Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Thursday: Bernstein initiates Ford as outperform Bernstein said Ford is well positioned for the long term. “The iconic automaker continues to enjoy strong profits from its core markets and a policy driven investment cycle in the U.S. While electric execution looms large, we see a clear path to significant operating leverage and ultimately profits for the company’s EV unit.” Morgan Stanley downgrades NetEase to equal weight from overweight Morgan Stanley said in its downgrade of NetEase that it sees “too many risks” for the China internet gaming company. “Risks are unfolding from macro weakness, more intense competition and potential regulation, driving lower grossing and ROIC potential for both existing and future game titles.” Bank of America reiterates Nvidia as buy Bank of America raised its price target on the stock to $1,320 per share from $1,100 following earnings. “Our positive view on Nvidia is based on its underappreciated transformation from a traditional PC graphics chip vendor, into a supplier into high-end gaming, enterprise graphics, cloud, accelerated computing and automotive markets.” Evercore ISI initiates a tactical outperform on Wendy’s Evercore said it sees improving same-store sales for Wendy’s. “We are initiating a Tactical Outperform near-term trading call on Wendy’s. We are raising our 2Q US SSS growth forecast from 1% to 3% (cons. 2.5%), which is the basis for our near-term trading call.” Deutsche Bank initiates Freshpet a buy Deutsche said it sees “multiple structural tailwinds” for shares of the pet food and health company. “Despite strong recent share price performance (~+45% YTD, ~+95% last 12 months), we still see multiple structural tailwinds underpinning the FRPT bull case long-term.” Deutsche Bank initiates BellRing Brands as buy Deutsche said it sees a long runway for growth for the food company. ” BRBR has been on a considerable run (up 60%+ over the past year and 120%+ over the past 24 months), and yet we still see ample runway ahead for a currently capacity-constrained growth story making rapid headway on diversifying and scaling its manufacturing network.” Wedbush reiterates Petco as outperform Wedbush added the pet store chain to the best ideas list. “We are adding WOOF to Wedbush’s Best Ideas list following better-than-expected 1Q24 results that beat consensus expectations on the top- and bottom-lines and 2Q24 sales and EBITDA guidance above consensus expectations.” Jefferies upgrades International Paper to buy from hold Jefferies said in its upgrade of the paper company that it sees “multiple ways to unlock shareholder value.” “We’re upgrading IP to a Buy and raising our PT to $57.” JPMorgan upgrades Hasbro overweight from neutral JPMorgan said in its upgrade of Hasbro that it’s getting more constructive on the toymaker following a series of meetings with management. “At a high level, our estimates remain ahead of the Street as we believe consensus cost efficiency and digital gaming forecasts remain too low while both should ramp into 2H24/1H25.” RBC upgrades GoodRx to outperform from sector perform RBC said new initiatives are putting the telemedicine company in a better position for the long term. “With much of the required upfront selling/contracting now done— GDRX has signed five PBMs [pharmacy benefit managers] and seven top-10 pharmacies—the ramping of these provide it with good line-of-sight on a 3-yr mid-teens+ EBITDA CAGR.” RBC upgrades Norfolk Southern to outperform from sector perform RBC said in its upgrade of the railroad that the turnaround story is “intact.” “Our prior thesis on NSC was based on a successful operational turnaround we felt was appropriately reflected in valuation. We continue to expect an operational turnaround but flag the shares came off -12% (since 3/13) following the recent proxy contest.” Morgan Stanley initiates GE Vernova as equal weight Morgan Stanley initiated the stock with an equal weight mainly on valuation. “As a leading provider of energy transition equipment and services, GE Vernova is well positioned to benefit from strong secular tailwinds while operating efficiencies should drive improved profitability and cash flow.” UBS upgrades Eastman Chemical to buy from neutral UBS said in its upgrade of the chemical company that it’s bullish on shares of Eastman. “We expect the stock to grind higher w/ earnings, & re-rating potential as plastics recycling investments gain traction.” Oppenheimer downgrades Under Armour to perform from outperform Oppenheimer said a turnaround for the company looks slower than anticipated. “We have studied trends and developments at UAA closely. While we still look optimistically towards longer-term potential for Under Amour, particularly now with Kevin back at the helm, we recognize that positive change at the company will require time.” Bernstein initiates SAP as outperform Bernstein said the software company has the “right mix of revenue growth & margin improvement.” “We are jointly initiating on SAP, leveraging a combination of our deep software expertise and knowledge of Cloud transitions with our European software and IT services knowledge, to deliver a unique perspective on the company and the long-term investment opportunity.” Evercore ISI reiterates Dell as outperform Evercore added a tactical outperform on the stock ahead of earnings next week. “We think Dell is well positioned to handedly exceed street estimates, with traction in the all-important AI flywheel continuing to gain steam.” Bank of America upgrades Chubb to neutral from underperform Bank of America says Berkshire’s ownership in the insurer provides “downside support.” “Shares of Chubb have rallied by about 6% (compared with peers up 1-2% and the S & P 500 flat) following last week’s news of Berkshire Hathaway’s 7% stake amassed since 4Q23.” Bank of America upgrades Take-Two to buy from neutral Bank of America said the “pipeline momentum [will] raise [the] multiple” for shares of the gamemaker. “The release of two immersive sequels, other than GTA 6 [Grand Theft Auto], in FY25 makes TTWO attractive at its current valuation, buying time for an update from Rockstar Games. Stephens initiates First Horizon as overweight Stephens said the regional bank is well positioned. “A year removed from the TD breakup, FHN is well positioned for the current higher for longer interest rate environment given an asset sensitive balance sheet and above-peer capital ratios and related return that are a differentiator.” Oppenheimer reiterates Tesla as perform Oppenheimer said it’s sticking with its perform rating on the automaker but that battery demand favors Tesla. “We anticipate the guidance driving incremental demand for US-based battery cells and assembly, likely favoring TSLA in the near term.” JPMorgan downgrades Generac to neutral from overweight and NextEra Energy Partners to underweight from neutral JPMorgan downgraded NextEra and Generac mainly on valuation. “We are also downgrading NEP to Underweight from Neutral, and GNRC to Neutral from Overweight, primarily on valuation.” Argus upgrades Wynn to buy from hold Argus said the casino and hotel company warrants a “higher valuation.” “We believe prospects for a faster-than-anticipated rebound in Macau, strength in Las Vegas and solid results at the Encore Boston Harbor warrant a higher valuation.” Deutsche Bank initiates Legend Biotech as buy Deutsche said it’s bullish on the biotech company’s multiple myeloma drug Carvykti. “Big picture – We are initiating coverage of LEGN with a Buy rating and $60 PT based on our view that Carvykti sales should benefit in 2H24 from expanded patient slot and manufacturing capacity.” Bank of America reiterates Super Micro Computer as buy Bank of America said Nvidia’s earnings report on Wednesday bode well for companies like Super Micro. “In our view perhaps the biggest takeaway from Nvidia’s F1Q25 earnings call was that demand for AI related accelerated computing remains strong and is expanding beyond cloud service providers to consumer internet companies, enterprise and sovereign AI.”
