Here are Thursday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Goldman Sachs downgrades Elanco to sell from buy Goldman said in its downgrade of the animal health company that it sees growing earnings risk. “We downgrade ELAN t o Sell ($19 PT) as we see growing risks to the earnings outlook (OTC parasiticides, competition, China) and overhangs related to new product uptake and the EPA’s review of Seresto that could cause shares to underperform peers.” Goldman Sachs downgrades FIGS to sell from neutral and PVH to neutral from buy Goldman downgraded Figs due to a tougher macro environment for the health care apparel company. The firm also downgraded PVH to due to profitability headwinds. “While the brand remains healthy, we believe FIGS is increasingly addressing a higher penetration of its USTAM. Against a tougher macro, we believe FIGS’s core customer is likely to defer purchases or trade-down to alternative brands, reducing top line sales growth opportunity. … While we continue to see long-term opportunity for PVH to execute its strategic transformation and tailwinds from tourism, we are incrementally more guarded on near-term profitability against a weaker underlying European macro backdrop and rising FX headwinds.” Read more about this call here. Morgan Stanley reiterates Apple as overweight Morgan Stanley said in a deep dive note that Apple ‘s market cap could be even greater if it shifts to a subscription-like model. “We believe a more pronounced shift to a subscription-like model could add roughly $1 trillion to Apple’s current market capitalization.” Benchmark initiates Blue Apron as buy Benchmark said the meal kit company is underappreciated. “We are initiating coverage of Blue Apron Holdings with a BUY rating and a $10 per share price target. Even following a modest rebound off a new low, shares are trading at ~1/3 of their 52-week high, more than pricing in the economic clouds we see forming.” Telsey downgrades Traeger to market perform from outperform Telsey downgraded the grill company due to slowing demand. “We are downgrading our rating on COOK to Market Perform from Outperform for the following reasons: continued pressure on demand, particularly on high-end, discretionary categories (such as Traeger grills), related to macroeconomic challenges, including high inflation, rising interest rates, and headwinds emanating from the Russia war on Ukraine.” Piper Sandler downgrades DocuSign to underweight from equal weight Piper downgraded the stock due to an “elevated” risk profile. “We are downgrading shares of DOCU to Underweight from Neutral and lowering our target to $54 from $65, as we believe the risk profile remains elevated amid the CEO transition, consistent execution challenges, rapid employee turnover and deteriorating macro environment.” Read more about this call here. Morgan Stanley downgrades Compass to equal weight from overweight Morgan Stanley downgraded the real estate company on concerns about profitability. “We downgrade COMP to EW given profitability and execution concerns.” KeyBanc initiates Nordstrom as overweight KeyBanc said in its initiation of the department store that it’s a “best-in-class” retailer. “Favorable customer demographics coupled with increasing travel and occasions positions the best-in-class omnichannel retailer well in a challenging macro environment, particularly with Nordstrom’s Anniversary sale kicking off and sitting entirely in 2Q.” Mizuho reiterates Amazon as buy Mizuho reiterated its buy rating on shares of Amazon, but sais it’s concerned about a lack of short-term catalysts for the stock. “Maintain Buy on AMZN but lower PT from $198 to $155. Despite attractive valuation, we believe the stock lacks short-term catalysts due to a likely downward revision cycle.” Citi opens a positive catalyst watch on NXP Semiconductors Citi opened a positive catalyst watch on the stock and said it’s bullish heading into earnings next week. “We are opening positive catalyst watches on NXPI and ON in anticipation of good earnings and a short-term bounce in the group and a negative catalyst watch on Intel due to downside to estimates for earnings.” Goldman Sachs reiterates Exxon as buy Goldman said it’s bullish heading into Exxon earnings next week. “Broadly, we expect strong 2Q prints as commodity prices remain robust, which continue to offset higher costs across our coverage. Given the strong cash generation, we expect a number of companies to announce continued progress around capital returns, and are focused on any additional commentary on mitigating cost pressures.” Raymond James initiates Palantir as strong buy Raymond James said in its initiation of Palantir that it sees a “compelling” risk/reward. “After falling ~75% from its early 2021 peak, we see the risk/reward as compelling for a software business with a ~30% growth rate, gross margin structure in the 80% range with escalating contribution margins, and a balanced commercial and government customer mix.” Deutsche Bank downgrades Stryker to hold from buy Deutsche downgraded the medtech company due to margin pressures. “We are downgrading SYK from a Buy to a Hold due to: Higher conviction around capex pressures beginning in 4Q:22 and lasting through 2023.” Nomura upgrades Ford to neutral from reduce Nomura said in its upgrade of Ford that the stock is no longer undervalued. “Strong Bronco sales and moderating aluminum prices offset by potential slowdown in pickups, EV cost inflation.” Loop upgrades CSX to buy from hold Loop upgraded the railroad company after its earnings report on Wednesday and said the stock is now reasonably priced. “Two reasons: 1) The stock price has simply come down in recent weeks and is now 28% below our unchanged $38 price target; and 2) CSX , and the rest of the railroads, should be good places to park some money in the event of economic softness in 2023 given they always have pricing power and have easy comps next year because of all the meltdowns this year.” Wells Fargo upgrades Las Vegas Sands to overweight from equal weight Wells said it sees momentum building for Las Vegas Sands . “Our upgrade rationale reflects (1) attractive momentum in Singapore, where 2Q mass table/slot GGR has quickly reached 90%+ of ’19 levels despite visitation/airlift still at/below 50% of ’19, (2) Macau expectations can’t get much worse, with no realistic line of sight to COVID zero/travel restrictions being eased.” Read more about this call here. Morgan Stanley reiterates Tesla as overweight Morgan Stanley said in a note that Tesla’s earnings were better than expected , but that it still sees margin headwinds. ” Tesla 2Q results were stronger than expected for revs and margin while we remain constructive on the stock and believe demand > supply… we are prepared for near-term margin headwinds due to (new) challenges with ramping new production, particularly in Berlin.” Read more about this call here. Morgan Stanley reiterates Microsoft as overweight Morgan Stanley reiterated Microsoft as a top pick and said the stock’s valuation is attractive heading into earnings next week. “Sustained momentum in the Commercial Cloud businesses heading into FY23 should help offset impacts of a volatile macro environment and mounting FX headwinds.”
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