Here’s Friday’s biggest call on Wall Street: JPMorgan upgrades Chubb to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said the insurer is defensive. “Our long-term fundamental outlook for CB has been positive, but we have been reluctant to recommend the stock due to concerns about slowing commercial market appreciation and the stock’s valuation.” CFRA Upgrades Whirlpool to Buy from Hold CFRA said in its upgrade on the stock that shares are attractive. “Despite weak appliance demand, we believe WHR stock is attractive as a market leader in the US.” KeyBanc echoes Apple as overweight KeyBanc said iPhone demand remains “resilient against a backdrop of macro issues.” “We continue to believe that AAPL is one of the best options within our coverage given AAPL’s robust product/subscriber base, ability to grow key markets such as China and India, solid margin expansion potential and AAPL’s shareholder-friendly capital allocation.” Wells Fargo upgrades Warner Brothers Discovery to overweight from equal Wells said in its upgrade of the stock that it sees an attractive risk/reward. “We threw everything and the kitchen sink at a Downside Case scenario for WBD and it still delivers at 3x with ’25E. We now have conviction in FCF to limit downside while the stock has asymmetric upside.” Read more about this call here. Wedush Downgrades First Republic to Neutral from Outperform Wedbush said a takeover could wipe out equity value from the bank. “We downgrade shares of First Republic to NEUTRAL from OUTPERFORM as we believe that a distressed M&A sale could result in minimal, if any, residual value to shareholders due to FRC’s significant negative tangible book value after accounting for fair value. marks on its loans and securities.” Read more about this call here. Citi initiates Bumble as buy Citi said the dating app continues to gain market share. “Bumble currently has one of the best growth rates in our Internet coverage, with expected modest EBITDA margin expansion as well.” Read more about this call here. Oppenheimer upgrades Synchrony to outperform Oppenheimer said the consumer financial services company is a “safety play not for the faint of heart.” “We think the banking sector’s liquidity fears led to some downside recessionary values, and we expect a rebound before the ultimate low.” Morgan Stanley upgrades Nvidia to overweight from equal Morgan Stanley said the AI ”narrative is too strong to remain on the sidelines” at Nvidia. “Having been EW for a big move in the stock, we continue to see indications that LLM (large language model) enthusiasm is turning into stronger consumption both in the short term and long term; we have been overly data point oriented around a positive bigger picture, but the narrative is too strong to remain on the sidelines.” Read more about this call here. JPMorgan reiterates First Republic as overweight JPMorgan said it stands by shares of First Republic. “However, with the shares trading well below TBV (tangible book value), we see this as a higher risk but potentially very high reward name.” Read more about this call here. Cowen reiterates Netflix as better than Cowen said it sees long-term upside as the streaming giant cracks down on password sharing. “Our proprietary research continues to suggest that NFLX’s paid sharing initiative could add a significant number of US paid sharers as well as generate new membership additions in ’23. In 1Q23 through February, ~40% of password sharers want to maintain access.” Citi reiterates Nvidia as buy Citi said it is positive about Nvidia’s adoption of AI. “We raise our TP to $305 from $245 with a $400 bull case on accelerating generative AI adoption based on several cloud service providers such as AWS, MSFT, Alphabet and Baidu comments this week.” UBS reiterates Alphabet as buy UBS said it is becoming more positive on shares of the internet giant. “We see the cost risk surrounding the integration of generative AI into Google’s search results as manageable.” Truist initiates Churchill Downs as buy Truist said the horse racing company’s brand is “iconic.” “As sports teams, leagues and high-end brands see record values, we see the opportunity for CHDN and its iconic Kentucky Derby race (or rather brand) to appreciate accordingly.” Canaccord reiterates Rivian as buy The firm admitted its buy rating has not been accurate, but says it stands by shares in the electric car company. “We believe that Rivian is on its way to capturing its fair share of the electricity market via a well-thought-out vertically integrated strategy.” Bank of America reiterates FedEx as buy Bank of America said it stood by its buy rating on FedEx after the company’s earnings report on Thursday. “We increase our PO to $305 (from $233), at 16x our F24E EPS (from 13x), above the midpoint of its 12x-18x trading range, as we believe F23 represents the lowest earnings.” Stifel Downgrades Shopify to Hold from Buy Stifel resumed coverage of Shopify with a downgrade, noting that there is margin pressure. “However, the investments the company is making to expand its platform capabilities are squeezing gross margins and driving increased CapEx in the near term, weighing on the company’s ability to generate meaningful profitability and FCF in ’23/’24.” Morgan Stanley echoes Microsoft as overweight Morgan Stanley said it is positive about Microsoft’s AI opportunity. “Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and CVP of Modern Work and Business Applications Jared Spataro hosted a webcast focusing on the role AI will play in impacting productivity work.” Citi reiterates Meta as buy Citi said it likes Meta’s improved operating leverage. “Meta is a top pick in 2023, as detailed in our deep dive of 11 key Internet trends, highlighting Meta’s improved engagement, newer ad products like Advantage+ (which results in greater ROAS), and improved operating leverage.” Argus Downgrades Bath & Body Works to Hold From Buy Argus said in its downgrade of the stock that it sees too much “financial uncertainty”. decline for the index. Due to increasing pressure from online retailers and economic uncertainty, we lower our rating to HOLD.”
Regional banks are among Wall Street’s biggest analyst calls Friday