Netflix upgraded, AMD 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:

• Seaport Research upgraded Netflix (NFLX) to Buy from Neutral with a $955 price target ahead of its Q4 results. The firm is boosting its net member addition estimate to up 9.0M from up 5.7M, while also citing the operational tailwinds that should support Netflix’s position with industry-leading original content accolades, including gross additions, attraction of more top content projects, advertising growth, and live sports rights wins that should come with that reputation.
• BofA upgraded UPS (UPS) to Buy from Neutral with an unchanged price target of $150. The firm sees a potential end to the freight recession in 2025 and cites benefits from the company’s dynamic pricing model and cost initiatives.
• Stephens upgraded Rockwell Automation (ROK) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $350, up from $275. The firm believes now is the time to add Rockwell to portfolios, ahead of two catalysts, namely increasing visibility to sales and earnings returning to growth by the second half and progress toward a reinvigorated cost-management and operational excellence program.
• Oppenheimer upgraded Freshworks (FRSH) to Outperform from Perform with a $22 price target. The firm acknowledges that this call may seem early given fears over AI disruption and low investor sentiment, but says it sees a good improving business story and thematic play on a better SMB market in 2025.
• Seaport Research upgraded First Solar (FSLR) to Buy from Neutral with a $274 price target, calling it the firm’s favorite utility-scale solar name for 2025. The company is one of the sector’s “few established blue chips” and has the best risk/reward profile specific to policy, Seaport tells investors in a research note.

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Wolfe Research downgraded AMD (AMD) to Peer Perform from Outperform without a price target. The downgrade is based on a lower expectation for data center graphics processing unit revenue this year than previously expected, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Morgan Stanley downgraded Datadog (DDOG) to Equal Weight from Overweight with an unchanged price target of $143. While Datadog’s evolution from a system of alerting to system of action represents a “highly compelling” long-term opportunity, the potential for slower growth in the first half of 2025 makes the stock’s risk/reward more balanced until the artificial intelligence inference catalyst emerges, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• UBS downgraded Regeneron (REGN) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $738, down from $1,130. UBS believes the stock’s current valuation justifies its base business and pipeline opportunities, and expects investors to opt for names with higher short-term growth and more value-inflecting readouts in 2025.
• Citi downgraded Southwest (LUV) to Sell from Neutral with a price target of $29.50, down from $31.50. Southwest’s earnings quality and free cash flow conversion look weaker than they did before the pandemic, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Argus downgraded Under Armour (UAA) to Hold from Buy. The firm notes that while its Q2 earnings topped estimates and its margins are improving, the company’s revenue across product lines is still declining and is expected to decline at least for the next several quarters.

Top 5 Initiations:

• Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of Philip Morris (PM) with an Overweight rating and $140 price target. The company is likely to deliver the strongest currency neutral growth among its mega-cap peers, which is not reflected in the stock’s valuation, driven by its smoke-free portfolio, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of Altria Group (MO) with an Equal Weight rating and $54 price target. Altria faces elevated smokable volume declines and a limited reduced-risk portfolio, but has “solid financial flexibility,” the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Loop Capital initiated coverage of Genuine Parts (GPC) with a Buy rating and $155 price target. The firm says the organic sales growth within the company’s automotive business will begin to recover into 2025, driven by easy compares, rebounding miles driven, and increasing vehicle costs.
• Canaccord initiated coverage of Sally Beauty (SBH) with a Buy rating and $14 price target. The firm believes Sally is at an inflection point heading into 2025 after comps turned positive in the second half of 2024.
• Bernstein initiated coverage of Sony (SONY) with an Outperform rating. The firm says that in contrast with an “indifferent” 2022-2024 period, it expects a Sony more focused on efficiency to deliver earnings surprises in 2025.