Here are the Wednesday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Bank of America reiterates Nvidia as buy Bank of America said it’s staying on the chipmaker bullish heading into earnings next week. “The silver lining of consumer driven down turns –such as NVDA’s current one – is they tend to be vicious but quick, to make way for new products.” Wolfe initiates Applovin as outperform Wolfe said in its initiation of the mobile tech company that it sees “growth and resiliency.” “Divesting their app studio business will unlock significant value in the stock, and we believe it is trading well below its growth/profitability potential w/out apps.” Deutsche Bank downgrades Stanley Black & Decker to hold from buy Deutsche said in its downgrade of the tools company that it sees a lack of near-term catalysts. “That said, there were a few exceptions – companies that unexpectedly slashed their full year outlooks – and SWK certainly took the cake with a 45% cut to 2022e adj. EPS guidance. This occurred on a very hectic day of earnings for us, and so we have revisited our model and investment thesis – and after doing this, we have decided to downgrade the stock from Buy to Hold.” Read more about this call here. Deutsche Bank downgrades Take-Two to hold from buy Deutsche said in its downgrade of the video game company that it sees a more balanced near-term outlook. “Following Take-Two’s F1Q23 earnings report and guidance update we are downgrading the stock to Hold (from Buy) based on what we see as a balanced risk/reward outlook this year (due in part to a weakening macro backdrop) and a lack of material near-term catalysts over the next few quarters, though we remain constructive on the company’s long-term growth outlook.” Rosenblatt initiates Nasdaq as buy Rosenblatt said in its initiation of the stock exchange company that Nasdaq is a “well-oiled machine.” “It’s focus on generating recurring SaaS (software-as-a-service) revenue has driven multiple growth, but the continued strength of its core market services business built around the world’s leading corporate listings franchise has been the primary driver of success, in our view.” Read more about this call here. Wolfe names Amazon and Uber as top picks Wolfe said in a note that Amazon and Uber have “have plenty of levers to drive profitability higher.” “Given all these cross-currents, we continue to think idiosyncratic ideas with stock performance somewhat decoupled from broad macro themes provide the best opportunity for alpha in 2H. Our top picks are AMZN and UBER. ” Bernstein resumes General Electric as outperform Bernstein resumed coverage of General Electric and says shares are cheap. ” GE beat a low bar on the quarter, largely due to outperformance in aviation, coupled with ~$0.15 of earnings ‘pulled forward’ from Q3 into Q2. This sets up a headwind for Q3, which is expected to be down yoy.” Citi downgrades Weber to sell from neutral Citi said in its downgrade of the grilling company there are too many macro headwinds. “We are downgrading WEBR to Sell from Neutral rated. We have seen WEBR’s sales unwind over the last several quarters as POS traffic has declined & as macro factors like inflation & geopolitical uncertainty have negatively impacted consumer demand.” Read more about this call here. Guggenheim downgrades Teladoc to sell from neutral Guggenheim said in its downgrade of the telehealth company that it’s concerned about rising inflation. “We are downgrading shares of TDOC to a SELL from Neutral and setting a $25 price target. We think that revenue growth and EBITDA will continue to be under pressure from 1) a challenging macro environment that is elongating sales cycles in enterprise decisions, 2) exposure to the consumer (40% of revenue) in an inflationary environment.” Bank of America upgrades J.M. Smucker to buy from neutral Bank of America said in its upgrade of the food company that it’s seeing improved execution. “Long term, we believe SJM’ s more focused portfolio after several years of divestitures positions the company well as consumer wallets tighten, given lower price elasticities in the remain-co portfolio relative to both historical SJM and to center-store packaged food peers.” Wedbush downgrades fuboTV to neutral from outperform Wedbush said in its downgrade of the streaming television company that it’s concerned about cash burn. “We are downgrading shares of FUBO to NEUTRAL from OUTPERFORM. Despite all of the company’s bold targets relayed at its investor day, fuboTV needs to raise capital and cut cash burn rapidly or it will be out of cash within a year.” Credit Suisse initiates Apple as outperform Credit Suisse said it sees “significant competitive advantages” for the tech giant. “In our view, Apple’s installed base of > 1.8B devices: (1) accelerates market adoption of the company’s services and software offerings and (2) creates stickier customer relationships with higher wallet share, which fortifies the company’s ecosystem.” Argus downgrades Yum Brands to hold from buy Argus said in its downgrade of Yum that it sees better opportunities elsewhere in the firm’s coverage. Yum owns brands such as KFC and Pizza Hut. “Downgrading to HOLD. The company’s asset-light business model (in which franchisees own and operate 98% of stores) provides a steady stream of franchise royalties and fees; however, its brands typically report uneven results, with strength at Taco Bell offset by weakness at Pizza Hut and KFC.” Morgan Stanley reiterates Peloton as equal weight Morgan Stanley said its most recent survey checks show a “less attractive opportunity” for digital fitness. “Our new AlphaWise survey digs into gym vs. at-home fitness trends. With just ~21% of at-home equipment both connected & subscribed, we still see share gain opportunity for connected fitness… but digital likely a less attractive opportunity for PTON given fractured share and low barriers to entry. Roth upgrades DraftKings to buy from hold Roth said in its upgrade of the daily fantasy sports company that it sees “tactical” opportunity to own the stock. “We see a tactical opportunity to own U.S. iGaming stocks ahead of NFL season and upgrade DKNG to Buy (PT +$7 to $25) while reiterating Buy for RSI (PT +$1 to $11).” Daiwa downgrades Sea Limited to hold from buy Daiwa said in its downgrade of the Singapore-based tech company that it sees a sluggish growth trajectory ahead for Sea Limited. “In the long run, we still like the company’s e-commerce and payment businesses as they are still underpenetrated, but we would wait for a better timing to revisit the stock.”
