Tesla initiated, Foot Locker upgraded: 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:

• Barclays upgraded Foot Locker (FL) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $34, up from $27. The company’s Q2 results showed evidence several fundamental inflections, including a return to sustainable positive comps setting the stage for fixed-cost leverage, an inflection in merchandise margins and ongoing improvement in the sales-to-inventory spread, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Craig-Hallum upgraded Five Below (FIVE) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $102, down from $108, after the company delivered Q2 results and second half guidance that were “better than feared.”
• Bernstein upgraded Marriott (MAR) to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $262, up from $247. Marriott has opened up a record discount to Hilton (H) despite identical guidance and in the next 12 months the company should see material progress on tech and midscale, contends Bernstein.
• Piper Sandler upgraded Neurocrine Biosciences (NBIX) to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $159, up from $131. The firm believes NBI-1117568, the company’s selective muscarinic M4 agonist, “can have real value” and says beyond that, Neurocrine’s ability to leverage its existing psychiatrist-focused commercial infrastructure could drive significant operating leverage.
• Argus upgraded Newmont (NEM) and Barrick Gold (GOLD) to Buy from Hold with price targets of $58 and $24, respectively. Given global economic uncertainty, the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and inflation, gold – which is already trading near the top of its five-year range – is likely to remain in demand, the firm tells investors in a research note.

Top 5 Downgrades:

• JPMorgan downgraded Kohl’s (KSS) to Underweight from Neutral with an unchanged price target of $19. The firm believes Kohl’s core apparel and footwear business is eroding, and sees long-term risk to the longevity of the company’s store fleet, which represents more than 50% of total department stores in the U.S.
• BofA downgraded Okta (OKTA) to Underperform from Buy with a price target of $75, down from $135, after Okta reported better-than-expected Q2 results, but offered Q3 cRPO growth guidance of 9% year-over-year, which was 200 basis points below expectations.
• Jefferies downgraded Topgolf Callaway (MODG) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $12, down from $40. The firm says anticipated revenue and expense synergies between Topgolf and the core Callaway have not materialized.
• Morgan Stanley downgraded Cava Group (CAVA) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $110, up from $90. With the stock up 200% year-to-date, the firm is” stepping aside” but is still positive on the brand and the narrative.
• Craig-Hallum downgraded Comscore (SCOR) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $8, down from $18. The firm sees uniqueness in comScore’s assets and is “encouraged by the opportunities that CCR/Proximic provide,” but argues that the headwinds from syndicated digital and customer content outweigh these tailwinds.

Top 5 Initiations:

• William Blair initiated coverage of Tesla (TSLA) with an Outperform rating. The firm views Tesla Energy as the most underappreciated component of the Tesla story and expects the narrative will shift toward the energy storage business in light of tempered electric vehicle expectations in the near term.
• Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage of Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) with a Buy rating and $194 price target. The firm sees a tripling of Take-Two’s operating income over the next couple of years and upside to consensus non-GAAP earnings estimates.
• William Blair initiated coverage of First Solar (FSLR) with a Market Perform rating. The firm says that with just under 50% share of the U.S. utility-scale solar market, a shift in the sector is likely to have an outsized impact on First Solar.
• William Blair initiated coverage of GE Vernova (GEV) with an Outperform rating. The company is the largest beneficiary of the shift back to natural gas, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Barclays initiated coverage of Nuvalent (NUVL) with an Overweight rating and $100 price target. The firm is positive on the risk/reward heading into updated Phase 1 data in mid-September for NVL-655 in advanced ALK+ lung cancer.