Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Friday: Bank of America reiterates Apple as neutral Bank of America says Apple’s could be “challenged” when it reports earnings next week. “We view 1H2023 as challenged given a somewhat weaker iPhone cycle (both supply and demand issues) and 2H will depend on the next iPhone cycle and contribution from augmented reality/virtual reality.” UBS upgrades General Mills to buy from neutral UBS said in its upgrade of the food company that it sees an “attractive entry point” for shares of General Mills and that concerns about structural headwinds in the pet division are overdone. “However, we think these fears are misplaced given: (1) the long runway for premiumization ahead driven by the humanization of pets trend; and (2) the NT visibility to margin recovery in the Pet segment.” Citi reiterates Apple as buy Citi says it’s sticking with its buy rating heading into earnings next week. “While Apple’s supply chain is starting to recover, we believe macro weakness is likely to result in cautious tone with no formal guidance on revenues. We maintain our Buy rating.” Argus upgrades Las Vegas Sands to buy from hold Argus says the casino company is a beneficiary of China reopening. “Over the long term, we look for LVS to benefit from its ability to win new casino licenses and expand in Macau.” Citi initiates Bill.com Holdings as buy Citi said in its initiation of the billing company that it likes the stock’s “higher-growth financial model.” “We look for the stock to grind up over time with strategic and financial execution. Buy BILL. ” Cowen downgrades Northrop Grumman to market perform from outperform Cowen said in its downgrade of the aerospace and defense company that it’s concerned about an “overhang” with Northrop’s B-21 jet. ” NOC’s fundamentals are otherwise healthy, and we see continuing strong support for defense spending. But B-21 uncertainty may cap NOC’s valuation upside.” Wedbush upgrades Chewy to outperform from neutral Wedbush said in its upgrade of Chewy that the pet sector should “continue to benefit from steady demand for consumables in 2023.” “We upgrade our rating on CHWY from NEUTRAL to OUTPERFORM as we expect acceleration in net adds and continued material improvement in EBITDA margins.” UBS reiterates McDonald’s as buy UBS says the fast food company is defensive with “growth momentum.” ” MCD shares remain well positioned given defensive attributes in an increasingly difficult macro and strong global sales momentum driven by key competitive advantages.” BMO downgrades Ralph Lauren to underperform from market perform BMO said in its downgrade of the stock that it’s concerned about “domestic pressures.” “Although we believe RL has among the group’s strongest brand/management team who essentially architected the Sell Less, Charge More strategy, shares are almost back to pandemic-peaks despite lowered results and we worry Asia’s strength masks domestic pressures.” Read more about this call here. Wolfe downgrades Alaska Airlines to peer perform from outperform Wolfe says it sees too much near-term uncertainty for the airline company. “While ALK has a strong track record on costs and operational execution, we see near-term, relative pricing weakness and a back half story in the face of a great deal of uncertainty.” Bernstein upgrades McCormick to outperform from market perform Bernstein upgraded the food and spice and says it has an “attractive valuation.” “We are upgrading MKC to Outperform with a TP of $90 based on 1) a recovery in fundamental performance over the course of the 2023, 2) the company remains the strongest company in our coverage over the longer term, and 3) valuation looks relatively attractive, even given the tempered outlook for 2023.” MoffettNathanson upgrades Take-Two to outperform from market perform Moffett said in its upgrade of the video game company that it sees multiple expansion in 2023. “After a highly disappointing 2022, it’s ‘back to the future’ for Take-Two; a future that should catalyze upward estimate revisions and multiple expansion that drive the stock higher, in our view.” Credit Suisse names Sunrun a top 2023 pick Credit Suisse says the solar company is a top beneficiary of the Inflation Reduction Act. “We reiterate outperform rating as RUN benefits from access to lower cost of capital, leadership in third party ownership (TPO) market which gains share in due to IRA tax credit adders.” Citi reiterates Intel as neutral Citi says it’s standing by its neutral rating on the stock, but that Intel’s earnings report on Thursday was “bad news.” “While the company is committed to a cost reduction plan of $8.0-$10.0 billion by 2025, it doesn’t help the core manufacturing problem and we believe Intel’s ongoing investments on growth markets may not perform as expected.” Read more about this call here. Bank of America reiterates Meta as neutral Bank of America says it’s staying neutral heading into Meta earnings next week on concerns about an ad recession. “Our channel checks and eCommerce data suggest that 4Q’22 ad spend remained soft, though Meta may have benefitted from intra-quarter FX & Twitter share shift. 1Q checks suggest mixed spend for clients (some down, some up) but seemingly less downside risk of a big slowdown in 1H digital ad spending.” Wells Fargo reiterates Amazon as overweight Wells says it’s standing by its buy rating heading into Amazon earnings on February 2. “We remain confident on AMZN’s ability to drive penetration of additional retail product categories and key emerging geographies, maintain its lead in cloud computing and execute against additional opportunities such as online advertising which we believe offer the company compelling growth and profit characteristics.” Goldman Sachs downgrades Hess to neutral from buy Goldman downgraded the oil and gas company mainly on valuation. “We emphasize the downgrade is more a reflection of valuation, with our constructive view on Guyana as very much in-tact and Hess still delivering the best growth story in global Energy on a multi-year basis.” BTIG downgrades Datadog to neutral from buy BTIG downgraded the cloud scale software company on concerns about a tougher macro. “In addition, we heard some concerns about DDOG’ s customer base, which skews more towards small and mediumsized organizations, being at risk in the current environment.” Argus reiterates Tesla as buy Argus says it’s sticking with its buy rating after the company’s earnings report earlier this week. “The higher earnings reflected higher automotive revenue (and gross profit) and growth in both overall production and vehicle deliveries. Tesla also benefited from higher average selling prices and higher earnings in its Energy Generation and Storage business.” Goldman Sachs downgrades Steel Dynamics to neutral from buy Goldman downgraded Steel Dynamics mainly on valuation. “While we remain constructive on both the broader outlook for US steel demand and the business fundamentals, we now see limited upside to our updated 12-month$118 price target at current levels.” Oppenheimer reiterates Target as outperform Oppenheimer says Target could gain share sooner than expected if Bed Bath & Beyond files for bankruptcy. “A key part of our thesis is the ability for TGT to continue gaining share over time, including from challenged retailers.” Barclays reiterates Intel as equal weight Barclays called the company’s earnings report on Thursday “shocking.” “We do understand that INTC is likely clearing the decks, but it’s hard to formulate any sort of bull case with a struggling roadmap, sinking GMs, and negative FCF.” Read more about this call here.
