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

Published Thu, Jan 21 20218:16 AM ESTUpdated Thu, Jan 21 20218:43 AM EST

Key Points

Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Apple to $152 from $144.
Berenberg downgraded Citi to hold from buy.
Bank of America downgraded DuPont to neutral from buy.
Jefferies initiated Exxon as underperform.
BTIG upgraded PayPal to buy from neutral.
Stifel initiated Pinterest as buy.
Piper Sandler assumed coverage of Alphabet as overweight.
Deutsche Bank upgraded Under Armour to buy from hold.
Deutsche Bank upgraded Capri Holdings to buy from hold.
Morgan Stanley initiated SolarEdge as overweight.
Oppenheimer upgraded Fastly to outperfom from perform.
Evercore ISI added tactical outperform on Microsoft.
Bank of America named Amazon a top long-term pick.

Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Thursday: Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Apple to $152 from $144 Morgan Stanley raised its price target on the stock and said it expects the company to report "record" earnings on January 27. "Our checks indicate Apple saw strength across its portfolio of Products & Services in the Dec Q, driven by 5G adoption, work/learn from home, and sustained App Store engagement. Our ests are 5-7% ahead of cons and we'd be buyers ahead of the print. We are buyers ahead of what we expect to be a record December quarter print." Berenberg downgraded Citi to hold from buy Berenberg called the banking giant a "diamond in the rough" but downgraded the stock mainly on valuation. "As a US-based bank with a global footprint, it has the potential to provide differentiated value to the world's largest global corporates. As such, we welcome management's emerging strategy to simplify the group while retaining this footprint. However, following a c50% increase in Citigroup' s share price during the past three months, we believe the likely costs of this transformation, alongside other headwinds, may be underappreciated." Bank of America downgraded DuPont to neutral from buy Bank of America downgraded DuPoint mainly on valuation. "Shares have responded well to resilient demand in electronics, resurgent strength in auto sales, an improving price backdrop in nylon polymers, and, as we will discuss below, a significant tailwind from deal-related buying. Indeed, we think the company is set up for a strong earnings performance in 2021 and see a favorable pro forma leverage profile that will provide further flexibility to drive growth." Jefferies initiated Exxon as underperform Jefferies initiated the oil and gas company and said it was concerned about headwinds surrounding the company's ability to deliver its dividend. "Debt levels are not high, compared to sector peers.On our macro deck, we don't see Exxon covering its dividend on an organic basis until at least 2023. Faced by these headwinds, we see risks around Exxon's historical valuation premium relative to the sector." BTIG upgraded PayPal to buy from neutral BTIG said in its upgrade of the payment company that it sees a "steepened" long-term growth trajectory after the company's announcement that it was accepting Bitcoin. "While our confidence that PYPL 's growth story will be sustained is rooted in our view that the company should continue to benefit from the shift toward digital payments accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, we believe it likely steepened its long-term growth trajectory with its announcement in October that its 333mm active users would be able to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies using their PayPal digital wallets." Stifel initiated Pinterest as buy Stifel initiated the social media company with a buy rating and said it had a "compelling" global value proposition. " Pinterest has carved out a valuable niche in social media that we view as not only sustainable, but potentially more broadly appealing over time. Pinterest's service is essentially a digital portfolio of consumers' interests, hobbies, and passions; this makes its content highly commercial and uniquely conducive to supporting brand / performance advertising." Piper Sandler assumed coverage of Alphabet as overweight Piper assumed coverage of the internet giant and said it should be a "core long-term holding" for investors. "Our survey work demonstrates GOOGL remains a near-ubiquitous digital ad provider, with dominant position in Search. The company is still innovating in the core business and moving more transactional. We see powerhouse adjacent franchises in Mobile Apps, Video and Cloud. With an enviable margin profile, consistent growth and re-investment at a reasonable multiple, GOOGL remains a core long-term holding for Internet investors." Deutsche Bank upgraded Under Armour to buy from hold Deutsche Bank upgraded the sports equipment manufacturer and said it sees strong multiple growth expansion in 2021. "We are upgrading shares of UAA to Buy from Hold as we forecast a 40% increase in the margin rate by FY23 as benefits are reaped from multiple years of resetting the cost base, improving inventory control and pricing, and altering the distribution mix. ... .While UAA is still lacking with fashionable sportswear, revenues can still accelerate to a mid single digits CAGR, in our view, buoyed by a supportive athleisure backdrop, International expansion, and a North America segment that returns to growth after four years of declines." Deutsche Bank upgraded Capri Holdings to buy from hold Deutsche Bank upgraded the multinational fashion company and owner of brands like Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo and said it was one of the most "intriguing" stories in retail. "We are upgrading shares of CPRI to Buy from Hold driven by our outlook for improved profitability at Michael Kors, robust product and price point expansion opportunities at Versace, and sneaker led growth at Jimmy Choo which, in our view, translate to one of the most intriguing stories in retail." Morgan Stanley initiated SolarEdge as overweight Morgan Stanley initiated the solar power company with an overweight rating and said it expects it to gain share in a "fast growing space." " SolarEdge is the world leader in the solar PV inverter market, a position that we believe will allow the company to continue to gain share in a fast growing space and penetrate other equally exciting markets. Our $354 PT offers ~20% upside." Oppenheimer upgraded Fastly to outperform from perform Oppenheimer upgraded the cloud computing services provider and said it was "incrementally" more positive as its channel checks show "record traffic volumes." "We had downgraded FSLY to Perform on August 6, 2020 on concerns regarding tougher comps in 2021 and loss of TikTok revenue. Recently we have grown incrementally positive after speaking to channel checks, which suggest record traffic volumes and a positive launch of compute@edge. COVID-19 lockdowns are likely to stay with us until mid-2021, and even when these have lifted consumer behavior has shifted to cheaper/better ecommerce and OTT streaming." Evercore ISI added tactical outperform on Microsoft Evercore added the stock to its tactical outperform list and said it sees an "increasingly attractive" risk/reward ahead of the company's earnings next week. "After consolidating near current levels since July, we believe that a solid F2Q next Tuesday (1/26) and a positive set up into F2H could help unlock the next move higher in the shares. We are adding Microsoft to our tactical outperform list as we believe that the risk/reward looks increasingly attractive when taking a three month view." Bank of America named Amazon a top long-term pick Bank of America said the e-commerce giant was still the stock to own for the long haul and said it sees more growth and continued tailwinds. The firm also raised its price target to $4,000 from $3,650. " Amazon was a COVID-beneficiary in 2020, but looking through tougher summer comps, we still see strong growth prospects with eCommerce penetration still low, a large uptick in fulfilment capacity, and ongoing shift to the Cloud. COVID-19 should accelerate Cloud demand in 2021, and retail business margins have positive tailwinds."

Tim Cook at Apple Event

Source: Apple

Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Thursday: