(This is CNBC Pro’s live coverage of Thursday’s analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) A fast-casual food chain and a video game maker were among the stocks being talked about by analysts on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lowered its rating on Cava to equal weight, citing valuation concerns. Meanwhile, Redburn Atlantic initiated Take-Two Interactive with a buy rating. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 6:05 a.m.: Bernstein becomes bullish on Marriott Investors should buy into the recent dip in Marriott shares, according to Bernstein. The firm upgraded shares to outperform from market perform in a note. It also notched up its price target on shares to $262 from $247, indicating 15.1% upside from Thursday’s close. Marriott shares have declined 9% in the past six months and nearly 14% year to date amid concerns of a slowdown in consumer spending. MAR 6M mountain MAR in past six months “Marriott has opened up a record discount to Hilton despite identical guidance on NUG+RevPAR and in the next 12m we expect material progress on tech and midscale,” analyst Richard Clarke wrote. Clarke highlighted Marriott’s higher-end consumer and international exposure. “A good time to buy a high quality name at a discount,” Clarke added. — Hakyung Kim 5:44 a.m.: Morgan Stanley downgrades Cava Morgan Stanley is stepping to the sidelines on Cava after shares have more than doubled in 2024. Analyst Brian Harbour lowered his rating on the stock to equal weight from overweight. Although he raised his price target on the stock to $110 from $90, the new price target is still more than 7% lower than where shares closed on Wednesday. The downgrade is not from a lack of confidence in Cava, but a “valuation call,” per Harbour. “To be clear, we remain fans of the company and think the fundamental narrative and KPIs continue to skew positive, with a good probability of upward estimate revisions over the next 12 months, if not to the same degree as over the past 12,” Harbour wrote in a note. “But even marking our estimates above consensus here, post 2Q earnings, and sticking to our framework, we don’t have upside to our base case, and see more balanced risk-reward skew, so this is no longer a fresh money buy for us, as would be suggested by an OW rating,” he added. Nonetheless, the analyst believes Cava shares are a promising hold for longer-term investors. Shares slipped more than 3% Thursday before the bell. CAVA YTD mountain CAVA YTD — Hakyung Kim 5:44 a.m.: Redburn Atlantic initiates Take-Two Interactive as a buy Take-Two Interactive is bound to outperform going forward, according to Redburn Atlantic. Analyst Hamilton Faber initiated coverage of the video game maker with a buy rating. His price target of $194 implies upside of 22% from Wednesday’s close. “Take-Two is approximately a year away from releasing Grand Theft Auto VI, the next iteration in what is by far the world’s most successful crime video game franchise, and in a genre where the company dominates,” Faber said. “To say the launch will be transformational is an understatement. We see a tripling of operating income over the next couple of years.” “Grand Theft Auto VI” is expected to be released in 2025 after years of delay. Take-Two shares have fallen 1% this year, lagging the broader market. TTWO YTD mountain TTWO year to date — Fred Imbert
