Here are Wednesday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Deutsche Bank upgrades Moderna to hold from sell Deutsche Bank said it sees a more balanced risk/reward for Moderna shares. “a more troublesome Winter’s Tale, but up to Hold.” BTIG upgrades TrueCar to buy from neutral BTIG said it’s bullish on shares of the automotive pricing internet company. “We are upgrading TRUE shares to BUY from Neutral with a $3.75 PT.” Seaport upgrades Sphere to buy from neutral Seaport said the Las Vegas entertainment company has an attractive entry point. ” Sphere Entertainment is another preferred experience economy stock that has gone on sale during the market drawdown.” Baird upgrades Builders First Source to outperform from neutral Baird said the building materials company is well positioned. “With guidance reset and key headwinds/overhangs (multi-family sales/margin normalization and downsizing of single-family starts) set to fade in 2025, we see a good setup for BLDR.” Barclays downgrades retail to neutral from positive Barclays downgraded the sector due to “promos suggest weakening demand.” “We downgrade Retail to Neutral from Positive on erosion of inventory margin recapture as promos intensify and demand weakens.” TD Cowen downgrades Molson Coors to hold from buy TD Cowen said the beer marker is losing share gains. “We downgrade Molson Coors to Hold and lower our PT to $58.” Wells Fargo downgrades Amgen to equal weight from overweight Wells said in its downgrade of Amgen that the thesis has “played out” for the biotech company. “Thesis played out. Risk/Reward not compelling enough to stick with the Overweight rating.” B. Riley downgrades TripAdvisor to neutral from buy B. Riley said it sees growth deteriorating. “We’re downgrading Tripadvisor, Inc . from Buy to Neutral to reflect a deterioration in Core (i.e., Brand Tripadvisor) revenue growth and margins, implied in management’s outlook.” Piper Sandler reiterates Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia as overweight Piper said on Wednesday that it likes both semis stocks. The firm said AMD is a top pick. “We include names that we see benefiting the most from secular shifts set to take place over the coming 1-3 year time horizon. These include NVDA and AMD within the compute space as well as ON given its exposure to silicon carbide as well as other company-specific drivers.” Citi adds a positive catalyst watch on Amer Sports Citi opened a positive catalyst watch on Amer and says the sporting goods company has an attractive risk/reward. “With shares down 25% since late June on fears of a China slowdown we believe the risk/reward is favorable into 2Q EPS. We are opening a 30-day positive catalyst watch.” Wells Fargo upgrades Globus Medical to overweight from equal weight Wells says the medtech company’s integration with NuVasive is going well. “We are upgrading GMED from Equal Weight to Overweight and increasing our price target from $60 to $78 as the integration with NuVasive is progressing better than we expected.” Wells Fargo names Uber a top pick Wells said the ride sharing company remains a top idea at the firm following earnings. “Uber remains top 2H pick. See bear case of decel and AV [autonomous vehicle] terminal risk largely being addressed by YE24. View 2Q results/3Q guide as refuting decel fears, point one of bear case.” Raymond James initiates Natural Gas Services Group as strong buy Raymond James said the natural gas company is well positioned. “Natural Gas Services Group (NGS) is a leading provider of contract natural gas compression in the U.S.” TD Cowen initiates Abacus Life as buy TD Cowen said the company has an “attractive business model.” “We initiate coverage of leading life settlements provider, Abacus Life (ABL), at Buy with a price target of $14, implying 51% upside potential.” Bank of America reiterates Apple as buy The firm said survey checks show App Store revenue “remains strong” for Apple. “Data from Sensor Tower indicates that Global App Store revs remain strong, Global revenue increased +11% y/y in July.” Citi reiterates Target as buy Citi said it’s bullish heading into Target earnings on August 21. “Based on our quant team’s crowding analysis, the stock is significantly less crowded from a long perspective than it was prior to 1Q earnings, and we believe investor skepticism has risen. As a result, and because the stock is down 11% MTD, we believe the setup is favorable going into earnings.” Bank of America downgrades Super Micro Computer to neutral from buy The firm said it sees margin pressure following earnings on Tuesday. “Despite overall higher revs in F25, GM [gross margin] gets back into the normal range (14-17%) only gradually by the end of F25 as 1) manufacturing efficiencies improve and SMCI ships more liquid cooled racks, 2) as customer mix improves…” Bank of America reiterates Rivian as buy Bank of America said it’s sticking with the stock following earnings on Tuesday. “RIVN still in right place/time with right product/strategy.” Goldman Sachs reiterates Sunrun as buy Goldman said Sunrun is well positioned for cash generation following its earnings report on Tuesday. “Looking ahead, we expect this strong cash flow to support continued market share gains.” Bernstein upgrades Arm to market perform from underperform Bernstein raised its price target on the stock to $100 per share from $92 and upgraded Arm mainly on valuation. “With Arm’s share price down ~40% in four weeks and more confidence in mobile royalty growth, we find the need to review our valuation argument.” Mizuho upgrades Vertiv to outperform from neutral Mizuho said the multination company has robust fundamentals. “Upgrading VRT to Outperform – Fundamentals Still Hot Despite Cooling AI Valuations.” Deutsche Bank upgrades Aramark to buy from hold Deutsche Bank said the food and facilities services company is a “cleaner story.” “We are upgrading ARMK to Buy from Hold and raising our PT to $39 (from $36).”
