Here are Friday’s biggest analyst calls: Apple, Tesla, Boeing, First Solar, Qorvo, Exxon, Meta, O’Reilly & more

Posted By: EN Todayon: December 08, 2023In: Renewable Energy News

Here are Friday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Bank of America reiterates Meta as buy Bank of America said it’s bullish on Meta’s entry into AI. “We think AI announcements support our thesis that AI driven innovation at Meta will lead to new user experiences and recurring revenues models.” JPMorgan reiterates Exxon as overweight The firm said Exxon is one of its favorite ideas in 2024. “On individual ratings, for the US group, we remain Overweight on XOM, with the most attractive valuation among US peers and the most defensive dynamics in a downside case.” Morgan Stanley upgrades Qorvo to overweight from equal weight and downgrades Qualcomm to equal weight from overweight The firm said in its downgrade of Qualcomm that “strong execution in early stage of 5G cycle sets up for tough comparisons.” The firm said in its upgrade of Qorvo that the stock has attractive catalysts. “We are shifting our smartphone exposure from defense to offense, downgrading QCOM to EW (from OW), and upgrading QRVO to OW (from EW).” Citi downgrades Deckers to neutral from buy Citi downgraded Deckers mainly on valuation. “After a Strong Run, Downgrading to Neutral on More Balanced Risk/Reward.” Bernstein reiterates Tesla as underperform Bernstein said in a note on Friday that it was making the “short case for Tesla in 2024.” “While significant downward EPS revisions had no impact on TSLA’ s stock this year, we believe a waning of the growth narrative could weigh on the stock’s multiple.” Morgan Stanley reiterates Apple as overweight Morgan Stanley raised its price target on the stock to $220 per share from $210 and says it’s standing by the stock. “We are turning more positive on AAPL shares as near-term risks are quelled & attention shifts to what could drive a recovery in fundamentals – Services, GMs and Edge AI.” JPMorgan initiates Silicon Labs and Synaptics as overweight JPMorgan initiated several global tech companies on Friday and says they’re well positioned in the “Internet of Things (IoT) end market.” “We initiate coverage on Silicon Labs (ticker; SLAB, market cap ~$4B ) with an OW-rating and a Dec-2024 price target of $145 and on Synaptics (ticker SYNA, market cap ~$4B) with an OW-rating and a Dec-2024 price target of $130, two companies that are focused on the Internet of Things (IoT) end market.” Bank of America reiterates Broadcom as buy Bank of America said it’s standing by its buy rating on the stock after its earnings report on Thursday. ” Broadcom reported an inline Q4 with sales up 4% YoY, as AI surge offset cyclical headwinds in enterprise server/storage areas.” JPMorgan initiates Cogent Biosciences as buy JPMorgan said the biosciences company has plenty of room for upside. ” Cogent Biosciences is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on precision therapies designed for genetic diseases.” Stephens initiates East West Bancorp as overweight Stephens said in its initiation of East West Bancorp that the regional bank has impressive “growth acumen.” “Top-Tier Franchise With Excess Capital Trading at Discount.” TD Cowen initiates Hubbell as outperform TD said the electrical products company has impressive growth prospects. “We are initiating coverage of Hubbell with an Outperform rating and a $338 price target. We’re constructive on Hubbell’s growth trajectory and its role within the electrification theme.” Wells Fargo initiates Clean Harbors as overweight Wells said the waste company is underappreciated. ” CLH has a leading market position within the broader hazardous waste landscape.” Wells Fargo upgrades SLM Corporation to overweight from equal weight Wells said in its upgrade of Sallie Mae that it has competitive positioning. “SLM: Nobody Puts Sallie Mae in a Corner (Including Us); Upgrading to Overweight and Raising Price Target to $20.” BMO downgrades Casey’s General Stores to market perform from outperform BMO said in its downgrade of the convenient store company that it sees elevated fuel margin expectations. “We believe CASY remains a well-managed, high-quality company with a long runway for growth. We raise our F2Q24E EPS and F25E EPS on slightly higher fuel margins.” Morgan Stanley upgrades First Solar to overweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley said investors should buy the dip after the recent selloff. “Upgrading FSLR to Overweight and increasing our price target to $237/shr, offering 64% upside.” Loop initiates Klaviyo as buy Loop said in its initiation of the marketing automation company that it sees “meaningful upside.” “We are initiating coverage of Klaviyo with a Buy rating and $40 PT. In our view, the company is emerging as the de facto standard in the marketing automation software industry for small and medium-sized merchants.” Bank of America reinstates Wix.com as buy Bank of America said the Israeli-based internet company has underappreciated margins. “We also like Wix’s AI strategy, making it less at-risk than some believe after the stock was included in AI-Risk buckets in early 2023.” Bank of America initiates Vital Energy as underperform Bank of America said it sees too many risks for the energy company. “We initiate on Vital Energy (VTLE) at Underperform with a $48 PO. While its outlook has improved over the past 4yrs under CEO Jason Pigott, we believe its portfolio mix carries risks on quality and duration.” Goldman Sachs initiates Vici Properties as buy Goldman said in its initiation of Vici that the gaming real estate investment trust is well positioned. “Reliable same store growth, attractive dividend yield, and likelihood for external growth creates attractive total return.” Deutsche Bank upgrades Taylor Morrison to buy from hold Deutsche said in its upgrade of the homebuilder that it sees strong momentum ” TMHC to Buy (from Hold) on favorable relative valuation and expected momentum in the business due to its diversified buyer exposures.” Deutsche names downgrades KB Home to sell from hold Deutsche downgraded the stock mainly on valuation. “We downgrade KBH to Sell (from Hold) primarily on valuation relative to its lower returns.” UBS names Boeing a top 2024 pick UBS said the aerospace giant is a top pick in 2024. “Buy BA – record new aircraft orders and improving supply chain support higher deliveries/production and drive multi-year FCF growth. $10.5bn FCF in 2025E vs. consensus at $9.7bn.” TD Cowen names Frontier a top 2024 pick TD said the cable company is a “market maverick.” “The FYBR story is one of a market maverick with a superior Broadband product and pricing advantage that should win market share.” TD Cowen names Zebra Technologies as a top 2024 pick TD said the mobile computing tech company is a top idea in 2024. ” ZBRA was a major Covid beneficiary as strategies in e-Commerce were kickstarted or accelerated by their customers to address a new consumer landscape.” TD Cowen names O’Reilly a top 2024 pick TD said the stock is best-in-class. ” ORLY is a best-in-class compounder which we expect will continue to distance itself from peers & grow market share driven by the Pro channel.” Deutsche upgrades Equifax to buy from hold Deutsche said in its upgrade of the credit bureau company that it sees a mortgage rate recovery. “We see asymmetric risk/reward in EFX (upgrade to Buy) if and when mortgage rates decline to 5.5% (from 7%), and a recession (mild or severe) should hasten this decline noting an elevated spread (vs. the 10-year) in mortgage rates.” Wolfe upgrades Cushman & Wakefield to outperform from peer perform Wolfe said the real estate company is the “last inexpensive CRE services stock.” “With this report, we are upgrading Cushman & Wakefield (CWK) to Outperform from Peer Perform. CWK screens discounted, which creates entry point opportunities.” DA Davidson initiates Mondelez and Freshpet as buy DA said Mondelez and Freshpet are well positioned in 2024. “Against this backdrop, we think MDLZ (invested through cycle) and FRPT (low base) are best setup to hold or grow margins over the next year.”