Starbucks upgraded, Hershey downgraded: Wall Street's top analyst calls

Starbucks upgraded, Hershey downgraded: Wall Street's top analyst calls
Starbucks upgraded, Hershey downgraded: Wall Street's top analyst calls

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The most talked about and market moving research calls around Wall Street are now in one place. Here are today's research calls that investors need to know, as compiled by The Fly.

Top Upgrades:

  • Bernstein upgraded Starbucks (SBUX) to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $115, up from $92. The market has positively reacted to the appointment of Brian Niccol as the new CEO, but the stock's current valuation does not fully appreciate the earnings power that Starbucks could unlock, the firm tells investors in a research note.

  • Goldman Sachs upgraded Bilibili (BILI) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $22.60, up from $16.50. Bilibili is a "highly sticky, under monetized" young user-based video platform and is now turning to a more robust and profitable business model driven by a higher margin ads and gaming business, says the firm, which believes Bilibili is on track to deliver 10%-15% net margin by 2026.

  • Barclays upgraded New York Community Bancorp (NYCB) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $14 price target. While there is "still plenty of hard work ahead," the bank is now "more firmly positioned," and with the announcements over the past few weeks of new senior lender hiring, appears positioned to start looking to the future, the firm says.

  • Jefferies upgraded Pediatrix Medical (MD) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $14, up from $8. The firm believes the company "can recapture its place" as one of the best free cash flow stories in healthcare services.

Top Downgrades:

  • Jefferies downgraded Hershey (HSY) to Underperform from Hold with a price target of $163, down from $184. Elevated prices and a "stretched" consumer are finally impacting the U.S. snack category and chocolate stands out as amongst the most concerning, the firm tells investors in a research note.

  • KeyBanc downgraded Nordstrom (JWN) to Sector Weight from Overweight without a price target. The firm cites the limited stock price upside related to proposal submission of the go-private transaction at $23 per share in cash for the downgrade.

  • UBS downgraded GE HealthCare (GEHC) to Sell from Neutral with a price target of $74, down from $84. The firm says the stock's valuation is hard to justify given GE HealthCare's lower growth outlook and implies that investors have higher expectations than even sell-side consensus.

  • Barclays downgraded Travel + Leisure (TNL) to Underweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $40, down from $46. The firm remains cautious on the broader leisure demand travel backdrop and expects further deterioration of timeshare.

  • UBS downgraded Smartsheet (SMAR) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $56.50, down from $61, after the company entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners at a value of $8.4B or $56.50 per share.