a more balanced risk/reward. “We are downgrading GAP from Buy to Neutral as we view the risk/reward as more balanced in the current macro/tariff backdrop.” Bank of America adds AT & T to the US1 list Bank of America added the stock to its top ideas list. “We are adding AT & T Inc. (T) to the US 1 List.” Piper Sandler initiates Figma as overweight Piper said the design interface tool company is a “disruptor.” “We initiate FIG at Overweight with an $85 PT based on a differentiated platform, attractive business model, and broad-based global reach into 450K+ customers.” UBS upgrades Antero Resources to buy from neutral UBS said the gas and liquids company is a “financial inflection.” “We upgrade AR from Neutral to Buy.” UBS reiterates Chevron as buy UBS said the oil giant remains a top idea. ” CVX r emains our Top Pick within the IOCs, [international oil company] as we expect positive momentum to continue building following the HES transaction closing and into the November 12th Analyst Day” Evercore ISI adds Hewlett Packard Enterprise to the tactical outperform list Evercore said it’s bullish ahead of earnings in early September. “We believe HPE is well positioned to report upside to Jul-qtr expectations and guide the Oct-qtr above what current pro forma estimates reflect post Juniper close.” Bank of America upgrades Snowflake to buy from neutral The firm said it’s sticking with Snowflake ahead of earnings on August 27. “While we believe that Q2 earnings (8/27) will be a catalyst for the stock given multiple positive data points outlined below, our call is for outperformance over the long term given incremental traction with products addressing a significant larger addressable AI market for software of $155bn” Citi reiterates Micron as buy Citi said it’s standing by the semis company. “We spent time in investor meetings with Micron management this week and dug into sources of upside and came away more confident that its gross margins can break through 50%, which would easily exceed the prior cycle peak of 47.4% in 2021 driven by increasing HBM [high bandwidth memory] mix and better pricing in DRAM due to increasing AI demand.” Bank of America downgrades Avis Budget to underperform from buy Bank of America said “rental industry dynamics remain under pressure.” “We downgrade CAR to Underperform from Buy with -28% potential downside. We think that CAR fundamentals and the macro environment don’t support the current stock price which significantly outperformed the market in June.” Bank of America initiates iRhythm as buy The firm said it sees “multiple expansion” for the heart monitoring device company. “We are initiating coverage on iRhythm ( IRTC) with a Buy rating and $200 PO.” William Blair reiterates Coinbase as outperform William Blair said Coinbase is the best “pure play” on crypto. “In light of elevated IPO activity in the crypto industry, we reiterate our view that long-term investors should aggressively accumulate shares of Coinbase as it builds the most complete, versatile, and hardened crypto platform.
