The most talked about and market moving research calls around Wall Street are now in one place. Here are today’s research calls that investors need to know, as compiled by The Fly.
Pick the best stocks and maximize your portfolio:
- Discover top-rated stocks from highly ranked analysts with Analyst Top Stocks!
- Easily identify outperforming stocks and invest smarter with Top Smart Score Stocks
Top 5 Upgrades:
- KeyBanc upgraded Charter (CHTR) to Overweight from Sector Weight with a $500 price target. The stock is well off its lows but can continue to work higher as broadband subscriber trends improve primarily as a function of lapping Affordable Connectivity Program, continued growth in rural, and underlying subscriber declines being mostly stable, the firm tells investors in a research note.
- Seaport Research upgraded Comcast (CMCSA) to Buy from Neutral with a $46 price target. The firm cites valuation for the upgrade, viewing the recent weakness in the shares as overdone.
- Deutsche Bank upgraded PepsiCo (PEP), Coca-Cola (KO) and Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) to Buy from Hold. The firm says it is becoming more positive on non-alcoholic beverage names.
- Wells Fargo upgraded Brinker (EAT) to Equal Weight from Underweight with a price target of $130, up from $95. The firm says Chili’s traffic is tracking up 23% year-over-year in fiscal Q2-to-data according to Placer.ai data.
- Wolfe Research upgraded MSCI (MSCI) to Outperform from Peer Perform with a $700 price target. The firm sees a more constructive demand environment next year for MSCI.
Top 5 Downgrades:
- TD Cowen downgraded Adobe (ADBE) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $550, down from $625. The company’s Q4 net new annual recurring revenue beat guidance by 5%, its lowest beat since Q4 of 2022, and the fiscal 2025 guide of 8%-10% was below Street, the firm notes.
- KeyBanc downgraded T-Mobile (TMUS) to Sector Weight from Overweight without a price target. The firm cites valuation for the downgrade, as it thinks T-Mobile’s multiple has “become stretched.”
- Jefferies downgraded General Dynamics (GD) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $300, down from $345. The firm lowered its 2024 EPS view by 2% to $13.50 and 2025 EPS by 3% to $15.15, or 3% and 5% below consensus, respectively, to reflect the persistent delay of G700 deliveries. Goldman Sachs also downgraded General Dynamics to Sell from Neutral with a price target of $245, down from $283.
- Wells Fargo downgraded Hershey (HSY) to Underweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $160, down from $175. The firm says Hershey “is on the precipice of historic” earnings pressure in 2025 and into 2026 from higher cocoa prices.
- Deutsche Bank downgraded Mondelez (MDLZ) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $67, down from $78. The firm cites the recent run-up in cocoa prices, a now-stronger dollar, and what it expects will be lingering capital allocation questions despite the incremental buyback authorization announcement for the downgrade.
Top 5 Initiations:
- BofA reinstated coverage of Hershey with a Neutral rating and $180 price target after Bloomberg reported merger talks with Mondelez have broken down and the latter announcing a quarterly dividend and updated its share repurchase authorization.
- Macquarie initiated coverage of Salesforce (CRM) with a Neutral rating and $370 price target. The firm’s checks point to customer and partner enthusiasm about the new product, and while the company has a good chance of ultimately driving strong adoption of agentic AI, navigating an AI journey could be challenging, as consumption-based pricing of Gen AI functionality could upend Salesforce’s primary seat-based revenue model. Macquarie also started coverage of MongoDB (MDB) and Atlassian (TEAM) with Neutral ratings.
- Macquarie initiated coverage of Autodesk (ADSK) with an Outperform rating and $380 price target. Autodesk has a strong franchise, starting with its leading position in Architecture, Engineering & Construction design software, and the firm likes the potential for traction in downstream construction, free cash flow growth, and margin improvements. Macquarie also started coverage of Datadog (DDOG) and GitLab (GTLB) with Outperform ratings.
- UBS initiated coverage of UiPath (PATH) with a Sell rating and $14 price target. UBS sees an increasingly competitive backdrop against large tech incumbents with significant resources, as well as the potential for increased pressure from AI startups to automate tasks and business processes, as well as a tougher selling environment, which has resulted in flat total customer growth since late 2022.
- Deutsche Bank initiated coverage of Elf Beauty (ELF) with a Hold rating and $133 price target, representing 3% downside to recent trading levels. The firm sees Elf’s current valuation as “fairly full,” while acknowledging ongoing sales and earnings growth opportunities across color cosmetics, skin care, and overseas.
Published first on TheFly – the ultimate source for real-time, market-moving breaking financial news. Try Now>>
See today’s best-performing stocks on TipRanks >>
Read More on CHTR:
- KeyBanc upgrades Charter with broadband trends improving
- Charter upgraded to Overweight from Sector Weight at KeyBanc
- Charter says ‘optimistic’ going into 2025
- Charter Communications Enhances Debt Structure and Credit Facility
- Charter upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Exane BNP Paribas
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
