Here are Friday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Edward Jones downgrades CVS to hold from buy Edward Jones expressed concern over the company losing part of its Blue Shield of California pharmacy benefit manager contract. “While this is just one contract, we believe it creates uncertainty for the PBM industry.” TD Cowen initiates Dynatrace at outperform TD Cowen said checks were strong and there’s reasons to be excited about the tech company. “We like DT ‘s enterprise leadership & catalysts: new product cycle, new accretive pricing model, & new partner focus.” TD Cowen initiates Datadog at outperform TD Cowen said the software company has strong management and ways to differentiate itself from competitors. “We think DDOG is a rare breed given its platform breadth, R & D engine, GTM approach, and mgmt team.” Read more about this call here. JPMorgan downgrades Sea to neutral from overweight JPMorgan said the conglomerate is taking a growth pivot at the expense of profit. ” SE ‘s decision to accelerate ecommerce investments in growth is likely to materially weigh on its earnings and share price in the near-term.” Wells Fargo upgrades Hawaiian Electric to equal weight from underweight Wells Fargo said anticipating $0 per share from the utility business is wise, though the risk-reward ratio when accounting for probability appears more balanced. “Credible media reports and capital markets fallout seems to have Hawaiian Electric backed into a corner.” Bank of America reiterates Peloton as buy Bank of America kept its bullish rating ahead of the fitness stock’s earnings report. “We expect the company to be constructive on digital sub interest (top of funnel) and focus on break-even FCF in FY24. We continue to see opportunity in better sub adds in FY24 on easing reopening pressure, rationalization in [hardware] competition, better execution on less management restructuring distraction, int’l growth initiatives, and still low churn.” Barclays downgrades Keysight Technologies to equal weight from overweight Barclays saw reasons for concern in the manufacturer’s earnings report released Thursday. “We expect management to continue with operational leverage and to benefit from a favorable mix, but believe weakness in roughly half the business is not enough to offset stability in A & D and auto.” Loop Capital downgrades XPO to hold from buy Loop said valuation is “toppy” while raising the freight transport stock’s price target on stronger estimates. “After a strong run-up so far in 2023, we’re downgrading XPO from Buy to Hold on what we regard as elevated valuation and sentiment, plus our view that high consensus EPS growth expectations over the next two years limits the potential for upward revisions” Citi reiterates Applied Materials as a buy and a top chip stock pick Citi is standing by its calls after the semi stock’s earnings report. ” AMAT stock was +2% after hours post ‘beat and raise’ Jul-Q results driven by strength in ICAPS and DRAM.” Morgan Stanley downgrades Aflac to equal weight from overweight Morgan Stanley said the insurance stock’s strong earnings and capital have been hampered by challenges within sales and persistence. “We continue to view favorable the fundamental outlook for Aflac , but are downgrading the stock … on valuation.” B. Riley Securities upgrades Marvell Technology to buy from neutral B. Riley said there’s now justification to come off the sidelines on the semi stock. “Our recent tally of super-seven hyper-scale capex shows a first in three-quarter CY24E spending rise, and while enterprise-related inventory headwinds linger, we believe they are moderating. So, the backdrop is improving for MRVL .”
This story originally appeared on CNBC
