Block, Five Below downgraded: 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:

• Wedbush upgraded Snowflake (SNOW) to Outperform from Neutral with a $190 price target. The firm believes the use cases are “exploding,” the enterprise consumption phase will begin in 2025 with a launch of large language models across the board, and the true adoption of generative AI will be a major catalyst for the software sector. Wedbush also upgraded Elastic (ESTC) to Outperform.
• New Street upgraded Trade Desk (TTD) to Neutral from Sell with a price target of $115, up from $85. The firm says political advertising ultimately came in lower than expected in 2024, and Trade Desk’s core growth comps for 2025 are not as challenging as previously believed.
• DA Davidson upgraded Procter & Gamble (PG) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $209, up from $160. After P&G said 11/11 sales in China were as expected and that SK-II’s China sales have been up year-over-year since September’s LXP launch, the firm now has greater confidence that P&G’s organic sales can accelerate to 4%-6% in the second half of FY25.
• Citi upgraded U.S. Bancorp (USB) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $65, up from $49. U.S. The firm believes the bank has “turned the corner” on investment spend and will return to delivering positive operating leverage as expense growth moderates.
• Morgan Stanley upgraded Robinhood (HOOD) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $55, up from $24. The company’s revenue growth looks stronger post the election, boosted by more sustained retail trading as support for crypto broadens, acquisitions open up, and “animal spirits revive,” the firm tells investors in a research note.

Top 5 Downgrades:

• BMO Capital downgraded Block (SQ) to Market Perform from Outperform with a price target of $100, up from $94. The firm says it is tougher to see gross profit upside from here.
• Telsey Advisory downgraded Five Below (FIVE) to Market Perform from Outperform with a price target of $95, down from $102. Five Below is undergoing a major strategic transition across its business model, which combined with changes in leadership and potential pressure related to tariffs, clouds visibility on its near- to medium-term performance, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Susquehanna downgraded Baidu (BIDU) to Neutral from Positive with a price target of $85, down from $105. Q3 results reflected top-line pressure from a challenging macro backdrop and AI search monetization headwinds, both of which are expected to persist in Q4, the firm tells investors.
• Wells Fargo downgraded HCA Healthcare (HCA) to Underweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $320, down from $400. The firm cut out-year estimates for the hospitals to reflect its assumption that enhanced exchange subsidies will expire. Wells also downgraded Community Health (CYH) to Underweight from Equal Weight and Tenet Healthcare (THC) to Equal Weight from Overweight.
• Goldman Sachs downgraded Nio (NIO) to Sell from Neutral with a price target of $3.90, down from $4.80. The firm expects limited new model pipeline for the Nio brand and slow production ramp-up for Onvo to position the company unfavorably into 2025, with potentially intensified competition starting in the first quarter of next year.

Top 5 Initiations:

• UBS initiated coverage of Arm (ARM) with a Buy rating and $160 price target, which represents 20% upside. Artificial intelligence is driving positive growth vectors across all of Arm’s key end markets, with data center “particularly fertile ground” as the customer base for its intelligence property licenses expands and cloud customers push for more power optimized CPU architectures, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• H.C. Wainwright initiated coverage of Sarepta (SRPT) with a Sell rating and $80 price target. The firm considers Elevidys consensus estimates to be too high.
• Barclays initiated coverage of Mara Holdings (MARA) with an Equal Weight rating and $27 price target. The firm likes the company’s move to own its own facilities, but says miners in general have proven to be a “less-than-optimal way” to invest in the bitcoin theme, given capital intensity, earnings volatility and halvings.
• Piper Sandler initiated coverage of SPS Commerce (SPSC) with a Neutral rating and $198 price target. The firm says the company’s net-new customer adds have materially slowed in fiscal 2024.
• William Blair initiated coverage of Nasdaq (NDAQ) with an Outperform rating and no price target. The firm says the company’s non-transactional revenues are about 80% of its mix, recurring revenues are about 60% of the mix, and its “leading technology solutions are scalable with favorable long-term growth prospects.”