Zoom upgraded, Target 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:

• Evercore ISI upgraded Zoom Communications (ZM) to Outperform from In Line with a price target of $115, up from $70. The company “delivered yet another very solid quarter,” marked by consistent operational execution and “impressive momentum” across its newer product offerings, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Argus upgraded L3Harris Technologies (LHX) to Buy from Hold with a $300 price target. Ongoing geopolitical tensions are creating a favorable backdrop for the company, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Guggenheim upgraded Capri Holdings (CPRI) to Buy from Neutral with a $30 price target. The firm cites both the stock’s “depressed valuation,” arguing that the stock price has “meaningfully diverged from its portfolio’s intrinsic value,” as well as a belief that management can take steps to increase shareholder value.
• Wells Fargo upgraded SAIC (SAIC) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $147, down from $157. The firm reduced price targets on federal IT names as it sees pressure on federal spending from here, but argued that the risk/rewards look attractive with 40%-50% upside in the status quo defense spending scenario.
• Citi upgraded Chevron (CVX) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $185, up from $145. While the shares have bounced a little in the last two months, Chevron has still substantially underperformed key peer Exxon Mobil (XOM) through 2024, the firm notes, adding that it believes the downside “looks protected” while the upside is “significant.”

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Daiwa downgraded Target (TGT) to Neutral from Outperform with a price target of $130, down from $170. The firm believes Target’s uncertainty persists as the improvement in sales of discretionary products with high margins is postponed.
• HSBC downgraded Morgan Stanley (MS) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $131, up from $128. The firm noted that shares have rallied substantially recently and no longer offer an attractive risk-reward profile.
• HSBC downgraded Goldman Sachs (GS) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $608, up from $569. The firm still sees Goldman as leverages to an improved IB backdrop, though market expectations are much higher than they have been, leaving room for disappointment.
• Deutsche Bank downgraded Hubbell (HUBB) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $473, down from $493. The firm no longer sees enough upside for a Buy rating with the shares up 24% since its upgrade in September.
• B. Riley downgraded Brunswick (BC) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $88, down from $95. The firm remains positive on the company’s market share leading positioning within the recreational marine industry, but believes the “demand pivot” to more normalized consumer demand may take longer to materialize, especially among the lower-income, payment buyers.

Top 5 Initiations:

• TD Cowen initiated coverage of Pinterest (PINS) with a Buy rating and $38 price target. The firm’s survey data shows Pinterest “over-indexes on product discovery use case relative to other Social Platforms, a tailwind for monetization.”
• Wolfe Research initiated coverage of Pentair (PNR) with an Outperform rating and $125 price target. Margin expansion has been “impressive,” but there is further runway, adds the firm, which believes a return to volume growth in 2025 can be “a powerful upside catalyst.”
• Bernstein initiated coverage of Carnival (CCL) with a Market Perform rating and $26 price target. Bernstein sees the stock fully valued at this level, and says further upside will need to come from more effective yield and cost management beyond just post COVID recovery.
• Bernstein initiated coverage of Royal Caribbean (RCL) with an Outperform rating and $290 price target. With a favorable view on the long term trajectory of the wider cruise industry, the firm sees Royal as the best way to play the sector.
• Baird initiated coverage of Rambus (RMBS) with an Outperform rating and $90 price target. Rambus “should be a core holding within the AI-enabling memory technologies investment thesis,” contends Baird.