Here are Tuesday's biggest analyst calls: Amazon, Ford, Humana, Tesla, Nike, Norwegian & more
Here are Tuesday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Morgan Stanley reiterates Tesla as overweight Morgan Stanley said it sees competition rising in China and that Tesla is going through a "peak China" dependency phase. "We believe Tesla is passing through its 'peak China' dependency stage over the next 12 months. Capacity growth in the U.S. and Europe will be paired with far higher levels of vertical integration, turbo-charged by tax incentives and production subsidies where Tesla appears uniquely advantaged." Deutsche Bank downgrades Western Digital to hold from buy Deutsche said that the recovery path for Western Digital remains "uncertain." "We believe WDC's F1Q (Sep) revenue and EPS are tracking below the low end of guidance, and F2Q (Dec) outlook are also likely to be meaningfully below current Street estimates." Read more about this call here . UBS reiterates Ralph Lauren as buy UBS said the clothing company is a "strong turnaround story." "We think the stock will outperform due to EPS beats over the NTM (next twelve months) and P/E expansion. In our view, the market doesn't appreciate the transformational changes the company has made over the last four years and we have more conviction in this view post RL' s analyst day." KeyBanc initiates Diamondback Energy as overweight KeyBanc said in its initiation of the hydrocarbon exploration company that it has "straightforward manufacturing model focused on disciplined spending and robust income." "Starting in 3Q22, Diamondback increased its cash return pledge to 75% of FCF, to be deployed via base/variable dividends and repurchases. Company plans to maintain flat production and outsized cash returns, and vowed to avoid large-scale M & A." Morgan Stanley upgrades Humana to overweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley said in its upgrade of the health insurer that it sees "accelerated growth." "Our proprietary analysis of MA (Medicare Advantage) benefit richness suggests HUM has significantly improved its competitive positioning, resulting in stronger membership growth in 2023E and a clearer path to $37 EPS by 2025." Read more about this call here. Morgan Stanley reiterates Ford as equal weight Morgan Stanley kept its equal weight rating on the automaker, but said investors might want to buy the stock on weakness. "We have been warming to the risk-reward for Ford throughout FY22 and would be buyers on weakness below our $14 target which we are leaving unchanged." Morgan Stanley reiterates Amazon as overweight Morgan Stanley said that its checks show that Amazon is becoming a formidable competitor to Shopify. "Accompanying our joint note on SHOP's fulfillment network build, we detail AMZN's budding SHOP competitive offerings, three reasons we are bullish on these offerings and what we are focused on next." Barclays downgrades Nike to equal weight from overweight Barclays said in its downgrade of Nike that it sees rising inventory risks. "Moving to the sidelines. We downgrade shares of NKE to Equal Weight based on: 1) our bearish Wholesale sector demand risk thesis, 2) continued volatility in the Greater China market, 3) excess North American inventory creating heightened operating risk." Read more about this call here. Susquehanna downgrades PayPal to neutral from positive Susquehanna said it's concerned that Braintree, which PayPal acquired back in 2013, could weigh on take rates and margins. "As Braintree is likely to continue driving PYPL as a whole, its unit economics may drag on PYPL consolidated results." Read more about this call here. Bank of America downgrades Weyerhaeuser to neutral from buy Bank of America said in its downgrade of the timberland company that it's concerned about deteriorating macro conditions. "We rate WY at Neutral, BofA's less positive housing outlook and given WY's OSB/wood products exposure. We ultimately expect operating rates & prices to drop and, as a result, we forecast earnings that are below consensus. With a recession still looming, we think it will be difficult for the shares to outperform as Street estimates decline." Redburn upgrades Morningstar to buy from neutral Redburn said in its upgrade of the data and analytics provider that it's well positioned to "weather a downturn." "Despite the lack of sell-side coverage, Morningstar is a key provider of Data & Analytics solutions to the financial services industry, particularly in the areas of Private Markets, ESG and Wealth. With heavy subscription-based revenue streams, strong pricing power and high levels of product innovation, we see the business as well positioned to weather a downturn." JPMorgan initiates Luminar Technologies as overweight JPMorgan said in its initiation of the self-driving technology company that it has industry leading profitability. "We are initiating on Luminar with an Overweight rating and forecast Luminar to exit the decade with the strongest revenue amongst the peer group despite a smaller order book relative to Innoviz currently." Truist upgrades Norwegian to buy from hold Truist said in its upgrade of the cruise line that it's seeing positive trends for luxury cruises. "Importantly, the greatest degree of strength is with luxury cruises, to which NCLH has the greatest exposure, whereas trends for mass market cruises remain more subdued. Primarily for this reason and others discussed below, we are raising our rating to Buy from Hold on NCLH."