Microchip and Roblox 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:

• Citi upgraded Owens Corning (OC) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $191, up from $178. The analyst cites potential upside in roofing, composites and doors as well as the stock’s discounted valuation for the upgrade.
• Guggenheim upgraded Itron (ITRI) to Buy from Neutral with a $130 price target, citing the belief that the stock’s recent pullback provides investors with “a nice entry point.”
• Truist upgraded Republic Services (RSG) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $220, up from $192. Valuation looks attractive at about a 10% discount to direct Solid Waste peers WM (WM) and Waste Connections (WCN), says the analyst, who is “growing increasingly optimistic” around Republic’s margin expansion potential.
• Loop Capital upgraded Big Lots (BIG) to Hold from Sell with a $1 price target. The analyst believes that the stock has limited additional downside risk rather than taking a more bullish view of the company’s fundamentals, noting that a bankruptcy filing is a very real and likely growing possibility.
• Jefferies upgraded Spotify (SPOT) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $385, up from $242, after a new analyst assumed coverage of the name. Spotify is the analyst’s top pick in music, citing the company’s consistent price hikes, bundling, and gross margin expansion. The firm sees these driving positive estimates revisions over the next three years. Jefferies is 3% and 6% ahead of Street estimates on fiscal 2025 and 2026 operating income, respectively.

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Morgan Stanley downgraded Microchip (MCHP) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $100, down from $102. The firm continues to see analog and MCU shipments bottoming out in Q2, but with multiples expanding, estimate revisions are likely to drive returns from here and the firm is taking a more selective approach in semiconductors.
• Jefferies downgraded Roblox (RBLX) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $42, down from $51, after assuming coverage of the name. The stock’s “premium valuation warrants caution,” the analyst tells investors in a research note.
• Keefe Bruyette downgraded Interactive Brokers (IBKR) to Market Perform from Outperform with a price target of $135, up from $128. The analyst cites valuation for the downgrade with the stock more than doubling in two years and up 50% year-to-date.
• Wells Fargo downgraded Ryan Specialty (RYAN) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $60, up from $58. The analyst thinks the shares are appropriately valued following the recent outperformance given slowing property insurance rates.
• Argus downgraded Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) to Hold from Buy. The company has been benefiting from supply chain improvement that allows it to replenish popular items quickly and increase average unit retail growth, but its growth should moderate later this year and fall to mid-single digits in FY26, the analyst tells investors in a research note.

Top 5 Initiations:

• Jefferies initiated coverage of Take-Two (TTWO) with a Buy rating with a price target of $185, up from $175. The analyst says Take-Two remains the firm’s top pick in interactive entertainment.
• KeyBanc initiated coverage of Instacart (CART) with a Sector Weight rating and no price target. Instacart has established itself as a leader in the grocery delivery space, but category growth is undergoing a transition, which could temper revenue growth over the medium term, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
• Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage of Vanda Pharmaceuticals (VNDA) with an Overweight rating and $11 price target. Vanda offers a “provocative value-oriented investment opportunity” in a commercial-stage neuro-Innovator with current cash levels roughly equivalent to its market capitalization, the analyst says.
• Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of Daqo New Energy (DQ) with a Buy rating and $21.80 price target. The analyst believes investors have been too bearish on Daqo, discounting the company’s U.S. shares on book value.
• Craig-Hallum initiated coverage of Codere Online (CDRO) with a Buy rating and $10 price target, calling Latin America “the next online gambling frontier.” Codere has strong secular tailwinds as an online gambling operator in Spain, Mexico, and Latin America, as well as unique competitive advantages in markets with high barriers to entry, contends the analyst.