Here are Thursday's biggest analyst calls of the day: Apple, Microsoft, Tesla & more

Published Thu, Jul 23 20208:13 AM EDT

Key Points

Guggenheim downgraded Kraft Heinz to sell from neutral.
Bank of America upgraded Bloomin' Brands to neutral from underperform.
Goldman Sachs raised its price target on Apple to $299 from $263.
Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft to perform from outperform.
Cowen upgraded Tesla to market perform from underperform.

(This story is for CNBC PRO subscribers only.) Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Thursday: Guggenheim downgraded Kraft Heinz to sell from neutral Guggenheim said in its downgrade of the stock that it was concerned that Kraft Heinz is continuing to lose share even as other food companies thrive during the coronavirus pandemic. "As the pandemic worsens in the United States and across many emerging markets, we think that food companies will generally benefit for longer than previously expected. While KHC is also benefiting from elevated retail sales, the company portfolio continues to lose share in most segments, reinforcing our cautious fundamental thesis. We are downgrading KHC to SELL, as the current valuation doesn't reflect the risks we continue to see in the name. We are increasing our estimates for MDLZ, K, and KHC with increased sales growth in FY20." Bank of America upgraded Bloomin' Brands to neutral from underperform Bank of America upgraded the stock ahead of the company's earnings report on Friday and said it expects "multi-year outsized growth" from the casual restaurant hospitality operator. "In an early June update, BLMN noted recent U.S. comps were down 25% at Outback, 21% at Carrabba's, 41% at Bonefish, and 45% at Fleming's. Industry same store sales improved over the next few weeks since that update but have reversed modestly in July as Covid cases have picked up (and California shut dining rooms). BLMN is benefitting from 1) better off-premise performance than we expected, 2) advantages of scale, and 3) a shake-out of competitors amid a challenging environment." Goldman Sachs raised its price target on Apple to $299 from $263 Goldman Sachs reiterated its sell rating on the stock but raised its price target and said it thinks Apple's recent rally is unsustainable. "As we head into Apple 's FQ3'20 earnings report next week our main focus is on whether the company will guide for the September quarter. Our central case is that Apple will not guide September due to ongoing uncertainty around COVID-19 and possibly on whether the iPhone launch will be delayed. We continue to assume that Apple will deliver the iPhone on time in late September. We are well aware of both supply and press speculation to the contrary but our experience and Apple's strong supply chain presence suggest it is more likely to surprise on the upside in terms of execution." Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft to perform from outperform Oppenheimer downgraded the stock after the company's earnings report and said it was concerned about "slowing" cloud growth. "We estimate total cloud revenue growth slowed to 22% from 32%. Business/cloud could remain weak as enterprises trim IT budgets and as Small midsize business churn picks up due to the recession. Long term, MSFT remains the dominant hybrid cloud platform, but slowing cloud growth could increase competition/spending and the strength in consumer is more cyclical. We downgrade MSFT to Perform from Outperform based on slowing growth/margin expansion while the stock trades at all-time highs." Cowen upgraded Tesla to market perform from underperform Cowen upgraded Tesla after the company's earnings report and said it thinks that the stock works when the company has "new things" coming such as a factories and new vehicles among other things. "We fully admit we have been wrong on TSLA the last few years. Execution on margins, cost control, lower capex and a faster ramp of factories and new vehicles have been above our expectations. TSLA shares tend to 'work' when many new things are coming, and we see new factories, vehicle platforms and in-house batteries driving sentiment. The Sep. 22 Battery Day likely serves as the next catalyst." Read more about this call here .

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during an Apple launch event in the Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., October 30, 2018.

Shannon Stapleton | Reuters

(This story is for CNBC PRO subscribers only.)

Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Thursday:

Guggenheim downgraded Kraft Heinz to sell from neutral

Guggenheim said in its downgrade of the stock that it was concerned that Kraft Heinz is continuing to lose share even as other food companies thrive during the coronavirus pandemic.

"As the pandemic worsens in the United States and across many emerging markets, we think that food companies will generally benefit for longer than previously expected. While KHC is also benefiting from elevated retail sales, the company portfolio continues to lose share in most segments, reinforcing our cautious fundamental thesis. We are downgrading KHC to SELL, as the current valuation doesn't reflect the risks we continue to see in the name. We are increasing our estimates for MDLZ, K, and KHC with increased sales growth in FY20."

Bank of America upgraded Bloomin' Brands to neutral from underperform

Bank of America upgraded the stock ahead of the company's earnings report on Friday and said it expects "multi-year outsized growth" from the casual restaurant hospitality operator.

"In an early June update, BLMN noted recent U.S. comps were down 25% at Outback, 21% at Carrabba's, 41% at Bonefish, and 45% at Fleming's. Industry same store sales improved over the next few weeks since that update but have reversed modestly in July as Covid cases have picked up (and California shut dining rooms). BLMN is benefitting from 1) better off-premise performance than we expected, 2) advantages of scale, and 3) a shake-out of competitors amid a challenging environment."