Apple downgraded, Rivian initiated: Wall Street’s top analyst calls

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.

Top 5 Upgrades:

• Mizuho upgraded Coinbase (COIN) to Neutral from Underperform with a price target of $290, up from $250. The firm says its analysis of bitcoin adoption growth points to further upside in bitcoin price over the medium-term, and notes Bitcoin price and Coinbase shares are highly correlated.
• Barclays upgraded Nextracker (NXT) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $60, up from $47. The firm now expects the company to track towards the upper end, if not above, all its guidance metrics for fiscal 2025. Jefferies also upgraded Nextracker to Buy from Hold with a price target of $56, up from $46.
• Needham upgraded Open Lending (LPRO) to Buy from Hold with a $7 price target. The firm sees signs of stabilization and modest improvement in the auto lending market.
• Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Beam Therapeutics (BEAM) to Overweight from Neutral without a price target ahead of the upcoming preliminary data readout for BEAM-302 in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.
• Stephens upgraded NBT Bancorp (NBTB) to Overweight from Equal Weight with an unchanged $53 price target following earnings. The firm sees the bank having “best-of-breed fundamentals,” including a strong low-cost deposit base, diversified and high-quality revenue composition, an improving yield curve, and improving markets in Syracuse, Malta, and Albany in the wake of the CHIPS Act push to create semiconductor chip manufacturing plants here in the U.S.

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Oppenheimer downgraded Apple (AAPL) to Perform from Outperform with no price target as the firm lowered its FY26 EPS estimate by 4% to $7.95, which is below consensus at $8.23, based on reduced iPhone sales estimates in the next 12-18 months.
• Stifel downgraded Datadog (DDOG) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $140, down from $165. The firm warns that the company is heading for headwinds to revenue growth and margin expansion in FY25 while the stock is trading at a “full valuation” of 13.5-times on enterprise value to expected forward revenue basis.
• Goldman Sachs downgraded Moderna (MRNA) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $51, down from $99. The recent product revenue guidance represents the second in a series of negative revisions over the last six months, the firm notes.
• Oppenheimer downgraded Transcat (TRNS) to Perform from Outperform without a price target. The company’s fiscal Q3 results fell short of expectations and Transcat reduced its fiscal 2025 organic service growth outlook, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Baird downgraded Leap Therapeutics (LPTX) to Neutral from Outperform with a price target of $1.25, down from $9, after the company announced results from Phase 2 trials of sirexatamab in colorectal cancer and gastric cancer.

Top 5 Initiations:

• Bernstein initiated coverage of Rivian Automotive (RIVN) with an Underperform rating and $6.10 price target. Rivian has built a brand based on adventure and has the resources to scale it, but it faces slower market growth, rising competition, and limits to the segments its brand can address, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Compass Point initiated coverage of MicroStrategy (MSTR) with a Buy rating and $550 price target. The firm, which views MicroStrategy as “a levered play on BTC’s upward volatility” as U.S. regulations and institutional adoption boost crypto prices in 2025, says the stock offers bitcoin exposure to equity investors by steadily increasing its bitcoin holdings per share. Mizuho also started coverage of MicroStrategy with an Outperform rating and $515 price target.
• Erste Group resumed coverage of Spotify (SPOT) with a Buy rating. Spotify’s revenues are “growing strongly” and the company has also recently been able to significantly reduce its operating costs, says the firm, which expects the “positive development of the Spotify stock to continue in the longer term.”
• Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of Curbline Properties (CURB) with an Equal Weight rating and $27 price target. While “constructive,” the firm sees peer-leading growth reflected in the stock’s premium valuation.
• Truist initiated coverage of Larimar Therapeutics (LRMR) with a Buy rating and $18 price target. The firm sees “significant upside” over the next six months as the Street better appreciates the risk/benefit profile of nomlabofusp, coupled with regulatory clarity.