Here are Thursday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Baird initiates UnitedHealth as outperform Baird said the health insurance company is a favorite idea at the firm. “Our top structural long: UnitedHealth Group (UNH – $597 price target; +20% upside) as the most vertically and horizontally integrated Managed Care company.” Evercore ISI upgrades Okta to outperform from in line Evercore upgraded the identity access management company following earnings. ” OKTA delivered strong F1Q results that exceeded tempered expectations, accompanied by a much more upbeat tone, suggesting that prior missteps and execution issues are now behind them.” Goldman Sachs initiates Abbott Labs as buy Goldman said Abbott is well positioned for growth. “Diversified business and strong product cycles to sustain top-line growth with margin expansion driving EPS upside; balance sheet optionality a source of additional potential value creation.” UBS reiterates Apple as neutral UBS said its checks show iPhone pressure remains in China and the U.S. for Apple. “Consistent with our view that ‘sell-in’ data in China is not a reliable or accurate predictor of iPhone/smartphone demand, our analysis of April smartphone sell-through data (Source: Counterpoint Research) points to continued pressure in the two largest smartphone markets, the US and China.” Piper Sandler downgrades Cava to neutral from overweight Piper said in its downgrade of the stock that it sees a more balanced risk/reward. “Following CAVA’s 1Q24 earnings results, we are moving our rating to Neutral, down from Overweight prior. Our updated price target of $92 implies only ~4% upside from current levels, which leads us to view the Risk-Reward as more balanced at this time, hence the rating change.” Goldman Sachs reiterates Eli Lilly as neutral Goldman raised its price target on Eli Lilly to $785 per share from $740. “We update our market model for Obesity therapeutics and now forecast total worldwide sales of next-generation, primarily GLP-1 receptor agonist anti-obesity medications to reach $130bn in 2030, an increase from our prior $100bn forecast.” Mizuho upgrades PayPal to buy from neutral Mizuho said shares of the payment company are too attractive to ignore. “We view valuation as compelling, as PYPL trades > 1 standard deviation below its historical level relative to peers.” Bank of America reiterates Amazon as buy Bank of America said Amazon’s ad revenues are underappreciated. ” Amazon’s advertising revenues continue grow faster than Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) and have become a key driver of retail profitability. We estimate advertising contributes over 4 percentage points to retail margins today, and could grow toward 5 points by 2026. Wells Fargo initiates Amicus as overweight Wells Fargo upgrades US Cellular to overweight from equal weight Wells said the company’s sale to T-Mobile “can unlock value for shareholders.” “We are upgrading shares of USM to Overweight and increasing our PT to $75. USM’s wireless sale to TMUS is just the first step of many we believe the company can take to unlock value for shareholders.” Mizuho downgrades First Solar to neutral from buy Mizuho downgraded First Solar mainly on valuation. “We downgrade on valuation as stock reflects strong pricing power, and due to limited upside in our bull case ($325) which factors in a 5c/W price adder in the US and one new US production line.” Deutsche Bank upgrades Formula One to buy from hold Deutsche said in the racing series has an “attractive valuation.” “Upgrading F1 to Buy Based on a Strong Multi-Year Growth Outlook Combined with an Attractive Valuation.” Wedbush adds Cheesecake Factory to the best ideas list Wedbush said the stock is underappreciated. “We believe CAKE has relatively more near- and medium-term top- and bottom line visibility than peers, which is underappreciated by investors.” JPMorgan upgrades Corning to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said the glass company has EPS upside. “We are upgrading shares of Corning to Overweight as the cyclical and secular drivers in the primary businesses of Display and Optical are lining up favorably for the company and should position it well to leverage the upcycle in revenue, with limited incremental operating expense and capital investment, driving significant EPS upside.” Daiwa reiterates Nvidia as outperform Daiwa raised its price target on the stock to $1,325 per share from $900. ” Nvidia is in the right place at the right time.” Stifel upgrades International Game Technology to buy from hold Stifel said it’s getting bullish on shares of the gambling company. “We are upgrading IGT to Buy from Hold, and raising our target price to $26 from $24.” Goldman Sachs reiterates Salesforce as buy Goldman said it’s sticking with the stock following earnings on Wednesday. “We reiterate our Buy rating though lower our PT to $315 ($345 prior) after CRM’s F1Q25 results largely came in lower than investors’ expectations.” Redburn Atlantic Equities initiates Insulet as buy Redburn said in its initiation of Insulet that it’s bullish on shares of the insulin and diabetes products company. “With gross margins already well established, we expect much of Insulet’s adjusted operating margin expansion to come from enhanced operating leverage.” Northland upgrades C3.ai to outperform from market perform Northland upgraded AI company following earnings. ” C3.ai posted accelerating subscription growth to 41% in 4Q24, providing evidence that the headwinds from a migration to a usage-based revenue model are abating. Strong pilot growth and demand for genAI suggest high growth can continue in our view.” Goldman Sachs initiates AstraZeneca, Novartis and Novo Nordisk as buy Goldman initiated several biotech company’s on Thursday and says it sees “innovation momentum a key focus.” “We initiate coverage on AstraZeneca , Novo Nordisk and Novartis with Buy ratings.” Bank of America upgrades Datadog to buy from neutral Bank of America said the stock is best-in-class. ” Datadog is positioned to be a share gainer in a large $53bn observability TAM [total addressable market.] Guggenheim downgrades Generac to sell from neutral Guggenheim downgraded the stock mainly on valuation. ” GNRC’s stock has risen by 32% since the beginning of March (vs. the S & P500 up 3% over the same time period), we believe primarily because the market is reacting to reports that 2024 is likely to see an active hurricane season.”
