Spirit Aero downgraded, Skyworks upgraded: Wall Street's top analyst calls
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:
B. Riley upgraded Skyworks (SWKS) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $130, up from $96, ahead of the July 8 through 11 SEMICON West industry event. The firm believes 2024's event could offer particularly consequential fundamental and stock takeaways, as data center-centric AI training product cycles add inferencing engines in the data center and at the edge in high-volume applications.
BofA upgraded TransUnion (TRU) to Buy from Neutral with a $92 price target. The firm cites TransUnion's inexpensive valuation, persistent stability in consumer lending and room for upside in Emerging Verticals for the upgrade, and tells investors in a research note that TransUnion also has greater exigency to meet or beat after a volatile 2023.
Wolfe Research upgraded iRhythm (IRTC) to Outperform from Peer Perform with a $115 price target. With the company seen being on the cusp of meaningful improvements in margin and business model efficiency and the FDA overhang around Zio AT poised to lift this fall, the firm sees a "sensible entry valuation."
Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded HomeStreet (HMST) to Buy from Neutral with an unchanged fair value estimate of $13.50. The firm expects that the bank's all-stock acquisition by FirstSun Capital Bancorp will close in Q4 and that HomeStreet's stock will trade closer to the deal price of about $13.50.
Evercore ISI upgraded Bread Financial (BFH) to In Line from Underperform with a price target of $45, up from $42, following the company's "constructive" investor day. The medium-term ROTCE target of low-to-mid 20% range was well-received by investors and compared favorably to Evercore and Street expectations, the firm says.
Top Downgrades:
Benchmark downgraded Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) to Hold from Buy and removes the firm's prior price target, based on the assumption that a Boeing (BA) takeout is "at least partially baked into the stock at this point."
UBS downgraded Zentalis (ZNTL) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $5, down from $28. The firm cites limited visibility after the company announced the FDA placed a partial clinical hold on three mono azenosertib studies following two deaths due to presumed sepsis in DENALI for the downgrade.
BofA downgraded Esperion (ESPR) to Underperform from Neutral with a price target of $2.50, down from $2.90, on renewed competitive concerns after Merck (MRK) posted plans last week to study its oral PCSK9, MK-0616, against Esperion's bempedoic acid.
Barclays downgraded Prelude Therapeutics (PRLD) to Underweight from Equal Weight with an unchanged price target of $3. Prelude's upcoming catalysts are "intriguing," but the firm currently finds them "hard to derisk" and sees limited upside in the next 12 months along with greater upside potential across its coverage universe.
Top Initiations:
Oppenheimer initiated coverage of ESAB (ESAB) with an Outperform rating and $115 price target, appreciating the company's solid momentum toward CEO Shyam Kambeyanda's vision of creating a premier industrial compounder. The firm says ESAB benefits from notable emerging markets leverage, needle-moving opportunities for North American mix enhancement, and the steadily improving scale and profitability of its Gas Equipment platform.
TD Cowen initiated coverage of Vericel (VCEL) with a Buy rating and $55 price target. Vericel has established a "distinguished product portfolio in sports medicine and burn care," but "appears undervalued among its smidcap MedTech peers" despite top-tier revenue growth and EBITDA profitability, the firm tells investors.
BofA initiated coverage of Samsara (IOT) with a Buy rating and $37 price target. With AI-enabled dash cams and real-time driver coaching software, Samsara is "revolutionizing roadway safety," the firm tells investors.
JMP Securities initiated coverage of Life360 (LIF) with an Outperform rating and $38 price target, calling it "the leading cross-platform family safety service." The firm cites the company's significant lead in downloads and usage over competitors, its stable and growing cohorts of registered users and subscribers, and potential upside to the firm's and consensus estimates from the recently launched advertising business.
BofA reinstated coverage of Cardlytics (CDLX) with a Neutral rating and $11 price target. The firm thinks a valuation discount is justified given lower growth visibility and weaker profitability than peers.