Here are Friday's biggest analyst calls of the day: Tesla, Caterpillar, airlines & more

Published Fri, Jun 12 20208:40 AM EDT

Key Points

Goldman Sachs downgraded Tesla to neutral from buy.
Morgan Stanley downgraded Tesla to underweight from equal weight.
Goldman Sachs upgraded General Motors to buy from hold.
BMO downgraded Caterpillar to market perform from outperform.
Credit Suisse upgraded Southwest Airlines to outperform from neutral.
Credit Suisse downgraded United Airlines to neutral from outperform.
MKM upgraded Take-Two to buy from neutral.
Guggenheim initiated WW as buy.
SunTrust upgraded Dave & Buster's to buy from hold.

(This story is for CNBC PRO subscribers only.) Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Friday: Morgan Stanley downgraded Tesla to underweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley said in its downgrade of Tesla that it sees China and tech competition as risks for the stock. "We highlight risks to Sino-US trade, near-term demand, capital needs and tech competition as the key bear vectors we think deserve more attention in the market. ... However, we believe the recent run-up in the share price (+132% YTD vs. the S & P 500 about -7% YTD) to over $1,000 may not reflect a number of important emerging risks, many of them long-term, that have the potential to impact fundamentals (growth and profitability) in a materially negative way and this drives our downgrade of the shares to UW." Read more about this call here . Goldman Sachs downgraded Tesla to neutral from buy Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock on valuation among other things. "We'd look to become more positive on Tesla stock again if we had more confidence in the near to intermediate term trajectory of fundamentals, or if valuation became more attractive. We maintain our view that the electric vehicle market offers attractive long-term growth, and we think Tesla will be able to sustain a leading position in EVs (and with solid margins)." Read more about this call here . Goldman Sachs upgraded General Motors to buy from hold Goldman Sachs upgraded the auto company and said it sees "signs of life" due to an improving U.S. housing market and better auto sales in China. "For GM , we believe that the Goldman Sachs 'Rule of 3' framework that our semiconductor and chemicals teams have used historically about when to buy cyclical stocks has been met. Recall that the three rules are: 1) Trough margins; 2) Management capitulation; 3) Signs of life on the horizon. While we already viewed the first two criteria as being met when we initiated coverage in April, we were looking for signs of life on the horizon." BMO downgraded Caterpillar to market perform from outperform BMO said in its downgrade of the stock that it thinks lack of long-term growth of earnings per share and revenue will continue to weigh on Caterpillar. "We believe any near-term recovery for its end markets will be somewhat challenged by customers' budgetary constraints and government finances being stretched. These factors will likely overwhelm the myriad internal improvements occurring at the company, at least for the next few years. As a result, we model net income and EBITDA in 2022 that are below levels seen in 2012, which would mark a decade of stagnant growth." Credit Suisse upgraded Southwest Airlines to outperform from neutral Credit Suisse said in its upgrade of the airline that it has a "best-in-class" balance sheet. "This call reflects our view that LUV is not only a good way to invest in the N-T recovery in leisure travel demand, but it is also our favorite multi-year strategic investment with a best-in-class balance sheet that positions LUV to stage an aggressive comeback." Credit Suisse downgraded United Airlines to neutral from outperform Credit Suisse said in its downgrade of the airline and said it sees a more balanced risk/reward. "Our estimates and $41 target price remain unchanged, as does our fundamental view, which is that UAL remains a well-run carrier which continues to display a proactive approach to crisis management and is making good progress on cost reduction. Our downgrade merely reflects the fact that UAL briefly overshot our target price last week following the recent sector rally, and while it has since settled in just below our TP (~15% upside), we still take this opportunity to step to the sidelines with a Neutral rating." MKM upgraded Take-Two to buy from neutral MKM upgraded the gaming company and said it was bullish on the company's announcement that it will release a remastered Grand Theft Auto in 2021. " Take-Two' s Rockstar Studio announced at last night's PS5 reveal event that a remastered version of Grand Theft Auto V would be released on Sony's new console system in 2021. In our opinion, this release should have a positive impact on FY22 estimates. More important, this event will serve as a means to migrate current GTA Online players to next-gen consoles and keep this fremium game as an evergreen property. " Guggenheim initiated WW as buy Guggenheim initiated the company formerly known as Weight Watchers and said the company should benefit as it continues to moves into a digital world. "We believe the company stands to benefit from the meaningful transition of its platform toward digital services, along with potential growth from upcoming product innovation and the potential reformatting of the Studio business over time. While COVID-19 has clearly disrupted operations, we believe much of these concerns are embedded in investor expectations at this point – and moving forward, this category could stand to be a net beneficiary of the themes that resonate from the current environment. " SunTrust upgraded Dave & Buster's to buy from hold SunTrust upgraded the restaurant and entertainment company after its earnings report and said it likes its "flexible" operating model and long term cost savings plan. "We are encouraged by faster than expected re-opening plans, steadily improving sales at re-opened stores, PLAY 's new extremely flexible operating model that drives incremental profits at low volumes (down 80-90% from pre-COVID levels), potential LT cost savings, and stronger than expected development in '20/'21 (existing pipeline not completely abandoned). While sales are sensitive to increased COVID concerns, lean operations and strong liquidity mitigate downside risk."

Elon Musk, co-founder and chief executive officer of Tesla Motors.

Yuriko Nakao | Bloomberg | Getty Images

(This story is for CNBC PRO subscribers only.)

Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Friday:

Morgan Stanley downgraded Tesla to underweight from equal weight

Morgan Stanley said in its downgrade of Tesla that it sees China and tech competition as risks for the stock.

"We highlight risks to Sino-US trade, near-term demand, capital needs and tech competition as the key bear vectors we think deserve more attention in the market. ... However, we believe the recent run-up in the share price (+132% YTD vs. the S&P 500 about -7% YTD) to over $1,000 may not reflect a number of important emerging risks, many of them long-term, that have the potential to impact fundamentals (growth and profitability) in a materially negative way and this drives our downgrade of the shares to UW."

Goldman Sachs downgraded Tesla to neutral from buy

Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock on valuation among other things.

"We'd look to become more positive on Tesla stock again if we had more confidence in the near to intermediate term trajectory of fundamentals, or if valuation became more attractive. We maintain our view that the electric vehicle market offers attractive long-term growth, and we think Tesla will be able to sustain a leading position in EVs (and with solid margins)."