Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Wednesday:
Bank of America raised its price target on Apple to $290 from $270
Bank of America said it remains bullish on Apple as the company heads into 5G adoption.
"We expect Apple shares to benefit from (1) 5G adoption driving consistent 200mn+ iPhone units C20-22, (2) wearables portfolio attractively priced to support adoption ($169 Airpods, $200 Apple Watch), (3) continued strong demand for iPhones, (4) continued y/y gross profit dollar growth is favorable for stock price trend, (5) current share price discounts no growth in hardware revenue and we view low-single-digit growth as reasonable."
Read more about this call here.
Evercore ISI raised its price target on Apple to $305 from $275
Evercore raised its price target on Apple and said it sees a "robust" holiday season for AirPods Pro and iPhone 11.
"We expect Apple will return to growth in FY20 and we see upside to Street estimates for the Dec-qtr as most signs seem to point to a robust holiday season for AirPods Pro & iPhone 11. ... In addition, the iPhone 11 will outperform relatively low expectations as the lower price has been particularly well received in China."
Read more about this call here.
BMO downgraded UPS to 'market perform' from 'outperform'
BMO said in its downgrade of UPS that it saw a "challenging" path to profitability and free cash flow.
"While we believe that UPS may be able to deliver positive operating leverage (excluding the impact of pension) in the near-term as a result of strong volumes and efficiency gains from past/ongoing productivity investments, we're not convinced a positive trend in operating margins in U.S. domestic operations can be sustained over the medium-term given a significant projected rise in B2C volumes. Other key elements to the valuation are capital intensity and FCF where we see limited opportunity for improvement."
DA Davidson initiated The RealReal as 'buy'
DA Davidson said in its initiation of the online luxury consignment store that its business model puts it at the leading edge of multiple trends favored by millennial and Gen Z consumers.
"As a digitally-native retailer, REAL is pioneering a new way to shop for luxury goods that delivers value, promises exclusivity, and promotes sustainability. As one of the largest luxury re-sale marketplaces, REAL is a brand destination with numerous first-mover competitive advantages in a large market that exhibits accelerating growth."
Wells Fargo downgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance to 'equal weight' from 'overweight'
Wells Fargo downgraded the stock mainly on valuation.
"We are downgrading shares of WBA to Equal Weight from Overweight given that Walgreen's shares have moved upward partly in anticipation of an LBO with potential KKR & Co. interest, as discussed on Bloomberg News and other national media outlets. We do not rule out an LBO, but note that Stephano Pessina, who owns over 16% of the equity, has worked with KKR in the past and would likely be a part of an LBO."
Wells Fargo downgraded Cigna to 'underweight' from 'equal weight'
Wells Fargo downgraded the stock on concerns about increased competition and drug legislation among other things.
"Our core concern with CI remains that its benefits business is not focused on the growth areas of Medicare and Medicaid and therefore has greater exposure to commercial pricing cycles, commercial competition, and the economy and its international business has currency risk. Further, we believe CI's Pharmacy Benefit Management business has risk from potential drug price legislation, potential transparency vs. spread price changes, increased competition from ANTM's IngenioRx/ UNH's OptumRx/ AMZN's PillPack, and repercussions from the 'price check' contract litigation from ANTM."
