Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Friday: Stifel initiates Boeing at buy Stifel said it sees a “favorable” setup for Boeing shares. “As we look forward, we think the bar is still low for aircraft producers to keep sentiment rising, and we are currently in what we view as the mid-cycle stage in the commercial aero cycle when Boeing and its suppliers typically see their supply chains reboot and monthly production head toward target levels.” TD Cowen names Delta a top pick TD Cowen said the airline is a top pick for 2024. “Delta Air Lines is our 2024 Best Idea. We believe Delta’s strong balance sheet and intent to pay down debt, as well as its return of capital plan will be rewarding for shareholders.” Citi downgrades Spotify to neutral from buy Citi said in its downgrade of Spotify that the risk/reward is less compelling. “While we like Spotify’s strategy and execution, we no longer believe the risk-reward is compelling. And, when we look at consensus estimates, we see a few reasons to be a tad more cautious.” RBC upgrades Chemours to outperform from sector perform RBC said in its upgrade of the chemical company that the growth outlook looks solid. “We believe CC’s earnings are currently at bottom, and TT [titanium technologies] volumes should grow in 2024 on easy comps and potential tariffs on Chinese imports into Europe.” Morgan Stanley downgrades Alibaba to equal weight from overweight Morgan Stanley said it’s turning more cautious on shares of the China e-commerce company. “Our previous OW thesis on Alibaba was premised on the assumptions of a fundamental turnaround in core businesses, reorganization to unlock shareholder value, and sizeable capital management potential. However, we have turned more cautious on each of the above given recent developments.” Citi initiates Western Alliance as a buy Citi initiated the regional bank with a buy on Friday and said Western Alliance is a top pick. “We remain constructive on the sector given the juxtaposition of discounted valuations coupled with our view that the best time to buy bank stocks is the transition from late-cycle to early-cycle when we believe credit will fare better than market concerns.” Morgan Stanley reiterates Tesla as overweight Morgan Stanley said after Tesla’s unveiling of the cyber truck that it’s an “exciting avant-garde art truck but worth putting into perspective.” “We expect ‘Cybertruck’ will be supplemented by a range of ‘Rivian-looking’ pickups and SUVs in the latter part of the decade with a design language more consistent with prevailing Teslas. ” Cantor Fitzgerald initiates Novo Nordisk as a buy Cantor said in its initiation of Novo that the pharmaceutical company has a “long runway” for obesity drugs. “We see the runway for obesity remaining attractive for years to come. It is already annualizing sales at > $10B, and we estimate this could grow to $100B over the next 5-7 years.” Jefferies initiates Arcos Dorados as a buy Jefferies said the Latin American McDonald’s franchisee is a “consistent compounder.” “Arcos Dorados is the world’s largest McDonald’s franchisee with respect to system-wide sales (5% of global sales) and number of restaurants (7% of McDonald’s franchised restaurants worldwide).” Piper Sandler downgrades Texas Roadhouse to neutral from overweight Piper downgraded the restaurant chain mainly on valuation. “We are moving our rating on TXRH to Neutral, from our previous rating of Overweight. This is a valuation call pure and simple; as TXRH has simply achieved and moved through our $110 price target, and we are trying to maintain discipline with our ratings.” Evercore ISI initiates Crescent Energy as a buy Evercore said in its initiation of the energy company that it sees current prices as an attractive entry point. ” CRGY is a unique acquisition focused E & P positioned to benefit from the continued consolidation of mature upstream assets.” Evercore ISI upgrades Fortrea Holdings to outperform from in line Evercore sees an attractive risk/reward for the drug and device developer. “We are upgrading shares of FTRE with a new price target of $36 (10.5x ’25 EBITDA). We see the risk-reward on shares as more favorable post this week’s pullback as well as seeing upside to longer-term estimates.” Wells Fargo upgrades Elastic to overweight from equal weight Wells said in its upgrade of the Dutch software-as-a-service company that it’s an AI beneficiary. “We are upgrading ESTC to OW from EW as we believe revenue growth will bottom out in 4Q24 and reaccelerate in FY25…” Loop upgrades Aspen Technology to buy from hold Loop said in its upgrade of the software company that it sees “merger synergies.” “Our rating change and more positive view is based on recent conversations with Emerson that give us increased confidence that the joint Emerson- AspenTech product and go-to-market synergies are likely to be a greater source of upside during FY24 and beyond than we initially anticipated.” Oppenheimer reiterates Amazon as outperform Oppenheimer raised its price target on the stock to $200 per share from $170 after its strong Black Friday and cyber week. ” Amazon.com is one of the few large-cap companies benefiting from the secular shift to E-commerce.” JPMorgan downgrades BioNTech to underweight from neutral JPMorgan said in its downgrade of the German biotech company that it’s “waiting for a more catalyst-rich period.” “Further, while expectations for the return on R & D spend are low, we do not see the near-term data points needed to shift the markets cautious point of view on the pipeline as the majority of BNTXs oncology pipeline is in earlier-stages development and will take time to advance.” Goldman Sachs adds Constellation Brands to conviction buy list Goldman added the stock to its top picks list and says it sees the wine business stabilizing. “We add Constellation Brands ( STZ) to the Conviction List on the back of Bonnie Herzog’s deep dive into the company’s beer distribution opportunity and her belief in the stabilization of its wine business.” UBS downgrades MarketWise to neutral from buy UBS downgraded the software solutions company mainly on valuation. ” MKTW shares have outperformed significantly recently, as 3Q results showed further signs of stabilization.” Oppenheimer downgrades Lemonade to perform from outperform Oppenheimer downgraded the insurance company mainly on valuation. “We are downgrading LMND to Perform from Outperform after the 67% increase in the share price from recent lows vs. Nasdaq’s +13%. We believe this increase has been driven by a short squeeze (34% of float) following better 3Q results/4Q outlook, on less weather impact and initial rate increases driving gross margin improvement.” Bank of America upgrades Norfolk Southern to buy from neutral Bank of America said in its upgrade of the railroad that it’s “overcoming service setbacks.” “We raise our rating on Norfolk Southern’s shares to Buy (from Neutral) and increase our [price objective] to $248 (from $204), on 19.0x our 2024e EPS.” Jefferies initiates CGS Systems as buy Jefferies said in its initiation of the software-as-a-service company that it sees burgeoning growth. “CSG’s revenue mainly comes from Communication Service Providers (CSPs), though the business is growing in other verticals such as Financial Services, Technology, Healthcare, and Retail.” Jefferies initiates Amdocs as buy Jefferies said it sees opportunity for the Israel-based software and systems integration supplier. ” Amdocs provides software functions critical to the delivery of telecom services and performs complex systems integration work to incorporate those solutions into telecom networks.” Susquehanna initiates Wabtec coverage at positive Susquehanna said in its initiation of Wabtec, once known as Westinghouse Air Brake, that it’s a “high quality industrial business.” “We view WAB as a high-quality industrial business at a reasonable price, with potential for significant earnings upside over 3-5 years if regulations or rails’ reinvestment plans move further in their favor.” Redburn Atlantic Equities initiates Interactive Brokers as a buy Redburn said in its initiation of the financial services company that it has robust “competitive positioning.” “Interactive Brokers has competitive positioning in the fast-growing self-directed market and a compelling valuation.” UBS upgrades Johnson & Johnson to buy from neutral UBS said it’s getting bullish on the stock heading into an analyst day scheduled for next week. “We are upgrading JNJ to Buy ahead of the upcoming Dec. 5th Analyst Day given our increasingly bullish view on the company’s Innovative Medicine (formerly Pharmaceutical) business, and expectations for MedTech growth at least in line with the market [mid single digits].”
