Here are Wednesday's biggest analyst calls of the day: Disney, Airbnb, Verizon & more

Published Wed, Dec 2 20208:14 AM EST

Key Points

Atlantic Equities initiated Airbnb as overweight.
Morgan Stanley downgraded Palantir to equal weight from overweight.
BMO downgraded Hasbro to market perform from outperform.
Goldman Sachs initiated Thermo Fisher as buy.
Citi raised its price target on Disney to $175 from $150.
Deutsche Bank upgraded Kohl's to buy from hold.
Truist downgraded Dave and Buster's to hold from buy.
Wedbush initiated Winnebago as outperform.
MoffettNathanson upgraded Verizon to buy from neutral.
Citi downgraded Salesforce to neutral from buy.

Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Wednesday: Atlantic Equities initiated Airbnb as overweight Atlantic Equities initiated the online vacation rental marketplace and said it saw "growth potential" for Airbnb and that the company was poised to gain market share across the sector. Note Airbnb is expected to IPO later this month. "The company has significant secular growth potential in the large $800bn+ travel accommodation market. It is gaining share, not just in that market, but also, more recently, within alternatives specifically, despite online travel agency competition. This is being driven by its powerful brand, differentiated supply and strong community-style foundation, all of which are competitive advantages that should endure." Morgan Stanley downgraded Palantir to equal weight from overweight Morgan Stanley downgraded the data driven analytics software company and said it saw a "negative" risk/reward in 2021 with too many unanswered questions. "Too many outstanding debates to sustain current premium valuation. ... .With PLTR up 155% since listing with very little change in the fundamental story, the risk/reward paradigm shifts decidedly negative for the shares." BMO downgraded Hasbro to market perform from outperform BMO downgraded the toy manufacturing company mainly on valuation. "We are downgrading shares of Hasbro to Market Perform from Outperform, as our thesis has (quickly) played out and shares have surpassed our target price. The news flow out of Entertainment One (eOne) has improved. Meanwhile, HAS' toy business has benefited from generally strong toy sales this holiday season. We feel the market now better appreciates both aspects of the HAS story." Goldman Sachs initiated Thermo Fisher as buy Goldman initiated the scientific and medical services provider and said it was "best in class" and would benefit in the company's ability to "reinvest" coronavirus related cash flow. "TMO represents one of the best in class operators in the sector with an optimized portfolio possessing a high recurring revenue stream exposed to the key growth markets and geographies. We believe TMO should benefit from their ability to reinvest Covid related cash flow into opportunities within the Biopharma end market leading us to forecast EPS 5%/6% above Visible Alpha consensus in '21E/'22E." Citi raised its price target on Disney to $175 from $150 Citi reiterated its buy rating on Disney and raised its price target to a Street high and said it thinks shareholders are embracing the company's "direct-to-consumer pivot." "While the firm continues to endure near-term operating headwinds as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we believe the market is increasingly focused on the prospects for Disney's operations to gradually return to normal. In addition, we'd expect investors to continue to embrace the firm's direct-to-consumer pivot." Deutsche Bank upgraded Kohl's to buy from hold Deutsche upgraded the retail department store chain after the company announced a "transformational" partnership with beauty chain Sephora. "We are upgrading shares of Kohl's to Buy from Hold as yesterday's transformational announcement of a partnership with Sephora combines with other unique traffic drivers including Amazon returns, expansion of athletic and outdoor, and a differentiated off-mall omnichannel experience to give us confidence in consistent positive comp growth for years to come." Truist downgraded Dave and Buster's to hold from buy Truist downgraded the entertainment restaurant company and said there were better coronavirus recovery plays elsewhere. "We are downgrading PLAY 's shares to HOLD, from BUY, while maintaining our $25 PT. PLAY remains a 'COVID recovery story', but after a strong move in the stock, we believe investors can find greater recovery opportunities in BUY-rated DIN, DENN and DRI." Wedbush initiated Winnebago as outperform Wedbush initiated the manufacturer of motorhomes as outperform and said Winnebago was among the "best positioned" of the powersports companies. "And while above-consensus earnings results could provide modest upside to the stock, the real prize lies in retail trends, and the company's ability to (1) sustain and extend outsized retail growth into 2021, (2) withstand difficult summer-2021 surge comparisons, and (3) continue to show healthy demand trends once the world returns to some semblance of 'normal."' MoffettNathanson upgraded Verizon to buy from neutral Moffett upgraded the wireless and telecommunications company and said the stock is "simply too cheap" right now to ignore. "They'll also benefit from lapping the COVID crash in roaming revenues in 2021, and from the end of their first year of their Disney+ promotion. And Verizon also looks well-positioned to get more for less in the upcoming C-Band auction. ... .We still expect Verizon to lose share to T-Mobile. But Verizon is now trading at just half the market's P/E multiple. That's simply too cheap." Citi downgraded Salesforce to neutral from buy Citi downgraded the stock after it announced an acquisition of business messaging service Slack and said a return on investment looks "challenging." "We aren't fans of Slack deal – We don't think CRM needed to buy this asset, especially with already high customer overlap and the landscape in this space where MSFT Teams is becoming ubiquitous. The multiple paid makes it challenging to see a positive return and the history of large M & A at CRM leaves us concerned there is little near-term upside to shares as questions of challenged organic growth will likely surface."

Winnebago Industries motor homes on display at Winnebago Motor Homes in Rockford, Illinois.

Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Wednesday: