Here are Wednesday's biggest analyst calls of the day: Apple, Moderna, Western Digital, Gap, & more

Published Wed, Jul 15 20208:18 AM EDT

Key Points

RBC upgraded Gap to outperform from sector perform.
Evercore ISI initiated Boston Beer as outperform.
Bernstein initiated Western Digital as outperform.
Evercore ISI upgraded Wells Fargo to outperform from in-line.
JPMorgan downgraded American Express to underweight from neutral.
Piper Sandler raised its price target on Moderna to $134 from $100.
Needham raised its price target on Apple to $450 from $350.

(This story is for CNBC PRO subscribers only.) Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Wednesday: Evercore ISI initiated Boston Beer as outperform Evercore said in its initiation of the beer maker that it sees "upside" to consesus and that the company was the only publicity-traded play on hard seltzer. " SAM is the only publicly-traded play on the booming hard seltzer category, with Truly accounting for ~30% of revenue last year, going to ~50% in 2020E and ~70% in 2022E. Truly weathered this year's competitive onslaught and came out stronger. While this is not lost on investors, with the stock up ~90% over the past 2 years, our proprietary U.S. Beer Market Model, analysis of Numerator panel data, and margin driver analysis supports upside to consensus." JPMorgan downgraded American Express to underweight from neutral JPMorgan said in its downgrade of American Express that it thinks the company's model will remain "pressured" as wealthier consumers reduce travel among other things amid the coronavirus pandemic.. "Spend-driven model likely to remain pressured as high-income consumers reduce discretionary and leisure travel spend and corporate T & E likely to remain pressured into 1H21. Potential return at low end of our sector coverage." Evercore ISI upgraded Wells Fargo to outperform from in line Evercore ISI upgraded the bank after its earnings report and said even though the dividend cut was "larger than expected" the pullback in shares creates an "attractive" entry point. "We are upgrading WFC to Outperform from In Line as the steep dividend cut and bolstering of reserves help clear the decks on capital & credit uncertainty. Pending expense actions also bode well for longer term earnings power, while the pullback in the shares creates a compelling entry point." Bernstein initiated Western Digital as outperform Bernstein initiated the hard disk drive manufacturer and data storage company and said Western Digital's NAND business is "underappreciated." NAND is a type of flash memory storage chip. "The Data Explosion is set to continue. Total data storage globally grew at 43% compound annual growth rate from 1998 to 2019, and expected to grow at 24% CAGR to 2030. Data storage however is increasingly moving to datacenters (as opposed to local/on-device), growing at 29% CAGR for the next decade in line with the previous decade. ... .Current share prices indicate significant underappreciation of WDC's NAND business. " Piper Sandler raised its price target on Moderna to $134 from $100 Piper Sandler raised its price target on the biotech company to a Street high and said it remains bullish on Moderna as the company prepares to embark on Phase III of its coronavirus vaccine trial. "Newly reported neutralizing antibody titers showed 2-4 fold improvement, depending on the assay, over reference convalescent serum from COVID-19 survivors. While comparisons to other vaccine data have caveats, these levels of neutralizing antibodies are generally comparable. We note T-cell response to mRNA-1273 differentiates from other vaccine data to date. We believe these data demonstrate clean safety and robust immunogenicity of the 100μg mRNA-1273 dose, supporting the planned Phase III start on July 27." Needham raised its price target on Apple to $450 from $350 Needham raised its price target on Apple to $450 tying a Street high and said it sees more upside in the company's Services and Wearables businesses. "We raise our price target for AAPL because we believe: a) long term value upside is being driven by Services and Wearables which enhance AAPL ecosystem lock-in plus add to revenue per user; b) AAPL's strong balance sheet, FCF, and share repurchases moderate investor risk; c) AAPL's platform aggregates 950mm of the wealthiest consumers globally; and d) AAPL is on the correct side of privacy regulators." RBC upgraded Gap to outperform from sector perform RBC said it sees multiple upcoming catalysts for the clothing and accessories retailer including productivity stablization and the company's new partnership with Kanye West. "With secular tailwinds at Old Navy and Athleta's backs post-COVID, we see potential for value unlock at the Gap brand, aided by multiple catalysts including a fall 2020 analyst day, the 1H21 Yeezy Gap launch, and productivity stabilization and fixed cost reduction efforts on a smaller fleet to come."

A Western Digital office building is shown in Irvine, California, U.S., January 24, 2017.

Mike Blake | Reuters

(This story is for CNBC PRO subscribers only.)

Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Wednesday:

Evercore ISI initiated Boston Beer as outperform

Evercore said in its initiation of the beer maker that it sees "upside" to consesus and that the company was the only publicity-traded play on hard seltzer.

"SAM is the only publicly-traded play on the booming hard seltzer category, with Truly accounting for ~30% of revenue last year, going to ~50% in 2020E and ~70% in 2022E. Truly weathered this year's competitive onslaught and came out stronger. While this is not lost on investors, with the stock up ~90% over the past 2 years, our proprietary U.S. Beer Market Model, analysis of Numerator panel data, and margin driver analysis supports upside to consensus."

JPMorgan downgraded American Express to underweight from neutral

JPMorgan said in its downgrade of American Express that it thinks the company's model will remain "pressured" as wealthier consumers reduce travel among other things amid the coronavirus pandemic..

"Spend-driven model likely to remain pressured as high-income consumers reduce discretionary and leisure travel spend and corporate T&E likely to remain pressured into 1H21. Potential return at low end of our sector coverage."