Best Buy upgraded, Target 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:

• Citi double upgraded Best Buy (BBY) to Buy from Sell with a price target of $100, up from $67. The firm believes the company’s catalyst path looks positive from here with upside potential to both earnings and valuation based on tech replacement cycles underway, new artificial intelligence innovation providing incremental demand, and margin execution remaining solid.
• Guggenheim upgraded MongoDB (MDB) to Neutral from Sell without a price target. The firm cites an estimate reset and the stock selloff for the upgrade.
• Jefferies upgraded Thermo Fisher (TMO) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $650, up from $600, after a different analyst at the firm assumed coverage of the name. Jefferies believes “durable growth stories” in the life sciences and diagnostic tools group with operating leverage, healthy free cash flow and balance sheet optionality “should be rewarded.”
• Piper Sandler upgraded Masimo (MASI) to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $160, up from $126. The firm sees investors “as having a higher likelihood than not of making money from current levels.”
• RBC Capital upgraded Kimberly-Clark (KMB) to Outperform from Sector Perform with a price target of $165, up from $126. The firm says there is not a specific catalyst driving the upgrade, “just some traditional re-evaluation of an investment thesis underpinned by a lot of work.”

Top 5 Downgrades:

• JPMorgan downgraded Cava Group (CAVA) to Neutral from Overweight with an unchanged price target of $77. The firm says the shares at $92.55 sit too far above the price target for it to hold onto an Overweight rating.
• Macquarie downgraded UiPath (PATH) to Neutral from Outperform with a price target of $12, down from $29. The firm sees no clear near-term path for UiPath to re-accelerate growth.
• Jefferies downgraded Mettler-Toledo (MTD) to Underperform from Hold with a price target of $1,250, up from $1,230, after a different analyst at the firm assumed coverage of the name. Jefferies sees a host of headwinds for growth tools and awaits more visibility, and is upbeat on the secular growth drivers in the diagnostics space.
• Jefferies downgraded Myriad Genetics (MYGN) to Underperform from Hold with a price target of $20, down from $25, after a different analyst at the firm assumed coverage of the name. Recent survey works points to muted next generation sequencing and proteomics budgets, Jefferies tells investors in a research note.
• Goldman Sachs downgraded Expro (XPRO) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $23, up from $22. The firm remains constructive on Expro’s international and offshore exposure, but following the stock’s year-to-date outperformance, it sees limited upside.

Top 5 Initiations:

• Exane BNP Paribas initiated coverage of Target (TGT) with an Underperform rating and $116 price target. The firm expects muted sales growth for Target given “tepid” consumer discretionary spending, competitive pressures from Walmart (WMT) and Amazon (AMZN), and “increased encroachment” from Temu.
• Melius Research initiated coverage of Broadcom (AVGO) with a Buy rating and $1,850 price target, calling it “one of the must-own AI stocks.” The firm cites Broadcom’s leadership as a fabless semiconductor provider across many categories, as well as the view that its Networking division, which accounts for 30% of revenues, should drive upside with AI accelerators and networking chips largely sold into Consumer Internet companies.
• Seaport Research initiated coverage of Altus Power (AMPS) with a Buy rating and $6.50 price target. The company owns the generation assets it builds, selling power under long-dated power purchase agreements, or PPAs, which generate free cash, support investment-grade debt ratings, and make Altus an “attractive acquirer of operating solar assets,” the firm tells investors.
• Needham initiated coverage of Silvaco (SVCO) with a Buy rating and $28 price target. The firm is positive on the company’s position as a major provider of technology computer-aided design, TCAD, the foundational EDA that enables design technology co-optimization, DTCO, in today’s semiconductor manufacturing and design. TD Cowen, Jefferies and Rosenblatt also started coverage of the stock with Buy ratings.
• BMO Capital resumed coverage of Chord Energy (CHRD) with an Outperform rating and $230 price target, up from $180, following a period of restriction due to the Enerplus acquisition. The acquisition provides Chord with increased scale in the Bakken along with greater size and scale, which should drive efficiencies and improved valuation, the firm tells investors in a research note.