Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Wednesday: Deutsche Bank initiates American Express at buy Deutsche is bullish on the credit card and financial services company. “Buy on American Express as the company with the strongest sustainable revenue growth and lowest earnings risk.” Redburn Atlantic Equities downgrades Apple to neutral from buy Redburn said in its downgrade of the iPad maker that it’s concerned about an underwhelming March quarter. “We are downgrading Apple to Neutral while retaining our $200 YE24 price target. While we expect the iPhone to return to growth in CY24, we see little room for upside over the next few years, and an anticipated underwhelming March quarter could impact confidence in this outlook.” Jefferies upgrades Anheuser-Busch InBev to buy from hold Jefferies said the brewer is becoming a “consistent compounder.” “Repaired balance sheet increases optionality on cash returns, driving DD TSR [double digit total shareholder return] and a re-rating as ABI builds a reputation as a consistent compounder.” Baird upgrades Bloom Energy to outperform from neutral Baird sees several positive catalysts ahead for the energy company. “As we look ahead into 2024, we are upgrading BE t o Outperform with potential catalysts ahead in the form of cost reductions, improvements to the manufacturing process, and electrolyzer sales announcements.” BMO downgrades Goldman Sachs to market perform from outperform BMO said in its downgrade of the Wall Street investment bank that it’s “increasingly exposed to capital markets-driven revenue volatility.” “Two-thirds of GS revenues are sourced from Global Banking and Markets businesses.” Wells Fargo initiates Mister Car Wash as overweight Wells says it’s getting increasingly bullish on the car wash company. “There’s a lot to like w/ MCW’ s model (recurring revenue, etc.) & despite the late 2023 rally, we see a solid entry point w/ top-line levers, reasonable FY24 expectations & share gain opportunities.” Citi downgrades Charles Schwab to neutral from buy Citi says the risk/reward is more balanced for Schwab shares. “We are downgrading SCHW to Neutral. After recent strength, we see a more balanced risk/reward at current levels and view the current price as a fair valuation.” JPMorgan upgrades Raymond James to overweight from neutral JPMorgan sees “diversified earnings strength” for the financial services company. “We are upgrading Raymond James (RJF) to Overweight from a Neutral rating. We believe Raymond James’ diversified earnings strength will begin to emerge as the operating backdrop firms.” Deutsche Bank downgrades Dow to hold from buy Deutsche sees a slowing recovery in 2024 for the chemical company. “We are downgrading Dow and Lyondell from Buy to Hold.” Citi names Lam Research a top pick Citi says Lam is now the bank’s top semiconductor equipment pick. “We move LRCX to #1 pick up from prior #2 on memory cycle recovery in 2024.” Goldman Sachs downgrades Etsy to neutral from buy Goldman said in its downgrade of the stock that the risk/reward seems balanced. “Downgrade ETSY to Neutral (from Buy) reflecting a more balanced risk-reward from here (lower PT from $84 to $80) as we still see a wide range of GMS [gross margin sales] outcomes in 2024 and as we believe that Street estimates already fully capture the company’s growth potential in the years ahead.” Bank of America downgrades Nio to neutral from buy Bank of America said in its downgrade that it sees slowing sales growth ahead. ” NIO does not have new models for 1Q-3Q24, therefore its volume sales growth could be lower.” Morgan Stanley names Palo Alto Networks a top pick Morgan Stanley said the cybersecurity stock is becoming “increasingly attractive.” ” PANW remains our top security pick, given our confidence in durability of growth, broader platform adoption and low expectations with valuation increasingly attractive.” Oppenheimer names Salesforce a top pick Oppenheimer says the stock is its top large-cap pick in 2024. “Large Cap is CRM (front office demand improvement, EPS growth compounder, valuation).” Bank of America names Wayfair a top pick Bank of America sees revenue growth accelerating for Wayfair in 2024. “We think Wayfair (W) is well positioned to accelerate revenues over the next 2yrs through continued share gains and category improvement.” Goldman Sachs reiterates Alphabet as buy Goldman says the company remains an “AI leader.” “[W]e continue to frame GOOGL as an AI leader in the coming computing shifts that might impact consumer and enterprise computing trends.” Goldman Sachs upgrades Woodward to buy from neutral Goldman said it’s getting bullish on shares of the aerospace company. ” WWD has content gains on next-generation aircraft that will drive its participation in the aerospace OE [original equipment] ramp-up.” Bank of America downgrades Zillow to neutral from buy Bank of America says the stock is already pricing in a housing recovery. “We downgrade Zillow to Neutral (from Buy) as we believe the stock is pricing a steady recovery in housing in 2024 [while] near record low home affordability could limit volume upside (even w/ lower rates) and real estate commission lawsuits are an overhang on ZG’s buy side agent lead generation segment.” Susquehanna upgrades United to positive from neutral Susquehanna is bullish on the airline in 2024. “To be clear, we’re not discounting or under weighting UAL’s int’l ops, as we believe that the global shortage of wide-bodies and UAL’s int’l network should help support long-haul int’l PRASM, as post-pandemic, pent-up demand matures and/or a cyclical slowdown materializes.” Susquehanna downgrades Alaska Air to neutral from positive The firm says it sees too many negative challenges for Alaska Airlines. “With growing U.S. domestic capacity slowing leisure demand, and plateauing business volumes, we see a challenging set-up for U.S., domestic-focused carriers, with operating models that were built for growth either unable to do so (e.g., aircraft delivery delays & certain parts issues) or growing into an increasingly oversupplied U.S. domestic market.” Wedbush upgrades Home Depot to outperform from neutral Wedbush said in its upgrade of Home Depot that it sees stronger demand in 2024. “Although home improvement retail demand weakened in 2023 on the back of spiking interest rates, plummeting existing home sales, consumer spending shifting to services and unwinding of pulled forward demand throughout the pandemic, we believe many of these key drivers are bottoming or reversing, which should translate to stronger demand in 2024.” Goldman Sachs upgrades Toast to buy from neutral Goldman said in its upgrade of the restaurant technology company that it’s making an out-of-consensus call on Toast. “We believe the market is not accounting for what we expect to be materially better profitability trends in 2024, where our Adj EBITDA estimates are 17% above the Street, and which could put GAAP profitability in 2025 in reach.”
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