Estee Lauder upgraded, Dine Brands downgraded: Wall Street’s top analyst calls

Estee Lauder upgrade, Dine Brands downgrade, and ServiceNow initiation among today’s top calls on Wall Street

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: 

• Berenberg upgraded Estee Lauder (EL) to Buy from Hold with a $243 price target. Following the stock’s 27% selloff since the start of 2023 and a 16% rebase of consensus earnings expectations, Estee offers an attractive buying opportunity for investors, the firm says. [Read more]
• Raymond James upgraded IPG Photonics (IPGP) to Outperform from Market Perform with a $170 price target as it believes electric vehicle battery capacity capex presents a "substantial growth cycle" for the company. [Read more]
• Roth MKM upgraded Maxeon Solar (MAXN) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $40, up from $21. The firm sees the company’s margins improving sequentially in 2023, a path to profitability in 2024, and its average selling prices "remaining strong." [Read more]
• MoffettNathanson upgraded Shift4 Payments (FOUR) to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $80, up from $75, given "impressive progress" against its "ambitious goals." [Read more]
• Citi upgraded Hepsiburada (HEPS) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $2, up from 90c. The company is now on track to profitability and "self-sustainability," supported by its current strategy focused on cash preservation and value extraction from existing clients, the firm says. [Read more]

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Wedbush downgraded Dine Brands (DIN) to Neutral from Outperform with a price target of $65, down from $80. The firm’s Applebee’s and IHOP channel checks point to Q2 same-store-sales growth trending below consensus estimates for both concepts. [Read more]
• Needham downgraded Applied Materials (AMAT) to Hold from Buy without a price target, citing valuation. Needham also does not believe the surge in demand for AI systems will have a meaningful effect on foundry/logic and memory utilization rates or catalyze higher wafer fab equipment spending in the near-term. [Read more]
• Needham downgraded KLA Corp. (KLAC) to Hold from Buy without a price target.  With only 10% or less upside over the next 12 months in the stock, the firm does not believe there is enough reward to justify buying these stocks. [Read more]
• Citi downgraded Logitech (LOGI) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $70, down from $73, following the "unexpected" departure of CEO Bracken Darrell. [Read more]
• B. Riley downgraded Cinemark (CNK) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $20, down from $21. The firm says the film slate for 2024 and 2025 looks increasingly uncertain. [Read more]

Top 5 Initiations:

• Needham initiated coverage of ServiceNow (NOW) with a Buy rating and $660 price target. The company’s extensible platform drives a high rate of innovation in solving new use-cases for customers, which is evident in the projected 2025 total addressable market of $220B, the firm says. [Read more]
• KeyBanc initiated coverage of Crowdstrike (CRWD) with an Overweight rating and $200 price target. CrowdStrike is well positioned to be a consolidator of security as the leading independent endpoint vendor with a dominant share outside of Microsoft, and a broad platform of 23-plus modules, the firm says. [Read more]
• KeyBanc initiated coverage of SentinelOne (S) with a Sector Weight rating and no price target. The firm is cautious given its low single digit endpoint market share, greater small business exposure that is more likely to feel competitive pressures amid a difficult macro environment, and "less mature" cloud security offering. [Read more]
• Piper Sandler initiated coverage of PTC (PTC) with a Neutral rating and $150 price target. The firm believes PTC has compelling opportunities for value creation ahead but says he most meaningful impacts from these catalysts are more than 12 months out. [Read more]
• Seaport Research initiated coverage of LGI Homes (LGIH) a Buy rating and $156 price target. The firm is positive on builder stocks, with analysis of 20 cycles since 1962 suggesting that the current roughly 60% rally since September 2022 "has legs." [Read more]