Here are Monday’s biggest analyst calls: Apple Meta Chevron AT&T Disney Coinbase & more
Here are Monday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Jefferies downgrades Williams-Sonoma to underperform from hold Jefferies said it’s concerned about a softer macro environment. “As a discretionary retailer serving upper-middle income consumers whose EBIT% is 2x vs. ’19 thanks in part to over-earning, we see WSM shares underperforming ahead of a softer macro.” Raymond James upgrades AT & T to strong buy from outperform Raymond James said it expects AT & T to “outpace” Verizon over the next several months. “We are upgrading the rating on shares of AT & T to Strong Buy from Outperform, as we believe the company will outpace peer Verizon over the next few months based on the current operating performance of the two businesses.” Wells Fargo reiterates Disney as overweight Wells said it continues to like the stock heading into earnings in early November. ” DIS’s scale, strategy, and assets continue to make it our favorite name in Media. We are lowering EPS though, but this is noise in the transition vs the transition being incrementally riskier.” Bank of America downgrades Meta to neutral from buy Bank of America said it’s concerned about an ad spending slump heading into earnings later this week. “Our checks have suggested stability in Meta 3Q ad spend and Snap’s 3Q revs were +2% q/q, so we think 3Q will be in-line (on higher ad loads), with EBITDA upside on cost cuts .” Read more about this call here. JPMorgan upgrades Wolfspeed to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said the semiconductor manufacturer company’s analyst day will be a major catalyst for shares of the stock. “We are upgrading shares of Wolfspeed from Neutral to Overweight heading into a crucial investor day on October 31, which we believe will reinforce the capacity ramp key to delivering on the bull thesis on the shares. Read more about this call here. Deutsche Bank reiterates Apple as buy Deutsche said it’s standing by the stock heading into earnings later this week. “While we expect F4Q (Sep) results to be generally in line with DB/Street estimates, we believe AAPL’s comments on demand will be more cautious given the current macro environment, and we think the company’s qualitative revenue guidance for F1Q (Dec) could be below current DB/Street estimates.” Mizuho reiterates Coinbase as neutral Mizuho said it’s staying neutral on Coinbase as losses continue to “linger” on the company’s platform. “Troubles come in battalions. Early October crypto volumes point to subdued activity on the COIN platform whilst share losses continue to linger.” Bank of America reiterates Apple as neutral Bank of America said it sees a balanced risk-reward heading into Apple earnings later this week. “An inline Dec guide would imply a weaker cycle overall. Maintain Neutral on risk/reward balance where lower consumer spending, weaker n-t services trajectory and headwind from stronger dollar, are offset by better mix ofiPhones, and potential new products (AR/VR) and services (advertising).” Loop initiates Flywire as buy Loop said in its initiation of the fintech company that it has a “market leading position.” “While many payment companies speak of monetizing new payment flows , FLYW is well established and growing fast in 4 large vertical markets that have been largely underserved by fintechs and traditional payment companies .” JPMorgan upgrades Avis Budget to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said in its upgrade of Avis that it thinks used car rental prices will remain elevated longer than investors think. “A rising general consumer price level and rising travel costs (hotels, airlines, etc.) should also run cover for still elevated rental car pricing in the face of lower used vehicle prices . Wells Fargo downgrades FedEx to equal weight from overweight Wells said the operational redesign at FedEx could take years and that it will cause revenue growth to slow. “There is a significant operational redesign underway at FDX . Ultimately, FDX should likely emerge as a less asset intensive and more efficient service provider. However, that evolution will take time, measured in years not quarters.” Read more about this call here . Guggenheim upgrades ServiceNow to buy from neutral Guggenheim said in its upgrade of the cloud computing workflow software company that it sees an attractive risk-reward outlook. “While the commercial market remains soft for ServiceNow, we believe the US Federal business was likely strong enough to more than offset this, which should carry over to 4Q revenue .” Bank of America downgrades Aaron’s to underperform from neutral Bank of America said in its downgrade of the rental company that it’s concerned about the “financial health of the subprime sector.” “Ahead of lease-to-own 3Q earnings, we’re downgrading Aaron’s (AAN) to Underperform given our view that the financial health of the subprime consumer and their demand for big ticket items has worsened over the past several months.” Cantor Fitzgerald initiates WeWork as buy Cantor said in its initiation of the work sharing space company that it sees a “future of free cash flow.” ” WeWork is nearing the tail-end of a multi-year cost rationalization and real estate footprint optimization strategy, which has already resulted in removing $2.7bn in costs from the business.” Barclays downgrades Analog Devices, NXP Semiconductors and Qorvo to equal weight from overweight Barclays said in its downgrade of Analog Devices , NXP Semiconductors and Qorvo that there is “no reason” to own them right now. “We still see material cuts in PC/Handsets/Memory, but those names are further along the reset process and we would begin to rotate out of the ones who have not even begun.” HSBC initiates Qualcomm as buy HSBC said Qualcomm is “well positioned for growth in a post smartphone world.” “Qualcomm is best known for making chips used in smartphones, a market that is now slowing. However, the company is well positioned for growth in a post smartphone world thanks to its dominant position in supplying chips to autos, its technology strength in radio frequency front end chips , and its penetration of Internet of Things devices.” Read more about this call here . HSBC downgrades Chevron to hold from buy HSBC downgraded Chevron mainly on valuation. “The integrated oils have outperformed the market once again in the last few months, thanks to the broader market correction and more recently the recovery in oil prices to above USD90/b following the OPEC+ supply quota cut.”
