Here are Thursday's biggest analyst calls: Nvidia, Apple, BJ's, Etsy, Carnival, Blackrock, FedEx & more
Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Thursday: Bank of America downgrades J.M. Smucker to neutral from buy Bank of America said in its downgrade of the stock that it's purchase of Hostess adds a lot of complexities. "Our prior Buy rating was based on the view that SJM would focus on a more optimized portfolio of core brands, following several years of divestitures of low growth/margin assets. In our view, TWNK would add complexity to SJM's story and introduces execution risk for a company with mixed M & A history." Morgan Stanley reiterates Amazon as overweight Morgan Stanley said it sees Amazon shares with 20-60% upside in the months ahead as retail profitability increases. "We believe management is highly focused on improving efficiency and profitability… and demonstrating to investors that their business model can indeed deliver ROI after two challenging years." Wells Fargo reiterates Nvidia as overweight Wells said Nvidia is still in a "league of its own." "We have yet to see a true competitive threat to NVIDIA emerge." JPMorgan reiterates Apple as overweight JPM said recent survey checks show Apple's iPhone share softened ahead of the iPhone 15 launch. "Recent surveys from Wave7 Research into US sales trends across various carriers in July 2023 (survey conducted in early August) indicates a moderation of share above typical levels seen in July of past years, with consumer spending pauses ahead of the new product launch likely a contributing driver." Deutsche Bank adds a catalyst call buy on Penn Deutsche kept its long term hold rating on the stock but says it sees a series of positive catalysts ahead in the near term for Penn shares. "However, over the near term, we believe PENN has a catalyst stack that includes several potential upside drivers, against the backdrop of an undaunting valuation, one in which we, finally, believe, provides a free option on the Interactive segment." Read more about this call here. Citi upgrades Virtu Financial to buy from neutral Citi said investors should buy the dip in shares of the global markets company. "As we have seen numerous times over the years, regulatory headlines present opportunities with VIRT' s stock and we see the current weakness as an attractive entry point." Bank of America reiterates Alphabet as buy Bank of America said it's standing by its buy rating on the stock due to "AI innovation & potentially lower expenses." "We remain constructive on Google as we anticipate improving ad demand to drive Search and YouTube revenue acceleration in 2H'23, right when 1H'23 expense cuts are having biggest impact on y/y expense growth. William Blair upgrades JFrog to outperform from market perform William Blair said the software supply chain company is in its "next phase of growth." " JFrog has established a consistent track record of execution and profitability as a public company—the company has been free cash flow positive for more than eight years and is making steady progress toward its long-term target of 22% non-GAAP operating margin." BMO upgrades First Solar to outperform from market perform BMO said investors should buy the dip in shares of the solar company. "Upgrading FSLR to Outperform. Our estimates and $237 target unchanged. FSLR stock has declined by an unwarranted degree following its recent Analyst Day in our view." Read more about this call here. Jefferies upgrades MetLife to buy from hold Jefferies said in its upgrade of the insurance company that it's taking a more "constructive" view of the insurance industry. "That said, MET's YTD performance in this asset class has been stable, and the company has generated above-peer improvement in excess capital, largely on the reinsurance deal announced in May." Susquehanna upgrades Semtech to positive from neutral Susquehanna said investors should buy the dip in shares of the semiconductor company and that the turnaround is underway. "On Wednesday after the close, Semtech reported in-line results but guidance that was significantly worse. However, we have confidence that this should be the last major reset after what have been a painful series of resets over the past year." Wolfe upgrades Etsy to outperform from peer perform Wolfe said in its upgrade of the Etsy that it sees share outperformance ahead. "There are plenty of NT uncertainties due to weakening macro, but we see many paths for shares to outperform over the next 12-18 months." Read more about this call here. TD Cowen initiates BJ's as outperform TD said in its initiation of BJ's that it has a "value proposition with strong appeal to a younger demographic." "We like BJ's wholistic approach to club membership engagement which incorporates digital analytics & a complete basket value proposition with strong appeal to a younger demographic." Read more about this call here. Redburn Atlantic Equities upgrades Carnival and Norwegian to buy from neutral Redburn said in its upgrade of Carnival and Norwegian that the cruise companies are stronger post-covid. "The cruise industry, with an average guest age of almost 50, will enjoy a turbocharged version of this demand strength as the US over-65 population is set to grow at more than 2% per year until 2030, four times the overall population growth rate of the US." TD Cowen downgrades Frontier to market perform from outperform TD said in its downgrade of Frontier that booking trends appear below expected levels. "We are downgrading our rating to Market Perform and lowering our price target to $8/ share followed the latest guidance update from management." Bank of America reiterates Blackrock as buy Bank of America said the company is the "leading platform for investing & tech solutions." "We also believe BLK is best positioned for the key secular themes including the migration to fixed income, money market and private credit globally given the new higher rate backdrop and multiple other themes: outsourcing, digital wealth, private markets, and tech solutions." Goldman Sachs reiterates FedEx as buy Goldman said it's standing by its buy rating heading into earnings next week. "Apart from FDX' s long term cost savings, we believe investors will be focused on the volume trajectory as we wrap calendar 2023 and enter 2024.