Here are Thursday's biggest analyst calls: Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Target, AT&T, Tesla & more
Here are Thursday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Morgan Stanley downgrades ZoomInfo to equal weight from overweight Morgan Stanley said it sees a slowing recovery for the software company. "A slower recovery in sales job postings and increasing competition lowers our outlook on future growth, leading us to downgrade ZI to EW from OW." Oppenheimer reiterates Apple as outperform Oppenheimer said it's standing by the stock heading into earnings Thursday afternoon. "We expect AAPL to report in-line F1Q24 revenues (flat to 1% growth Y/Y) and similar trend for F2Q24." Morgan Stanley reiterates General Motors as overweight Morgan Stanley said it's standing by the auto giant and that GM shares are "cheap." "We raise our PT to $43 from $40… Our revised target puts the stock on just over 5x our FY24 EPS and 4.8x midpoint of company guide." Mizuho reiterates Nvidia as buy Mizuho said it's standing by the stock heading into its GTC Conference in March. "We continue to see NVDA as the best AI/ML play, pushing the tip of the spear in AI training performance, as it hosts GTC 2024 on 3/18-21." Citi downgrades Qualcomm to neutral from buy Citi downgraded the stock after its earnings report Wednesday cited lower-than-expected guidance. "Yesterday after the close, Qualcomm reported good results but guided below Consensus driven by share loss at Samsung." Deutsche Bank upgrades Cigna to buy from hold Deutsche Bank said in its upgrade of Cigna that it's unlikely to make a run at Humana anytime soon. "We believe given what we are seeing in the MA [Medicare Advantage] space, the scenario is extremely unlikely in 2024 and could be a 2025 event at the earliest year." Goldman Sachs initiates Arvinas as buy Goldman Sachs said in its initiation of the biotech company that it sees an attractive risk/reward for Arvinas. "Differentiated protein degrader platform that could expand several major markets; attractive risk/reward on both near catalysts and the intermediate-to-long term commercial opportunity." Goldman Sachs reiterates Microsoft as buy Goldman Sachs said it's standing by the tech giant after its earnings report earlier this week. "We reiterate our Buy rating and $450 PT, as results validate our thesis that Microsoft is sitting at the nexus of the technological shift toward an AI-first IT stack." Redburn Atlantic Equities reiterates Tesla as sell Redburn said it's sticking with its sell rating following Tesla' s disappointing earnings results last week. "Messages from last week's Q4 results add conviction to our Sell thesis." Daiwa upgrades Rockwell Automation to buy from outperform Daiwa said in its upgrade of Rockwell that it sees order trends heading in the right direction for the automation manufacturing company after its earnings report. "Execution Slips But Positive Order Trends Portend Well." JPMorgan upgrades AT & T to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said in its upgrade of AT & T that the stock has an attractive valuation. "The company has been able to show consistent execution in its wireless and broadband businesses and we see solid long-term growth for both segments, especially in broadband with its ongoing fiber build along with incremental opportunities in and out of existing markets." Jefferies initiates Biote as buy Jefferies said the hormone therapy company has "transformative expansion into wellness." " Biote is a hormone optimization provider positioned at the intersection of consumer, tech, and therapeutics." UBS downgrades StoneCo to neutral from buy UBS downgraded the financial services company mainly on valuation. "We are raising the PT to US$21 (from US$18) but downgrading Stone to Neutral following the ~60% rally in last 4 months." Mizuho initiates SilverBow Resources as buy Mizuho said in its initiation of the oil and gas company that it has "undeniable" value. "In our view, the key debate on SBOW is whether a small cap E & P should try to grow scale both organically and via M & A, or should it focus on cash returns and potentially merging into a larger entity to attract investor interest." Wells Fargo initiates Regency Centers as overweight Wells Fargo initiated the shopping center company with an overweight rating and said it sees an attractive entry point. "With investor sentiment improving for Strips, we view REG's stock underperformance of late as a good entry point into this Strip leader with limited tenant credit risk, a history of beats, & an upward earnings bias." JPMorgan downgrades Lennox to underweight from neutral JPMorgan downgraded the air-conditioning and heating solutions company and said it sees caution ahead for the HVAC market. "On valuation, LII has pulled back some, but it remains at a premium/peak relative multiple on consensus we see as being too high/peak." Morgan Stanley names Docebo a top pick Morgan Stanley named the ed-tech company a top pick. " Docebo is at the forefront of innovation in Corporate Learning, with a competitive moat & strong positioning to monetize AI via direct products, upsell to higher priced plans, and indirect platform benefits." Citi initiates Kraft Heinz, Mondelez and J.M. Smucker as buy Citi initiated several food companies on Wednesday night and said it sees upside ahead. "We expect continued strong results from Buy-rated BRBR, MDLZ, and LW. Sentiment could improve for Buy rated KHC and SJM. " Goldman Sachs adds Target to the conviction buy list Goldman Sachs said it sees an attractive entry point for shares of Target. "For TGT, Kate McShane sees a compelling entry point for a company that she expects will get a boost from a return to discretionary spending from a buoyant US consumer in a soft landing economy." RBC downgrades New York Community Bancorp to sector perform from outperform RBC downgraded New York Community Bancorp after the regional bank's disappointing quarterly results on Wednesday. "Results had several negative surprises, including a higher-than-expected provision and reserve build, a meaningfully lower margin and outlook, and a dividend cut announcement." Wolfe initiates Stellantis as outperform Wolfe initiated the automaker with an outperform rating and said, "cash returns are likely to accelerate." "We're launching coverage of Stellantis with an Outperform rating. We see profitability as sustainable. Cash returns are likely to accelerate." Morgan Stanley reiterates Bloom Energy as overweight Morgan Stanley said the energy company is an "underappreciated AI winner." " BE is a secular winner as the world adopts GenAI given the significant incremental power demand associated with data center growth, coupled with grid infrastructure constraints and reliability concerns." Mizuho upgrades Boston Scientific to buy from neutral Mizuho said the med-tech company is a "durable" growth story. "We now see BSX as one of the more durable growth stories across the large-cap Medtech space, supported by structural market factors along with one of the more attractive portfolios of high-growth assets."