Anika Begay
Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street Friday: Piper Sandler Starts Couchbase as Overweight Piper said in its Couchbase start that the sell-off is overdone for the cloud database services software company. “The secular drivers for multi-cloud databases remain compelling.” Bernstein Reiterates Tesla As Underperform Bernstein says it is maintaining its underperform rating on the stock. “We do not believe Tesla will be able to regain share or materially grow until it launches all new offerings at lower prices, likely not until 2026 and 2027, and we believe the company’s valuation is increasingly disconnected from prevailing fundamentals.” Wolfe Upgrades Newmark Group to Outperform Against Peers Wolfe says the commercial real estate advisory firm is well-positioned. “NMRK is overweight capital markets, which we believe is the current most advantaged business line.” Williams Trading Upgrades Nike from Buy to Sell Williams said in its Nike upgrade that it likes the management changes. “Raised to Buy. Raised PT from $67 to $93. It’s not that we believe a major change in direction for the company is imminent, but rather that the recent rehiring of Tom Peddie as VP of Marketplace Partners (AKA: the head of U.S. wholesale) indicates that change is brewing.” Barclays Raises CF Industries from Equal Weight to Overweight Barclays said in its upgrade of the agriculture company that it sees “sustainable profits.” “We raise CF from EW to OW, based on its total return potential, given a bias toward buybacks, and investments in low-carbon assets that will give them superior upside going forward.” JPMorgan Raises Sphere from Neutral to Overweight JPMorgan said it sees an attractive risk/reward for the Las Vegas-based entertainment company. “We are raising our rating on SPHR from Neutral to Overweight and setting a Dec. 25 PT of $57 (up from our previous Dec. 24 PT of $37).” Piper Sandler Upgrades Microchip from Neutral to Overweight Piper says it sees a number of positive catalysts coming for the semiconductor chip company. “We are upgrading shares of MCHP as we see numerous growth levers poised to activate in the near term.” Wells Fargo Downgrades Lumen from Equal Weight to Underweight Wells says it sees declining revenue for the internet service provider. “We are downgrading shares of LUMN from Underweight but raising PT to $4 ($1.75 previously).” Raymond James Upgrades Kimco Realty and Kite Realty to Strong Buy From Market Perform Raymond James says it is bullish on several shopping center real estate investment trusts. “We are upgrading KIM and KRG to strong buy as we see more upside in mall REITs with lower multiples and/or those trading at discounts to NAV. [net asset value].” Morgan Stanley Names FTAI Aviation a Top Pick Morgan Stanley said the airline has “undervalued” its growth prospects. “We move FTAI to our top pick in the aerospace sector. We raise our PT from $105 to $140 as we continue to see FTAI’s growth prospects undervalued by the market.” Morgan Stanley Reiterates Walmart as Buy Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Walmart from $75 to $82 per share following Thursday’s earnings call. “Another quarter that validates the rising market share, higher margin profit growth story.” BMO Reiterates Netflix as Outperform BMO says Netflix is well positioned for on-demand video streaming over the long term. “We are progressively positive on TTD (OP, $100.50) and NFLX (OP, $663.22), both of which are well positioned against emerging CTV [connected TV] opportunity.” Mizuho Reiterates Alphabet Outperform Mizuho says the hurdles appear high for a breakup of Alphabet. “Recent press reports suggest the Department of Justice may pursue a breakup of Alphabet after the company lost its search advertising antitrust case. While we are not legal experts, we believe the hurdle for a breakup is quite high given the precedent AT&T set in 1982.” Evercore ISI Adds Tactical Underperform on Palo Alto Networks The firm says it maintains its long-term outperform rating on the stock, but is cautious about going to earnings next week. “Our fundamental L/T thesis on PANW as a dominant IT provider remains unchanged; However, reflecting on the setup as of press time (8/19), we believe F4Q could serve as an offsetting event to reset the numbers, potentially offering a better post-EPS buying opportunity.” Cantor Fitzgerald Upgrades Teradyne from Neutral to Overweight Cantor called the stock one of the “sneakiest” AI plays in semiconductors. “Given the company’s exposure profile, scarcity value in AI leverage, upside path to consensus estimates, and earnings power approaching the high end of the company’s CY26 target model, we are upgrading TER to Outperform and adding it to our Top Picks list.” Bank of America Downgrades Estee Lauder to Neutral from Buy Bank of America downgraded the beauty company due to weakness in China. “We are downgrading shares of EL from Buy to Neutral to reflect the reality of weaker-than-expected beauty category performance in China (historically about a third of sales).” New Street Upgrades Cisco to Buy from Neutral New Street Upgrades the stock following earnings earlier this week. “Cyclical headwinds are now behind us and Cisco is returning to growth.” Jefferies Reiterates Nvidia as a Buy Jefferies says it is maintaining its buy rating on the stock despite concerns over Nvidia’s Blackwell chip delays. “Following our call on the NVDA Blackwell delays, we received a range of feedback from investors seeking to gauge what this meant for earnings. Our key takeaway is that confidence in the magnitude of NVDA’s estimate upside has diminished, but a hit is still needed.” Wells Fargo Upgrades Fox from Equal Weight to Overweight Wells says it likes the media company’s sports strategy. “We believe FOXA has the right approach to navigate an evolving television ecosystem.” BMO Reiterates Microsoft as a Top Pick BMO says it is holding the tech giant. “We believe Microsoft’s leadership position in AI and breadth of portfolio make MSFT worthy of our Top Pick designation, along with SAP.” Bank of America Reiterates Salesforce as Buy Bank of America raised its price target on the stock to $316 per share from $288. “Recent discussions with nearly a dozen key Salesforce partners suggest business is in line, with trading activity largely held at first-quarter levels.” Deutsche Bank Reiterates Live Nation as Buy Deutsche says demand remains “healthy” for the concert and live events company. “Venue Nation, Live Nation’s portfolio of owned-and-operated venues, represents a growing portion of the business with attractive returns, and we see further runway for expansion of this opportunity.” Bank of America Reiterates Applied Materials as Buy The firm says growth drivers are “on track” for the chip company following Thursday’s earnings. “In our view, AMAT’s combination of scale and balanced portfolio positions it as a key beneficiary of growing demand for all chips in a data-driven economy.”
