Here are the biggest analyst calls of the day: Tesla, Facebook, Pinterest, Apple & more

Published Wed, May 27 202010:06 AM EDT

Key Points

Jefferies initiated Freshpet as buy.
Argus downgraded Pinterest to hold from buy.
UBS downgraded Brown-Forman to sell from neutral.
Citi raised its price target on Facebook to $275 from $245.
Baird downgraded Hyatt to neutral from outperform.
Evercore ISI upgraded Dentsply Sirona to overweight from in line.
Susquehanna upgraded Hibbett Sports to positive from neutral.
Jefferies raised its price target on Apple to $370 from $350.
Wedbush raised its price target on Tesla to $800 from $600.

(This story is for CNBC PRO subscribers only.) Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Wednesday: Jefferies initiated Freshpet as 'buy' Jefferies said the manufacturer of fresh pet food was well-positioned to benefit from secular tailwinds and was resilient in the economic downturn. "We favor FRPT 's positioning as the category creator of fresh pet food. Mid-20's annual sales growth is supported by sales velocity, distribution, & Int markets. Investments are in place to scale; significant leverage is expected. In our proprietary survey of 900+, 20% of respondents got a pet in the last 3 mos and 70% cited "nutrition/diet/health" as the leading determinant of their preferred dog food. We see inherent value vs. current trading levels." Argus downgraded Pinterest to 'hold' from 'buy' Argus said in its downgrade of the stock that it saw more user momentum on other social media sites. "We are lowering our near-term rating on Pinterest to HOLD from BUY; our long-term rating remains BUY. Pinterest is a solid longer-term growth story, with a management team that is focused on turning the corner and achieving GAAP profitability in the medium-term. However, competitive social media sites, including SNAP, TWTR and FB, appeared to show more user momentum on their sites than PINS as the pandemic worsened." UBS downgraded Brown-Forman to 'sell' from 'neutral' UBS downgraded the wine and spirits company due to the effects of the coronavirus and the economic downturn. "We anticipate FY21 will be a trough growth year as BF.B navigates the near-term impact of on-premise closures partially offset by increased at-home consumption. Over the medium-term we expect consumers to shift away from high density indoor occasions (bars, clubs), reduce air travel and trade-down within the category as the recession's impact on spending power lingers beyond a GDP recovery. We believe pricing will be less of a contributor in the years ahead due to whiskey/wine supply-demand dynamics and a reversion of sub-segment pricing." Citi raised its price target on Facebook to $275 from $245 Citi raised its price target on the stock and said it was bullish on the company's recent launch of Facebook Shops "Last week, Facebook announced the launch of Shop. With Shop, Facebook is enabling consumers to purchase items directly within the Facebook or Instagram app.  Shop Generates Revenue Two Ways — Facebook will likely generate revenue in two ways from Shop. First, retailers will be more likely to advertise on Facebook now that ecommerce functionality is built into the firm's social media platform. Second, retailers will typically pay a 5% fee on retail sales conducted through Shop." Baird downgraded Hyatt to 'neutral' from 'outperform' Baird downgraded Hyatt and said it expects a "long road" to recovery for the hotel sector. "The sector has rebounded (but not materially outperformed the S & P 500) as cities, states, and local businesses have reopened; however, what's not reopening (at least not yet) is the higher profit segments of the industry, including business travel and group/convention business. We expect a challenging intermediate-term earnings outlook (i.e., no buyback activity, slower net unit growth), but investors are paying up for 2022-2023 earnings today." Evercore ISI upgraded Dentsply Sirona to 'overweight' from 'in line' Evercore upgraded the dental equipment maker and dental consumables producer and said it was well-positioned compared to peers in the sector. "In addition, consumers seem to view returning to the dentist in a more positive light vs. other activities that compromise social distancing, pointing to room for further volume improvements. Over the course of the recovery and beyond, XRAY is well positioned vs. many dental peers with a premium franchise in many key product areas as well as strong liquidity, which should help it gain share vs. peers as well as present consolidation opportunities." Susquehanna upgraded Hibbett Sports to 'positive' from 'neutral' Susquehanna upgraded the sporting goods retailer and said it had an advantage in that was mainly "off-mall and rural locations." "Exceptional execution and operational discipline were on full display in 1Q21 and should continue for the foreseeable future. HIBB 's best-in-class digital and omni-channel capabilities are leading to improved customer engagement, retention, and acquisition. Further, with a store fleet located primarily in off-mall and rural locations, we think HIBB holds a distinct advantage over competitors. Raising estimates and price target." Jefferies raised its price target on Apple to $370 from $350 Jefferies said Apple's iPhone was well-positioned to to see strong growth throughout the 5G cycle. "Our web traffic analysis indicates that Apple has seen strong growth through online channels since the start of COVID-19. Further, the new iPhone SE has seen very strong demand through the month of April. We think incremental confidence that strong online channels and iPhone SE performance can partially offset brick and mortar declines will help investors look past near-term volatility to the 5G Cycle." Wedbush raised its price target on Tesla to $800 from $600 Wedbush raised its price target on Tesla and said the company's China growth story is worth "$300 per share to the stock." "Fundamentally speaking the stock is currently being valued off how quickly Musk & Co. can hit the $20 in earnings power with the Street actively trying to quantify the ramp of the China EV growth opportunity which has naturally taken a near-term hit over the last few months given the coronavirus impact. To this point, we continue to believe EV demand in China is starting to accelerate with Tesla competing with a number of domestic and international competitors for this market share with Giga 3 remaining the linchpin of success which remains the prize that Musk and Fremont are laser focused on capturing."

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images

(This story is for CNBC PRO subscribers only.)

Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Wednesday:

Jefferies initiated Freshpet as 'buy'

Jefferies said the manufacturer of fresh pet food was well-positioned to benefit from secular tailwinds and was resilient in the economic downturn.

"We favor FRPT's positioning as the category creator of fresh pet food. Mid-20's annual sales growth is supported by sales velocity, distribution, & Int markets. Investments are in place to scale; significant leverage is expected. In our proprietary survey of 900+, 20% of respondents got a pet in the last 3 mos and 70% cited "nutrition/diet/health" as the leading determinant of their preferred dog food. We see inherent value vs. current trading levels."

Argus downgraded Pinterest to 'hold' from 'buy'

Argus said in its downgrade of the stock that it saw more user momentum on other social media sites.

"We are lowering our near-term rating on Pinterest to HOLD from BUY; our long-term rating remains BUY. Pinterest is a solid longer-term growth story, with a management team that is focused on turning the corner and achieving GAAP profitability in the medium-term. However, competitive social media sites, including SNAP, TWTR and FB, appeared to show more user momentum on their sites than PINS as the pandemic worsened."