Here are Thursday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Canaccord initiates Stride as overweight Canaccord initiated coverage of the education tech company and said it’s well positioned in the adoption of online learnings. “We are initiating coverage of LRN with a BUY rating and $94 price target, based on ~8x forward adj. EBITDA and supported by DCF valuation.” JPMorgan downgrades Bumble to neutral from overweight JPMorgan said it’s “not an easy fix” for the dating app company following earnings on Wednesday. ” BMBL reported mixed 2Q results and significantly lowered its 2024 outlook. Barclays initiates Constellation Energy as buy Barclays said the energy company is well positioned. “We initiate coverage of CEG with an Overweight rating and $211 PT. CEG operates the largest carbon-free generation fleet in the U.S. through its nuclear, natural gas, and renewable asset portfolio.” Bank of America reiterates Ralph Lauren as buy Bank of America is pounding the table for shares of Ralph Lauren following earnings on Wednesday. “We reiterate our Buy on RL; despite a choppy macro backdrop, 1Q results reaffirmed our view that the brand remains healthy and margin execution remains intact.” Barclays reiterates Disney as overweight The firm said it’s standing by the entertainment giant following earnings on Wednesday. ” Disney’s acknowledged theme park challenges but given underlying drivers of weakness, visibility remains limited; However other segments should increasingly become significant offsets.” Mizuho downgrades Intel to neutral from outperform Mizuho said it sees too many negative catalysts for Intel. “We upgraded INTC in Nov’23 on strong AI ramps, and new products driving PC/DC traction. Fast-forward 9 months, and we were wrong – INTC has continued to lag its peers and is losing share in all key markets AI/DC/PC through 2025E.” BMO upgrades Vornado to outperform from market perform BMO said in its upgrade of the real estate investment that it’s getting bullish on New York City “office and retail fundamentals.” “We upgrade VNO to Outperform, while increasing our target price to $40 (+$11). Despite improving NYC office and retail fundamentals and a high-quality portfolio, VNO has recently been a show-me story. It is now showing…” Redburn Atlantic Equities reiterates Microsoft & Amazon as buy The firm said investors should buy any dip in both stocks. “The recent sector derating offers buying opportunities for Amazon and Microsoft (Buy), with a positive but less favourable deflation-inflation balance.” Citi reiterates Nvidia and Micron as buy Citi said investors should buy the dip in any semis selloff. ” Micron is our top pick, and we believe it’s time to double down as the DRAM upturn should persist given reduced capacity and DRAM pricing in 3Q24 is better than expected. Other Buy-rated names include AMD, AVGO, ADI, MCHP, NVDA, and KLAC.” Raymond James upgrades Lattice Semiconductor to outperform from market perform Raymond James said buy the dip in shares of the semis company. “We believe cyclical correction is largely behind and expect upward revisions to start in the next 1-2 quarters. In particular, LSCC’s Industrial/Auto segment declined 50% y/y in 2Q, and we expect a gradual recovery on inventory normalization even if end demand is mixed.” Bank of America downgrades Celsius to underperform from neutral Bank of America said the energy category is slowing. “Still, our research suggests that the slowdown in the category will have an outsized impact on CELH. As a result, we downgrade our rating to Underperform from Neutral and lower our PO to $32 from $60.” KeyBanc upgrades Wolverine World Wide to overweight from sector weight Key said shares are “compelling” following earnings. “We think the better than expected results serve as another proof point of WWW’s pathway to growth and move to Overweight.” Evercore ISI upgrades Sarepta to outperform from in line Evercore said investors should buy the dip in the biotech company. “We are taking advantage of this stock weakness to upgrade SRPT to Outperform with a $179/sh PT. Seaport downgrades Disney to neutral from buy Seaport downgraded Disney following earnings on Wednesday. “Ain’t no cure for the Summertime Blues – Downgrading to Neutral on Parks & DTC [direct to consumer] Profit outlook.” RBC reiterates Tesla as outperform RBC said full-self driving could be a positive near term catalyst for the stock. “Amidst the Autos and market carnage, Tesla could be an interesting name to own. It benefits from increasing reg credits and energy storage growth. Importantly, the company could at any moment cut its FSD pricing, which we believe would be a critical catalyst for shares.” Daiwa upgrades Arm to outperform from hold Daiwa upgraded the semis company following earnings. “The quarter was mixed, good results, weak 2Q25 guide. However, it is that Arm remains a pioneer and leader in Mobile compute, where now the company is taking this model and expanding it out to many other areas of tech and especially AI.” Gordon Haskett upgrades Costco to buy from accumulate The firm upgraded the stock following its same-store sales results. “After the close (8/7), Costco announced July results with SSS rising 7.2% – above our 6.0% model and the buy-side views that ranged from ~4.0%-6.0%.” Morgan Stanley downgrades Textron to equal weight from overweight The firm said it sees a more balanced risk/reward for the aircraft company. “We downgrade TXT to Equal-weight from Overweight as we take into account investor sentiment, a strong balance sheet, and risk reward. Mizuho initiates Westlake as outperform The firm said it’s bullish on shares of the chemical company. “We initiate coverage of Westlake Chemical ( WLK) with an Outperform rating & $170 PT, and Olin Corp (OLN) with a Neutral rating & $45 PT.” Bank of America downgrades Topgolf to neutral from buy The firm said the golf’s company outlook is too challenging following earnings. “Our Neutral rating reflects our view that challenging Topgolf outlook is partially offset by compelling valuation with shares trading well below peers incl. GOLF.” Daiwa upgrades Pfizer to outperform from neutral Daiwa upgraded the biopharma company following earnings on July 30. ” Pfizer upwardly revised full-FY24 guidance, raising its revenue target by $1bn to guide for between $59.5bn and $62.5bn.” Bank of America reiterates Shopify as buy Bank of America said it’s sticking with the stock following earnings on Wednesday. ” Shopify delivered solid topline growth in Q2, led by share gains, same store sales and continued payments penetration of gross merchandise value (GMV).” JPM reiterates SolarEdge as overweight JPMorgan said it’s sticking with its overweight rating on the stock following earnings on Wednesday. ” SEDG reported mixed 2Q results with PF EPS below expectations on slightly better than expected revenue.”
