Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Thursday: Morgan Stanley reiterates Apple as overweight The firm says it’s bullish heading into the new Apple iPhone cycle. “While early October iPhone sell-through still most critical for next cycle growth, momentum seems to be building into the iPhone 16 launch.” Wells Fargo downgrades M & T Bank to underweight from equal weight Wells said in its downgrade of the regional bank that lower rates are “not ideal.” ” MTB has an above avg. est. P/E even though it is more exposed to lower rates given it’s a more plain vanilla, NII-oriented bank [net interet income], w/greater CRE and increased competition in its slower growth footprint.” UBS upgrades Dutch Bros to buy from neutral UBS said in its upgrade of the coffee chain that Dutch Bros shares are too attractive to ignore at current levels. “Upgrade to Buy: Compelling sss [same-store sales] catalyst path, attractive LT unit growth intact.” Baird initiates Valvoline as outperform Baird said it sees several sustainable drives for the auto services company. ” VVV is a trusted leader in the large, fragmented, and needs-based/recession-resilient auto services industry.” Goldman Sachs upgrades Progressive to buy from neutral Goldman says it’s getting bullish on shares of the auto insurance company. “The premise of our upgrade is stronger and more sustainable PIF [policies in force] growth at PGR than we see reflected in street estimates.” Piper Sandler initiates Tyra Biosciences as overweight Piper says it’s bullish on shares of the biotech oncology company. “Initiating coverage of TYRA shares with an OW rating, $33 price target as we think this company’s expertise in FGFR [fibroblast growth factor receptor] biology positions it well to overcome key limitations of earlier generation FGFR inhibitors.” Morgan Stanley upgrades Victoria’s Secret to equal weight from underweight Morgan Stanley said it’s more constructive on the stock following management changes. “We upgrade VSCO to Equal-weight, as 1) leadership changes put turnaround hopes back in play, 2) 2Q upside makes for an achievable 2H bar…” UBS upgrades Medtronic to neutral from sell UBS said in its upgrade of the medtech stock that it sees a “diabetes turnaround.” “We are upgrading MDT to Neutral from Sell as we now have higher conviction that the recent Diabetes turnaround is sustainable.” Citi downgrades European Wax Center to neutral from buy Citi downgraded the body wax center company citing too much uncertainty. “We are downgrading EWCZ shares from Buy to Neutral and lowering our TP from $16 to $5.50 following 2Q EPS.” JPMorgan downgrades bluebird bio to neutral from overweight JPMorgan downgraded the biotech company following earnings. “We’re downgrading BLUE shares to N from OW following the 2Q results update. … .Indeed, we see sentiment being further hurt by the aggregate commercial outlook into 2H24 being more encouraging than that exiting 1Q.” JPMorgan upgrades Sea Limited to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said the Singapore-based tech conglomerate is “firing on all cylinders” “We are upgrading SE to OW as all three major business segments are likely to drive positive earnings revisions.” Deutsche Bank upgrades Robinhood to buy from hold Deutsche says it sees upside potential for the stock trading company. “We upgrade Robinhood Markets (HOOD-Buy), joining Buy-rated Charles Schwab within our e-brokers, and we see over 20% upside potential for both stocks over the next 12 months.” KeyBanc upgrades Brinker to overweight from sector weight Key said investors should buy the dip on shares of the owner of brands like Chili’s. “We are upgrading EAT stock to OW and establishing a $72 PT. Our call follows an ~11% post-results decline in EAT shares.” Morgan Stanley upgrades Nucor to overweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley says the steel company has defensive characteristics. “We are upgrading NUE to OW given our preference for lower beta/defensive exposure in 2H24 with a new price target of $176/share.” Wells Fargo downgrades Snowflake to equal weight from overweight Wells said in its downgrade of the stock that its survey checks show “potential churn” from a recent data breach. ” SNOW’s premium multiple tougher to defend w/ tech differentiation in question in rapidly evolving era of open data formats. New mgmt, macro impacts & recent data breach (w/ potential churn) stacking up at a tough time.” JPMorgan adds Dell to the focus list JPMorgan said Dell shares are compelling at current levels. “Dell, on the other hand, offers an attractive entry point from a valuation perspective after the recent pull-back with near-term margin focus from investors preventing them from appreciating the revenue TAM [total addressable market] accessible to Dell, particularly as the AI investment cycle moves to Enterprises benefitting Dell both on Servers and Storage.” Bank of America upgrades PNC to buy from neutral Bank of America called the regional bank an “all weather stock.” “We are upgrading our rating on PNC Financial to Buy from Neutral and raise PO to $200 from $185 driven by the positive EPS revisions and assigned multiples.” Bank of America downgrades Pilgrim’s Pride to neutral from buy Bank of America downgraded the poultry producer due to tough comps. “We are downgrading shares of Pilgrim’s Pride (PPC), the 2nd largest broiler (chicken) processor in the US, from Buy to Neutral while maintaining our estimates & $47 PO still based on 6x CY25 EV/EBITDA.” Goldman Sachs reiterates CrowdStrike as buy Goldman says it’s sticking with shares of CrowdStrike . “Risk/reward may be turning more positive; October quarter key to establishing a floor to growth.” Bernstein reiterates Amazon as a top idea Bernstein said Amazon is a top pick at the firm amid the recent market volatility. “Reset expectations while the OI [operation income] inflection story remains intact with further contribution from robust AWS growth, advertising re-acceleration in 2H24 from Prime Video ad ramp, and steady retail margin expansion while prioritizing gross profits.” Bernstein reiterates Broadcom as a top idea The firm says Broadcom is the “cheapest way to play AI in semis.” “A de-risked core (non-AI) semiconductor business with a good 2025 set-up…” Stifel initiates Advanced Energy Industries as buy The firm says the supplier of power delivery subsystems is well positioned. “We are initiating coverage of Advanced Energy Industries with a Buy rating on the shares.” Oppenheimer reiterates Ulta as outperform Oppenheimer said it’s sticking with Ulta shares following news on Wednesday that Berkshire Hathaway took a stake in the beauty company. “Earlier [Wednesday], Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway disclosed a new stake of 690K shares in ULTA Beauty. Shares are indicated up ~10% to the high-$360s after market.” UBS upgrades Millicom to buy from neutral UBS says the LatAm telecom company is well positioned. “We upgrade TIGO to Buy with a new PT of $33.00 (vs. $25.00 before).”
