Thursday’s Biggest Analyst Calls: Nvidia, Apple, Meta, Amazon, Arm, General Motors, Broadcom, Roku, Tesla & More

Here are some of the most notable Wall Street calls from Thursday, highlighting a range of companies and industries that have captured analysts' attention.

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Morgan Stanley Names Arm a Top Pick
Morgan Stanley selected Arm, the semiconductor company, as a top pick, pointing to its potential as a major player in artificial intelligence (AI). According to the firm, Arm has been overlooked as an AI beneficiary but is poised to benefit from the growing opportunities in edge AI and the recovery of mobile markets. These factors could lead to an expansion in royalties, making Arm a compelling choice in the large-cap space.

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Cantor Fitzgerald Initiates Amazon as Overweight
Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Amazon, assigning an overweight rating. The firm believes there is significant upside to the e-commerce giant's estimates. Their investment thesis revolves around two key points: the potential for retail margin expansion and the acceleration of Amazon Web Services (AWS), which remains a critical driver for the company's growth.

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Cantor Fitzgerald Initiates Meta as Overweight
Meta, another major tech player, was also initiated with an overweight rating by Cantor Fitzgerald. The firm considers Meta to be one of its top picks, citing the company's potential to gain market share and deliver robust revenue growth. Cantor expects Meta to maintain a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in the mid-teens over the next two to three years, making it a solid choice for investors.

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Goldman Sachs Downgrades Novartis to Neutral
Goldman Sachs downgraded Novartis, the multinational pharmaceutical company, from buy to neutral. The primary reason for this downgrade was valuation concerns. Goldman noted that Novartis has recently experienced strong share price performance, and earnings estimates have caught up to their expectations. As a result, the firm sees limited innovation catalysts in the near term, prompting the downgrade.

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Barclays Initiates Travelers as Overweight
Barclays initiated coverage on Travelers, the insurance giant, with an overweight rating. The firm praised the company’s strong balance sheet and believes Travelers has ongoing momentum in its underwriting business. Additionally, the current market environment appears to favor the company, adding to its growth potential.

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Bank of America Downgrades Zscaler to Neutral
Zscaler, a cloud security company, was downgraded by Bank of America to neutral from buy. This followed the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report, which showed strong revenue growth of 30.3% year over year, surpassing Wall Street expectations. However, despite this growth, Bank of America saw enough headwinds to prompt the downgrade.

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Bank of America Reiterates Nvidia as Buy
Nvidia, a leader in the AI and semiconductor space, remains a top pick for Bank of America. The firm reiterated its buy rating, citing Nvidia’s compelling valuation. Even with some near-term challenges, Bank of America believes these headwinds present an attractive buying opportunity for investors.

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Wolfe Downgrades General Motors to Peer Perform
General Motors was downgraded by Wolfe Research to peer perform from outperform. The firm cited uncertainty regarding cyclical risks in the long term as the primary reason for the downgrade. While GM has potential upside from upcoming events such as its October capital markets day, Wolfe believes there are still significant risks.

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JPMorgan Upgrades Xpeng to Overweight
JPMorgan upgraded Xpeng, a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer, to overweight from neutral. The firm is optimistic about Xpeng’s new model momentum, which could drive the company’s growth moving forward.

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KBW Upgrades Comerica to Outperform
KBW upgraded Comerica, a financial services company, to outperform from market perform. The firm sees Comerica as a beneficiary of a potential pivot by the Federal Reserve toward lower interest rates, which would likely boost the company’s earnings potential.

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RBC Downgrades KB Home to Underperform
RBC downgraded homebuilder KB Home to underperform, citing weakening trends in the housing market. According to survey data, KB Home’s performance has lagged behind its peers, leading RBC to lower its rating.

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Evercore ISI Reiterates Broadcom as Outperform
Evercore ISI remains bullish on Broadcom, reiterating its outperform rating ahead of the company’s earnings release. The firm believes the setup for Broadcom is favorable, and it expects positive results from the upcoming earnings report.

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Barclays Upgrades Nordstrom to Equal Weight
Barclays upgraded Nordstrom to equal weight from underweight after a proposed take-private transaction. While there is still some uncertainty surrounding the transaction, the firm believes stepping back from its underweight rating is the right move given the current situation.

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Bank of America Reiterates Apple as Buy
Apple received a reiteration of its buy rating from Bank of America ahead of its highly anticipated iPhone event. The firm believes that if Apple delivers a compelling product demo, particularly around its AI capabilities or with price adjustments, the stock could see a positive reaction.

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JPMorgan Downgrades Dollar Tree to Neutral
Dollar Tree was downgraded to neutral by JPMorgan after its second-quarter earnings missed expectations. The firm expressed concerns over the company’s core business erosion and profitability challenges.

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Wells Fargo Upgrades Roku to Equal Weight
Wells Fargo upgraded Roku to equal weight, stating that its short-term outlook has improved. While there are still many variables in the platform's long-term future, the firm believes Roku has potential in the near term and adjusted its valuation accordingly.

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Needham Upgrades Yext to Buy
Needham upgraded Yext, a software company, to buy from hold, pointing to strong management and the potential for significant margin expansion over the next 12-18 months.

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Morgan Stanley Downgrades Stone and PagSeguro
Morgan Stanley downgraded Brazilian payment companies Stone and PagSeguro to underweight. The firm highlighted that Brazil’s digital payments market has reached saturation, and growth and profitability are likely to face serious pressure in the coming quarters.

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Oppenheimer Reiterates Tesla as Perform
Oppenheimer reiterated its perform rating on Tesla, noting that the company is well-positioned to benefit from the political landscape, especially in a Republican-controlled administration.

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CFRA Downgrades Coca-Cola to Hold
CFRA downgraded Coca-Cola from buy to hold, citing better opportunities elsewhere. With the consumer staples sector facing headwinds from weak consumer spending, CFRA sees limited upside for Coca-Cola at current levels.

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JPMorgan Downgrades China to Neutral
JPMorgan downgraded its outlook on China, moving from overweight to neutral. The firm cited several challenges, including geopolitical tensions, domestic housing market corrections, and weak private-sector confidence, as reasons for the more cautious stance.

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