Here are Tuesday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Raymond James initiates Crescent Energy as strong buy Raymond James said the energy company that its well positioned. “Just in time for the holidays comes our latest initiation — Crescent Energy Company (CRGY). Based in Houston, CRGY’s primary operations lie in the Uinta and Eagle Ford shale plays, where Crescent’s ~20% base decline rate ranks amongst the best in our coverage.” Piper Sandler downgrades Albemarle and Livent to underweight from neutral Piper downgraded several lithium companies on Tuesday and said it’s worried about a deterioration in lithium markets. “We are cutting the ratings for ALB and LTHM to UW from Neutral in recognition of the substantial deterioration in global lithium markets.” Goldman Sachs reiterates Nike as buy After a transfer of analyst coverage, Goldman said it sees an improving growth out for Nike shares. “We see scope for NKE to drive an inflection in earnings growth as the company begins to benefit from transitory cost recapture and a sequentially strengthening marketplace inventory backdrop.” Bank of America downgrades UBS to neutral from buy Bank of America said it sees too much “heavy lifting” in 2024 for the banking giant. “We cut UBS to Neutral from Buy. We remain convinced of the financial and strategic benefits of the Credit Suisse acquisition. But we see a lengthy 2024 as the heavy lifting is undertaken.” Roth MKM initiates Hyster-Yale as buy Roth said the material handling company is significantly undervalued. “We are initiating on HY with a Buy rating and $85 target. Hyster-Yale is one of the world’s largest players in material handling, with sales this year in excess of $4B.” UBS downgrades United Rentals to neutral from buy UBS said in its downgrade of the equipment rental company that it sees a more balanced risk/reward. “We downgrade URI to Neutral, as we think risk/reward is balanced. We still expect EBITDA to grow in 2024 and 2025, as organic growth is supplemented with acquisitions and buybacks.” UBS reiterates Apple as neutral UBS said it’s analysis of the Apple’s App Store shows revenue increasing. “Our analysis of Apple’s App Store suggests Nov revenue was up +10.7% YoY (Source: Sensor Tower), in-line with the growth in Sept and Oct.” TD Cowen names NXP Semiconductors a top pick TD said the semiconductor company is “best-in-class” for 2024. “We highlight NXP as our top pick for 2024. In our view, the company’s best-in-class auto franchise and consistent capital returns are overlooked by investors.” JPMorgan upgrades XP to overweight from equal weight JPMorgan said the LatAm tech company has upside potential. “We upgrade XP to Overweight and revise our 24YE price target to $30 per share, now offering ~30% upside potential.” Bank of America reiterates IBM as buy Bank of America raised its price target on the stock to $170 per share from $155 and said the setup is “good.” “Given the increased uncertainty in the broader market, in our opinion, the setup heading into 2024 is good as IBM can guide 2024 within its long-term model. Software and Consulting remain key growth vectors. Bernstein names Amazon as a top 2024 idea Bernstein said the e-commerce giant is a top pick in 2024. “We rate Amazon Outperform, $175/share. We bring our 2024 AWS EBIT estimates up to reflect margins strength and fixed-cost leverage.” Mizuho downgrades Prologis to neutral from buy Mizuho said it prefers “geographically diversified REITs.” “We still favor the more geographically diversified REITs versus the more narrowly focused ones.” Wells Fargo initiates Marriott as equal weight Wells said in its initiation of the hotel chain that it sees a balanced risk/reward. “We initiate MAR at Equal Weight with a $220 PT. MAR has an attractive fee-based business with multiple growth drivers and favorable exposure to 2024 tailwinds, but at 15x 2024E EV/EBITDA, we view risk/reward as even.” Bank of America upgrades Adecoagro to buy from neutral Bank of America said in its upgrade of the LatAm farming company that it sees “sees solid earnings growth” for Adecoagro. “the stock is still trading at an attractive valuation at 13.7% FCF yield in 2024E and 17% in 2025E; and (3) upside risks depending on the economic developments in Argentina post elections.” Oppenheimer names Domino’s a top pick Oppenheimer said it’s warming up to the pizza chain company for 2024. “We elevated DPZ to one of our ‘top picks’ in October ’23, and maintain our bullish stance as shares hold a supreme 2024 setup via our analysis.” Wells Fargo upgrades Crown Castle to equal weight from underweight Wells said in its upgrade of the cellular tower company that it sees an improving risk/reward. “We’re upgrading CCI to Equal Weight (from Underweight) and raising our PT to $115 (from $90 prior). The involvement of Elliott and the potential for a strategic shake-up should provide some downside protection, even if we don’t see material upside.” UBS reiterates Netflix as buy UBS said it’s standing by its buy rating on Netflix shares after hosting the company at a conference. “Management is focused on broadening its offering (incl. the introduction of live events), deepening connection with fans and diversifying its revenue base (incl. growth in advertising) while continuing to expand margins.” Wells Fargo upgrades Integra LifeSciences to overweight from equal weight Wells said in its upgrade of the neuro surgery device company that it sees EPS rising. “The following key points underpin our investment thesis and upgrade: 1) increased confidence in IART’s ability to resume commercial distribution from its Boston facility by mid-to-late 2Q24; and 2) EPS upside driven by a return of higher margin products manufactured at the company’s Boston facility.” Morgan Stanley reiterates Meta as overweight Morgan Stanley said it remains confident in the company’s “ability to deliver outsized revenue growth.” “Stepping back, we see META’s non-China business (90%+ of the rev) and 10mn+ advertisers bidding for audiences/transactions leading to teens rev growth in ’24/’25 and $20+ of FCF.” Evercore ISI adds a tactical outperform on Broadridge Financial Evercore said Disney’s proxy fight could be a financial boon for Broadridge shares. “Given Broadridge’s near monopoly in the street name proxy business, Trian’s proxy fight with Disney could generate as much as $50M in event driven revenue for BR.” Needham reiterates Coinbase as buy Needham said it’s standing by its buy on Coinbase and that retail crypto is “still in its early innings.” “Retail crypto engagement is considerably lower than in prior years and despite the recent price gains, has been fairly muted.” JPM initiates Cargo Therapeutics as overweight JPMorgan said the biotech company is well positioned to be a key player. ” CRGX is a clinical-stage company developing autologous (using patients own cells) CAR-T cell therapy to treat blood cancers.” Roth MKM initiates Itron as buy Roth said the energy and tech resource company is well positioned. “We are initiating on ITRI at Buy with an $82 PT. We favor robust backlog visibility over the next couple of years and what we expect to be extended market tailwinds from infrastructure investments starting around 2025.” Raymond James downgrades Lululemon to outperform from strong buy Raymond James downgraded the stock mainly on valuation. “We downgrade LULU from Strong Buy to Outperform after its recent stock rally to reflect some upside being factored in.” William Blair reiterates Chipotle as outperform William Blair said the Mexican chain restaurant company is a top idea in 2024. “With net unit expansion of 7% to 8% this year, Chipotle is accelerating unit growth in coming years with the goal of approaching 10% by 2025 as cash-on-cash returns remain exceptional at 70%-plus for the overall system.” Citi upgrades Travere Therapeutics to buy from neutral Citi said in its upgrade of Travere that the biotech company has an attractive risk/reward. “With the stock trading below cash, we believe risk/reward is skewed quite favorably into a full approval decision, supporting our upgrade.” William Blair reiterates Charles Schwab as outperform William Blair named Schwab a top pick for 2024, noting it’s well positioned. “We believe the stock is well positioned to outperform in 2024 due to the potential for a significant rebound in EPS as cash sorting abates, short-term funding costs decline, organic growth recovers following Ameritrade migrations, costs initiatives are implemented, and share buybacks reemerge.”
