Here are Thursday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Morgan Stanley reiterates Apple as overweight Morgan Stanley said Apple’s product event on Wednesday met expectations and attention now turns to “iPhone demand indicators.” “Today’s event was largely in-line with expectations, although the later launch of the iPhone 14 Plus was a small surprise. After updating for higher ASPs (average selling price) from the 14 Plus, our FY23 rev & EPS rise ~1%.” Deutsche Bank upgrades Moderna to buy from hold Deutsche said sees “greater near-term optionality” for the biotech company. “… MRNA has been more forthright with its buyback program; plus has greater near-term optionality on the infectious disease side (vs. BNTX’s concentration on the oncology side…).” Read more about this call here. Pivotal upgrades Roku to hold from sell Pivotal upgraded the stock mainly on valuation. “We are upgrading our rating on ROKU from SELL to HOLD as the shares have reached a level that we view as properly balancing risk/reward and we would take profit on short positions.” Citi opens a positive catalyst watch on GlobalFoundries Citi said the GlobalFoundries is the most “heavily shorted name” in semis. “We are launching a 30-day positive Catalyst Watch on Buy-rated Global Foundries as it appears to be the most heavily shorted name in semis and we expect a positive update from the company at our conference today.” Stifel initiates Advanced Micro Devices as buy Stifel said the chipmaker is executing well. “We are initiating coverage of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. with a Buy rating and price target of $122. AMD continues to execute well on a product roadmap that has enabled share gains in the Client Computing and Server markets.” Read more about this call here. Wells Fargo downgrades Marqeta to underweight from equal weight Wells said in its downgrade of the IT service management company that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s message is a clear negative for fintech companies like Marqeta. “We expect the ‘pain’ Mr. Powell and the Fed see as required to drive inflation down to 2% — and then remain there — will negatively impact future growth in consumer and business spend going forward, thereby impeding revenue and earnings generation within our Fintech coverage.” Northland upgrades Chegg to outperform from market perform Northland said in its upgrade of the education company that it sees an improved enrollment outlook. “We believe CHGG is poised for a rebound for the following reasons: Better summer school enrollment and management says this leads to better Fall enrollment.” Bernstein initiates Chipotle, Wendy’s and Yum Brands as outperform Bernstein said in its initiation of several restaurant companies that they are “long-term winners.” “We back companies that recently improved margins demonstrating pricing power (e.g., DRI, CMG ). … Focus growth on international markets, which have a TAM of ~$2T and are growing at a faster rate. YUM, MCD, WEN and QSR stand out for their ambitions, but we expect more tumultuous paths for unproven concepts.” Jefferies downgrades GSK to hold from buy Jefferies said in its downgrade of the pharma company formerly known as GlaxoSmithKline that there’s too much uncertainty. ” GSK’ s shares reflect our ‘worst’ case but this cannot be excluded as unreasonable; hence given uncertainty overhang persists, perhaps until 2H23E at best, we downgrade to Hold despite improving fundamentals.” Goldman Sachs upgrades First Solar to buy from sell Goldman said the solar stock is a key beneficiary of the Inflation Reduction Act. “We upgrade FSLR shares to Buy from Sell on: 1) significant tailwinds from IRA — FSLR is best levered in our coverage (i.e. FSLR is the most immediate beneficiary of manufacturing credits as well as benefits fromIRA demand tailwinds given its > 80% exposure to the US).” Read more about this call here . Raymond James upgrades Allegiant to outperform from market perform Raymond James said in its upgrade of the discount airline that it sees an attractive risk/reward. “Additionally, we believe Allegiant is likely better positioned to both withstand the fallout for ULCCs from the regional airline industry dynamics and possibly to take advantage of the likely reduced service (over time) in smaller markets.” Barclays reiterates Alphabet as overweight Barclays kept its overweight rating on the stock but said it “may head down before heading back up.” “Stepping back, at 21x curr. EPS, GOOGL shares are not overly demanding for the high quality of the franchise, but we think numbers may head down before heading back up.” Cantor Fitzgerald initiates CrowdStrike as overweight Cantor said in its initiation of the cybersecurity company that it sees “strong innovation and execution.” “We are initiating coverage on CrowdStrike, an innovative and market share leader in Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR), with an Overweight rating and 12-month $240 price target.” Morgan Stanley names Sarepta a catalyst driven idea Morgan Stanley said it’s bullish on the company getting FDA approval for a muscular dystrophy drug. “We expect SRPT to continue to move higher in the near term as risk/reward into filing acceptance remains attractive.” UBS reiterates Snap as buy UBS said shares of Snap are “well priced” at current levels. “We acknowledge ongoing macro uncertainty, but think growth likely bottomed in July (see last week’s note here) and the story can improve into ’23, with potential for higher estimate revisions and multiple expansion.” Wolfe upgrades World Wrestling to outperform from peer perform Wolfe said in its upgrade of World Wrestling that it sees an “attractive” risk/reward. “As M & A speculation cools, the ’23 OIBDA mult. drops to a historically ordinary 13x (w/ ’25 compelling on the next TV deal), with a buzz for the new creative regime, we like the fundamental risk/reward and ‘free’ M & A call option.” Truist downgrades Freshpet to hold from buy Truist said in its downgrade of Freshpet that it’s concerned about the pet food company’s second-half guidance. “The company continues to experience growing pains that we have seen from many hyper growth companies over the years. These pains have been exacerbated by the spiking demand and supply chain challenges during the pandemic. What does concern us is the company’s updated EBITDA guidance for 2022 which called for 75% of 2H EBITDA to fall in the 4Q.” Morgan Stanley reiterates Boeing as overweight Morgan Stanley said Boeing is a key beneficiary of a bullish demand for aircraft. “The main takeaway from our analysis is that there is solid demand for aircraft. The strength in demand in narrowbody aircraft is already reflected in our 737 MAX estimates.” Jefferies reiterates GameStop as hold Jefferies said after the company’s second-quarter earnings report that GameStop’ s cash burn still “persists.” “The standard short conf call focused on improved catalog, fulfillment efficiency, new efforts to reign in costs, investments in stores, & profitability targets.” Argus downgrades MGM to hold from buy Argus said in its downgrade of MGM that it sees slowing growth for the casino and hotel company. “We expect high costs and fierce competition to offset growth in the U.S gaming industry and management’s ability to implement its growth initiatives.”
