Trade Desk downgraded, First Solar 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:

• Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded First Solar (FSLR) to Buy from Neutral with a $260 fair value estimate ahead of the company’s report due after today’s close. Shares are down about 32% from their $300 high seen in mid-June, reflecting increased uncertainty related to project pushouts, AD/CVD tariff rulings and post-election worries, notes the firm, which sees a “much improved risk-reward profile” given the current valuation.
• Barclays upgraded Summit Materials (SUM) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $52, up from $45. The firm cites a combination of fundamentals and the recent Quikrete offer for the upgrade.
• Stephens upgraded Regions Financial (RF) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $26 price target. Super Regional bank earnings in Q3 exceeded expectations, says the firm, which now has more confidence in these banks’ near-term credit trends and down deposit beta forecasts.
• HSBC upgraded TechnipFMC (FTI) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $32, up from $23.60, following the “solid” Q3 report. The company’s record subsea backlog at higher margins is driving strong cash flow for dividends and share buybacks, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Raymond James upgraded ProQR Therapeutics (PRQR) to Strong Buy from Outperform with a price target of $14, up from $6. The firm cites the recent successful clinical translation of RNA editing for the upgrade.

Top 5 Downgrades:

• New Street downgraded Trade Desk (TTD) to Sell from Neutral with an unchanged price target of $86. Enthusiasm for the stock is “understandable,” but the challenge is 2025 as consensus implies about 30% core spend growth excluding political, up from 19% in 2024, the firm notes.
• Vertical Research downgraded Celanese (CE) to Sell from Hold with a $130 price target. Shares have underperformed in 2024, but the firm’s research suggests that fundamental pressure continues to mount in both of the company’s two segments of Engineered Materials and “especially” Acetyl Chain.
• TD Cowen downgraded Tapestry (TPR) to Hold from Buy with an unchanged price target of $52. The firm cites valuation for the downgrade as the stock is within 3% of its price target after rallying 40% year-to-date and +85% in the last 12 months.
• Raymond James downgraded Harmonic (HLIT) to Outperform from Strong Buy with a price target of $14, down from $17, post the Q3 report. The firm says that while the delays are “strictly timing,” the market will “punish the stock” and the Harmonic’s fundamentals could slip by a year.
• B. Riley downgraded Redwire (RDW) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $9.50, up from $8. The firm sees limited near-term upside with shares up 78% since its upgrade to Buy on August 8.

Top 5 Initiations:

• Guggenheim initiated coverage of Six Flags Entertainment (FUN) with a Buy rating and $52 price target. The firm believes the company has built a “strong differentiated theme park business with multiple growth levers and positive catalysts ahead.”
• Wells Fargo initiated coverage of Trade Desk with an Overweight rating and $150 price target. The firm sees “multiple factors benefiting” Trade Desk, including Amazon (AMZN) accelerating shift of advertising spend to connected TV, new partnerships ramping and Google distracted with regulatory woes. Wells also started coverage of AppLovin (APP) with an Overweight rating.
• Wells Fargo initiated coverage of Unity (U) with an Equal Weight rating and $20 price target. The company’s new management has made strides in turning it around, but fixing Unity Ads requires even better execution, says Wells, which struggles with the stock’s risk/reward on a turnaround. The firm also started coverage fo LiveRamp (RAMP) and Magnite (MGNI) with Equal Weight ratings.
• Wells Fargo initiated coverage of DoubleVerify (DV) with an Underweight rating and $14 price target. The firm noted that ad spend is now shifting from programmatic display to social, CTV, and retail media, turning a tailwind into a headwind.
• Jefferies initiated coverage of RxSight (RXST) with a Buy rating and $72 price target. The firm says RxSight’s “differentiated and best in class” technology enables premium intraocular lens total addressable market expansion, and market share taking.