Here are Thursday’s biggest analyst calls of the day: Caesars, Roblox, Alphabet & more
Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Thursday: Jefferies initiates coverage of Roblox at hold The long-term growth prospects for Roblox remain unclear as the metaverse trend moves beyond children's video games, according to Jefferies. "We see the aging-up and China opportunities as difficult, limited, and unlikely to provide upside to out-year numbers. We do appreciate the potential for new business models and 'metaverse'-like experiences, but with most of these being more experimental or one-offs, we hesitate to model any material net bookings until we see more evidence of a permanent opportunity." Morgan Stanley reiterates Caesars Entertainment at overweight Recent weakness for Caesars ' stock could give investors a chance to get in on the booming sports betting industry, according to Morgan Stanley. "CZR has seen a meaningful inflection in app download market share since launching its new sports betting app on 8/2, going from 7% to 21% share. If higher share is sustained, this should bode well for actual betting share. Following a recent sell-off, we see CZR stock as very attractive here." Credit Suisse initiates coverage of Blade Air Mobility at outperform Blade 's alternative transportation options for high-end customers should continue to add customers in upcoming years, according to Credit Suisse. "We believe that Blade, with penetration rates across its target markets (NYC Airport, Northeast Corridor, and West Coast) at less than 1% in aggregate, is positioned for improved adoption rates, given 1) the ease and convenience compared to other modes of transportation and 2) ongoing updates to its pricing structure to attract a broader array of consumers." Raymond James upgrades Dick's Sporting Goods to market perform from underperform A strong quarterly report from Dick's Sporting Goods led Raymond James to move away from its bearish case on the stock. "We have been wrong on DKS, as demand has remained robust longer than we anticipated and the company has consistently surpassed expectations over the past year." Baird reiterates Alphabet as its top internet pick Google 's advertising business is still an industry leader in an increasingly crowded space, according to Baird. "In this environment, we believe Google Search is still the most resilient digital ad format, and is still a 'must buy' for most sizable retailers and brands." Morgan Stanley downgrades Nordstrom to underweight from equal weight There could be more struggles ahead for Nordstrom 's stock even after a big sell-off on Wednesday, according to Morgan Stanley. "We downgrade JWN to Underweight as revenue recovery appears protracted, cost inflation is offsetting prior cost curtailment initiatives, and long-term earnings growth remains elusive." Morgan Stanley names Activision Blizzard a top tech pick outside of FAANG Revenue from in-game purchases will help drive long-term growth for Activision Blizzard , according to Morgan Stanley. "We expect users and engagement and monetization of these users to drive long-term growth. We forecast that digital in-game content will drive highly profitable revenue growth." Read more about this call here . Morgan Stanley upgrades Zoom Video to overweight from equal weight The investment firm said in a note to clients that the market is too concerned about Zoom 's growth prospects now that many workers have returned to the office. "Investor concerns on [small-and-medium-business] churn are outweighing continued growth potential of enterprise business, particularly as platform expands. We believe growth over the next year is likely to surprise to the upside, causing us to move to OW." Read more about this call here . JPMorgan downgrades Pentair to underweight from overweight Analyst Stephen Tusa made a rare double-downgrade on Pentair , saying in a note to clients that results will suffer once the pandemic-era boost to the company's water treatment business subsides. "We now see increased risks of downside to consensus forecasts on a normalization in Aquatics, which, at ~60% of EBITDA now, has likely seen its best days at what we see as an unsustainable peak." William Blair initiates coverage of Rover at outperform The pet care company's loyalty numbers suggest further upside for the stock, according to William Blair. "In Rover 's early days, roughly 40% of a customer cohort would return to Rover within a year. While this metric was capped right above 50% for a few years, Rover has now achieved a rebooking rate of over 60%, with plans to reach a long-term rate above 70%." Cowen raises price target for Ulta Beauty to $490 per share from $385 The investment firm raised its estimates for Ulta Beauty after the company beat expectations on the top and bottom lines in the second quarter. Baird reiterated its outperform rating on the stock. "Customers returning to stores, solid cosmetics trends, and broad based strength across multiple categories including skincare and hair drove upside. Loyalty program, omni-channel engagement, and innovative brand pipeline bode well for the [long-term]." Oppenheimer downgrades Yum Brands to perform from outperform Yum Brands appears poised to underperform a rival stock going forward, according to Oppenheimer. "After initiating on YUM in March 2012 (3/19/12 at $68.40), we shift to a Perform rating or first time in 9 years. To be clear, we do not expect deteriorating fundamentals or earnings misses at YUM, but do see a shift in risk/reward dynamics toward QSR ." UBS initiates NextEra Energy Partners at buy NextEra Energy 's dividend growth makes it attractive for income investors, UBS said in a note to clients. "Our modeling indicates NEP has the potential to sustain 12% [dividends per share] growth through 2023 in the absence of any new acquisitions opportunities, enabling NEP to withstand market volatility (which can increase the cost of equity financing for new drop-downs), while still growing shareholder distributions within the target range." -CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.

The New York Stock Exchange welcomes executives and guests of Roblox (NYSE: RBLX), today, Wednesday, March 10, 2021, in celebration of its Direct Listing. NYSE