Here are Thursday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Evercore ISI upgrades Netflix to outperform from in line Evercore said it expects revenue growth to accelerate due to the company’s ad-supported model. “We are upgrading shares of NFLX to Outperform from In Line with a new $300 PT based on very recent U.S. and International survey work and our proprietary analysis of NFLX’s ad-supported and password-sharing revenue opportunities. We believe these opportunities, especially the ad-supported service, constitute Growth Curve Initiatives (GCIs)—catalysts that can drive a material reacceleration in revenue growth.” Read more about this call here. Atlantic Equities upgrades Activision Blizzard to overweight from neutral Atlantic Equities said it sees a positive risk/reward for the stock if the Microsoft acquisition is approved. “We are upgrading Activision Blizzard t o Overweight. We view the risk-reward as positive given substantial upside if the Microsoft acquisition is approved, and much more limited downside if the deal does not complete.” Read more about this call here. Piper Sandler reiterates Boston Properties as neutral Piper said it sees the work-from-home environment as “hard to unseat” ahead of the real estate management company’s investor day next week. “While not quite the same historic magnitude as the passing of the Queen, the importance for BXP to convey the relevance of office at next week’s investor day in Boston is paramount. As the world moves on from the pandemic in most regards, return to office remains a lingering vestige, with WFH stubbornly hard to unseat.” Wedbush upgrades Deckers to outperform from neutral Wedbush said the stock is poised to outperform. “Amidst an extremely challenging retail environment, DECK was a standout last EPS season as one of the only companies in our coverage to actually raise guidance.” Credit Suisse upgrades Wynn to outperform from neutral Credit Suisse noted the casino company’s stock is too compelling to ignore. “At current levels, we think Wynn is one of the more compelling stories in gaming.” Read more about this call here. Bernstein names Pinduoduo a top pick Bernstein said it likes the ag-tech company’s strong execution. “To say Pinduoduo has been an enigma would be a considerable understatement. Management makes a point to be vague about the future. A wide variety of investor questions are answered with “investing in agriculture”… now in the Queen’s English. But look beyond Pinduoduo’s eccentricity, and it’s clear that the company has executed strongly.” Jefferies upgrades Nordstrom to buy from hold and Kohl’s to hold from buy Jefferies said in its upgrade of Nordstrom that opportunity remains for some retail stocks. “While we aren’t making a LT positive call on dept stores, we do believe oppty remains for stock selection based on valuations and co specific catalysts. We also conducted a survey to gauge spend expectations. Upgrade JWN to Buy, reit. M at Buy, downgrade KSS to Hold.” Jefferies initiates Okta as buy Jefferies said in its initiation of Okta that the identity access management company is a “fantastic buying opportunity.” “This has, in our view, created an attractive entry point for a leading cyber asset. While we do not discount the amount of work in front of the company (likely to take a few quarters), we highlight a fantastic product, coupled with a large and underpenetrated market.” Read more about this call here. Morgan Stanley reiterates Hostess Brands as overweight Morgan Stanley said it sees “topline upside” for the maker of Twinkies. “We see topline upside at TWNK, supported by accelerating US scanner data QTD, recent innovation, greater marketing investment, strong pricing power.” Susquehanna initiates Bill.com as positive Susquehanna said it likes the accounting software company’s long-term prospects. “We are initiating coverage of Bill.com with a price target of $190 and a Positive rating. We like the company’s long-term prospects to expand its customer base, grow TPV (total portfolio value), and increase its take rate materially, and our out-year estimates are well ahead of consensus.” JPMorgan downgrades Duckhorn to neutral from overweight JPMorgan said it still likes the wine company long term but that it’s concerned guidance could disappoint. “We still like NAPA long-term and operational performance track record since the IPO in March 2021 has been impressive, but we see several reasons to move to the sidelines for now,” Berenberg upgrades Marriott to buy from hold Berenberg said the stock is a “shareholder returns” story. “The hotel sub-sector now becomes our preferred play among our coverage universe and we raise Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott to Buy while lifting the price targets of all the global operators.” Bank of America reiterates Ollie’s as buy Bank of America noted it’s bullish on the discount retailer and that it sees Ollie’s getting more deals in store as “their vendors look to move excess product.” “We see potential for further deals ahead as a number of retailers, e.g. Bed Bath & Beyond, Tuesday Morning, At Home and Party City, and their vendors look to move excess product.” Goldman Sachs upgrades Chart Industries to buy from neutral Goldman said in its upgrade of the engineered equipment clean energy company that it sees strong LNG order volume. “Our upgrade of Chart Industries is driven by 1) Over the next 12-month period, investors are more likely to underwrite LNG orders that have the potential to be added into backlog in 2023/24, driving consensus estimate revisions through 2025+, 2) Strong LNG order volume should be accretive given higher margins and operating leverage in a manufacturing business.” Needham upgrades Tesla to hold from underperform and initiates Fisker a buy Needham said in its initiation of Fisker that it likes the stock’s valuation. The firm also upgraded Tesla to hold but said it prefers Fisker. “We rate FSR a Buy, RIVN a Hold and LCID Underperform. We are also upgrading TSLA from Underperform to Hold. We prefer FSR due to its attractive valuation, business strategy, and technology of the SUV.” Credt Suisse upgrades Nokia to outperform from neutral Credit Suisse said in its upgrade of the telecom company that it has an “underappreciated product portfolio.” “We perform a deep dive into Nokia’s growth drivers. We see telco wireless capex headwinds developing into 2023. However, we believe Nokia’s diversified portfolio and the strength we expect in its Network Infrastructure division mean that it is better placed within our telecom equipment coverage than Ericsson to weather the aforementioned headwinds.” UBS reiterates Microsoft as buy UBS said it still sees several positive catalysts ahead for the stock. “While Microsoft shares are relatively unchanged since reporting 4Q/Jun results in late- July, we and investors have had plenty of Microsoft issues to absorb of late, from PC weakness to Azure cloud migration activity.” Baird reiterates Pinterest as outperform Baird said it sees several positive catalysts ahead for the stock. “While we are slightly trimming Q4 estimates to reflect broader ad industry headwinds, we think PINS can outperform the broader digital media space.”
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