Here are Thursday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: KeyBanc upgrades Sherwin-Williams to overweight from sector weight Key said investors should buy the dip in shares of the paint company. ” SHW: Upgrading to Overweight on Share Gains, Cycle Bottom, and Strong Incremental Margins.” Bernstein initiates General Motors as outperform Bernstein says shares of GM have plenty more room to run. “The company is pivoting from lofty long-term targets back to more tangible shareholder returns. We expect 2024’s performance to push the stock higher, while management has four distinct opportunities to realize more value still.” Evercore ISI reiterates Nvidia as outperform Evercore said investors should use any weakness in the stock to buy the dip. The firm also said Meta’s earnings report is a bullish sign for the stock. “our top AI plays: NVDA , AVGO, AMD, MRVL, which are supported by the META commentary.” JPMorgan downgrades Monster Beverage to neutral from overweight JPMorgan downgraded the stock due to “cost pressure.” “Ahead of Monster Beverage (MNST) 1Q24 earnings results scheduled for Wednesday, May 8th, AMC, [after market close] we are downgrading shares to Neutral from Overweight.” HSBC upgrades UPS to buy from hold HSBC said UPS is “getting back to earnings growth” follow the company’s earnings report. “Volumes and margins to turn around from 2Q24, with potential 2024 guidance upgrade to reflect accretive USPS contract … which could restore confidence in 2026 guidance. Upgrade to Buy (from Hold), raise target price to USD170 (from USD150).” Goldman Sachs upgrades TJX Companies to buy from neutral Goldman said the discount retailer is well positioned for share gains. “We view TJX as a best-in-class operator and market share winner.” Goldman Sachs initiates Victoria’s Secret as sell Goldman said it sees a “tough macro and ongoing competitive pressure” for the lingerie company. “We view VSCO as a market leader within the intimates category with several idiosyncratic initiatives that should help to improve positioning long term, and we are constructive on the company’s store refresh program, loyalty initiatives, and renewed merchandise focus. However, we see a less attractive risk/reward relative to other companies in our brands and apparel sector in the near term.” Wells Fargo upgrades Five Below to overweight from equal weight Wells said it sees a “compelling” risk/reward for Five Below shares. ” FIVE has had its share of issues and now seems poised to lower guidance against a choppy backdrop. While far from ideal, we don’t believe the story is broken and the risk/reward looks very good for those with some patience.” UBS upgrades UDR to buy from neutral UBS said shares of the real estate investment trust company are attractive. “We upgrade UDR to Buy as we have increasing confidence in its rent growth trajectory at a favorable valuation.” UBS reiterates Amazon as buy UBS raised its price target on shares of Amazon to $215 per share from $198. “Concurrent with this report we release our new model alongside recalibrated estimates. We believe investor focus for 1Q24 has broadened into looking at total franchise revenue and operating income vs more narrowly on AWS previously, particularly as growth has rebounded from the 2Q23-3Q23 trough.” Bank of America reiterates Meta as buy Bank of America said it’s sticking with its buy rating on shares of the social media giant following earnings on Wednesday. ” Meta is an investment in increasing social and mobile Internet usage, and also offers exposure to the increasing use of AI/ML technology and potential long-term Metaverse opportunity. Morgan Stanley reiterates Ford as overweight Morgan Stanley said it’s standing by its overweight rating on the stock following earnings on Wednesday. ” Ford’s stronger than expected 1Q elegantly encapsulates the conundrum in Dearborn.” Needham upgrades Silicon Laboratories to buy from hold Needham said the semis manufacturer is well positioned for a semis recovery. “We are upgrading SLAB to Buy from Hold as we believe the company is well positioned for the semiconductor cyclical recovery.” Bank of America downgrades Deckers to neutral from buy Bank of America said it sees a better risk/reward elsewhere in the firm’s coverage. “We downgrading DECK to Neutral from Buy. We think shares are poised to take a breather and see more balanced risk/reward at 21x EV/EBITDA.” DA Davidson upgrades Manhattan Associates to buy from neutral DA said it’s getting more bullish on the supply chain software solutions company. “We have appreciated the unique attractiveness of Manhattan’s business since we initiated 14 months ago, and now find the company even stronger and available at a discounted valuation.” Goldman Sachs reiterates ServiceNow as buy Goldman said it’s sticking with the software stock following earnings on Wednesday. ” ServiceNow has the potential to be a relatively defensible business in the event of a macro economic slowdown, in our view.” Bank of America reiterates IBM as buy Bank of America said it’s sticking with its buy rating following earnings on Wednesday. “We view IBM as a defensive investment given its high exposure to recurring sales, cost cutting levers, solid balance sheet, potential share gains, and relatively stable margins.” Deutsche Bank reiterates Tesla as hold Deutsche raised its price target on the stock to $136 per share from $123. “The strong positive market reaction to Tesla’s mixed Q1 print, in our view represented some relief that Tesla is not completely giving up on selling cheaper consumer models, nor is it staking the company’s entire future on Robotaxi.” UBS reiterates Coca-Cola as buy UBS said it’s bullish heading into earnings next week. “While investors have offered plenty of drivers for the underperformance, we view many of these concerns as largely overdone and view the risk/reward for KO as as attractive.”
