Key Wall Street Analyst Calls for Wednesday:
Oppenheimer Downgrades Apple to Perform from Outperform
Oppenheimer lowered its rating on Apple ahead of the company's earnings report on Thursday, citing a less favorable outlook.
“We foresee two primary obstacles to iPhone growth: increased competition in China and the absence of compelling Apple Intelligence and generative AI applications that could drive near-term device upgrades,” the firm stated.
Bernstein Initiates Rivian with an Underperform Rating
Bernstein expressed skepticism about Rivian’s path to profitability, saying it remains a long-term challenge.
“Although we believe Rivian can scale production to over 500,000 units by 2030, this alone isn’t sufficient to ensure financial success for investors. With profitability still years away and rising risks, we initiate coverage on Rivian with an Underperform rating and set a price target of $6.10.”
Mizuho Begins Coverage on MicroStrategy with an Outperform Rating
Mizuho initiated coverage of MicroStrategy, highlighting potential upside.
“We are initiating coverage on MicroStrategy (MSTR) with an Outperform rating and a price target of $515. The company’s strategy revolves around using proceeds from debt and equity issuances to acquire bitcoin, with the goal of increasing its bitcoin holdings per diluted share.”
Goldman Sachs Downgrades Moderna to Neutral from Buy
Goldman Sachs lowered its rating on Moderna due to uncertainty surrounding future revenue streams.
“We are downgrading Moderna (MRNA) to Neutral from Buy. The company’s recent product revenue guidance marks the second downward revision in six months. While the guidance may still be achievable, it indicates limited visibility into the revenue trajectory of Moderna’s respiratory vaccine business.”
Evercore ISI Reiterates Nvidia as Outperform
Evercore ISI remains bullish on Nvidia, recommending investors buy the recent dip.
“In general, we view the recent weakness in the sector as a buying opportunity, particularly for long-term investors. We continue to rate Nvidia (NVDA), ALAB, and ARM as Buy.”
Evercore ISI Reaffirms Apple as Outperform
Despite Oppenheimer’s downgrade, Evercore ISI remains optimistic about Apple heading into its earnings report.
“We expect Apple to report an in-line quarter, driven by continued growth in emerging markets and strong performance from its Services and Wearables divisions.”
Goldman Sachs Maintains a Buy Rating on Walmart
Goldman Sachs reiterated its Buy rating on Walmart, highlighting the company’s strong positioning ahead of its earnings release in late February.
“We believe Walmart (WMT) is well-positioned to sustain strong earnings growth into 2025. The company continues to gain market share by offering a compelling mix of value and convenience, and we expect its profitability to improve further, given that operating income outpaced sales in the third quarter.”
Barclays Reaffirms Overweight Rating on Microsoft
Barclays reiterated its confidence in Microsoft as the company prepared to release earnings after Wednesday’s market close.
“Microsoft (MSFT) shares have underperformed since last summer when the company disclosed capacity constraints for its Azure cloud business. While we do not anticipate a significant reacceleration in Azure’s growth for the December quarter, the initial guidance for the March quarter will be key.”
Mizuho Upgrades Coinbase to Neutral from Underperform
Mizuho revised its outlook on Coinbase, citing signs of increased bitcoin adoption.
“We are upgrading Coinbase (COIN) to Neutral from Underperform. Our analysis of bitcoin adoption trends suggests further price appreciation in the medium term, and given the strong correlation between bitcoin’s price and Coinbase’s stock, this bodes well for COIN.”
Bank of America Reiterates a Buy Rating on Starbucks
Bank of America remains optimistic about Starbucks’ ongoing turnaround following its latest earnings report.
“Despite January’s volatility due to severe weather, Starbucks (SBUX) showed notable same-store sales improvement throughout the first quarter. Encouragingly, the positive momentum appears to be continuing into the second quarter.”
JPMorgan Places a Positive Catalyst Watch on Mattel
JPMorgan is bullish on Mattel ahead of its February 4 earnings report.
“We are adding Mattel (MAT) to our Positive Catalyst Watch list as we anticipate stronger-than-expected sales and margins. Additionally, the 2025 guidance should be favorable to Wall Street estimates, and the company is now moving past the Barbie-related sales surge. With Mattel trading at approximately 8x EV/EBITDA based on our 2025 estimates, the stock remains attractively valued.”
Barclays Upgrades Nextracker to Overweight from Equal Weight
Barclays sees continued strong performance ahead for solar tracker manufacturer Nextracker.
“We now expect Nextracker (NXT) to perform at the higher end—or even above—its fiscal 2025 guidance metrics. Following another strong quarter of bookings, we have raised our fiscal 2026 projections and believe NXT is now trading at a discount relative to its peer ARRY.”
Guggenheim Reiterates Buy Ratings on Meta and Reddit
Guggenheim maintains its bullish stance on Meta and Reddit, saying both companies are well-positioned going into earnings season.
“We continue to view Meta (META) and Reddit as two of the best-positioned stocks in the sector, benefiting from several foreseeable tailwinds. Moreover, consensus ad revenue estimates for these companies appear relatively de-risked compared to competitors like Pinterest and Snap.”
JPMorgan Places a Positive Catalyst Watch on Monday.com
JPMorgan is optimistic about Monday.com ahead of its upcoming earnings report.
“We are adding Monday.com (MNDY) to our Positive Catalyst Watch. Our analysis, which includes qualitative feedback from partners, quantitative data on headcount growth and web traffic, and our conversations with the company before the quiet period, leads us to be optimistic about its upcoming results.”
Guggenheim Maintains a Sell Rating on Tesla
Guggenheim reaffirmed its negative stance on Tesla ahead of the company’s earnings report.
“We don’t see the electric vehicle market as a zero-sum game, and while Tesla (TSLA) holds advantages over other EV makers, the potential repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) would still have a net negative impact on the company.”
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