Here are the biggest analyst calls of the day: Apple, Nike, Take-Two Interactive & more

Published Wed, Nov 13 20198:50 AM EST

Key Points

RBC is initiating Apple as outperform.
UBS is initiating Take-Two Interactive Software as buy.
UBS is initiating United Airlines and JetBlue as buy.
Barclays is initiating Ralph Lauren and Nike as overweight.
Barclays is initiating Gap and L Brands as underweight.
Credit Suisse is downgrading J.M. Smucker to underweight from neutral.
Bank of America is upgrading G-III Apparel Group to buy from neutral.

Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Wednesday: RBC initiated Apple as 'outperform' RBC said in its initiation of Apple that the company has strength in its balance sheet to deliver significant cash flow back to shareholders. "With arguably the world's most popular consumer product providing a stable foundation, AAPL has avenues for deeper integration into its customers' lives and the balance sheet strength to return significant cash flow to shareholders. Tariffs, success/costs of new service offerings, and phone cycle slowdown concerns likely to headline investor worries, but our longer-term outlook remains favorable." Read more about this call here . UBS initiated Take-Two Interactive as 'buy' UBS said the video game holding company had a proven track record and key titles in its library to sustain continued success over the coming years. " Take-Two presents investors with a few key elements of long term success in the interactive entertainment sector – a management team with a proven track record of fostering and launching engaging content, disciplined and positive track record of capital allocation and success in identifying key industry trends in terms of both sustaining engagement and monetization with key titles over extended periods." UBS initiated United Airlines and JetBlue as 'buy' UBS initiated United and JetBlue with a buy and said that 2020 would be a "show me" moment for the airline industry. "If US airlines can perform well through 2020 in a storm of negatives, there will be a strong case to be made for rewarding them with higher multiples. While there has been advocacy for better valuations on the back of companies outperforming their cost of capital and on more durable/diversified revenue pools in a more consolidated industry, the companies have not yet been fully tested — 2020 is likely to be that test." Barclays initiated Ralph Lauren and Nike as 'overweight' Barclays initiated the retail sector and said Nike had a "highly desirable" brand while it said Ralph Lauren was seeing early success in proactively building its global brand. " NKE and VFC have highly desirable brands backed by technological and design innovation. RL is proactively rebuilding its global brand with evidence of early success. These wholesalers can significantly grow their margin-accretive direct-to-consumer channels. BURL, ROST, and TJX offer an Off-Price value proposition, with little to no e-commerce cannibalization. EYE is a growth story dominant in the value vision care segment, with unit, product, and service opportunities." Barclays initiated Gap and L Brands as 'underweight' Barclays said in its initiation of the stocks that it sees risk in to 2020 but that Gap and L Brands are cheap on valuation. " GPS and LB , while both are relatively "cheap" on valuation embedding downside expectations, exemplify our theme of retail deleverage. We see comp and EPS risk in FY20 for both." Credit Suisse downgraded J.M. Smucker to 'underweight' from 'neutral' Credit Suisse downgraded the manufacturer of jam and other products and said the company's investments have "failed" to generate growth. "With consensus already below management's FY 20 guidance of $8.35 to $8.55, it is fair to say that SJM is already an out-of-favor stock. However, we believe that consensus and the market underestimates the extent to which earnings will need to revise lower as structural challenges continue to mount; we believe margins will continue to compress as the higher spending fails to stimulate sales." Bank of America upgraded G-III Apparel Group to 'buy' from 'neutral' Bank of America said the clothing company is poised for outsized wholesale growth. "We upgrade G-III to Buy from Neutral as we see a catalyst path to multiple expansion, including a likely accelerated wind-down of its unprofitable outlet business and derisking with regards to tariffs. We also like that G-III is poised for outsized wholesale growth (10%/9% in 2H19E/2020E) vs. peers from distribution and category expansion at its power women's brands (Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, DKNY)."

Tim Cook at the Apple launch event in Cupertino Calif. on Sept. 10th, 2019.

Source: Apple

Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Wednesday:

RBC initiated Apple as 'outperform'

RBC said in its initiation of Apple that the company has strength in its balance sheet to deliver significant cash flow back to shareholders.

"With arguably the world's most popular consumer product providing a stable foundation, AAPL has avenues for deeper integration into its customers' lives and the balance sheet strength to return significant cash flow to shareholders. Tariffs, success/costs of new service offerings, and phone cycle slowdown concerns likely to headline investor worries, but our longer-term outlook remains favorable."

UBS initiated Take-Two Interactive as 'buy'

UBS said the video game holding company had a proven track record and key titles in its library to sustain continued success over the coming years.

"Take-Two presents investors with a few key elements of long term success in the interactive entertainment sector – a management team with a proven track record of fostering and launching engaging content, disciplined and positive track record of capital allocation and success in identifying key industry trends in terms of both sustaining engagement and monetization with key titles over extended periods."