Here are Thursday's biggest analyst calls of the day: Tesla, Costco, GE, Nio, Exxon & more

Published Thu, Mar 11 20218:00 AM ESTUpdated Thu, Mar 11 20218:22 AM EST

Key Points

Barclays upgraded Qorvo to overweight from equal weight.
JPMorgan upgraded D.R. Horton to overweight from neutral.
Deutsche Bank upgraded ADT to buy from hold.
Morgan Stanley reiterated Exxon as a top pick.
Mizuho initiated Tesla as buy.
Wells Fargo upgraded Costco to overweight from equal weight.
Oppenheimer downgraded General Electric to perform from outperform.
Mizuho initiated Nio as buy.
Cowen named Tapestry and Farfetch as top picks.
Societe Generale downgraded Oracle to hold from buy.

Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Thursday: Barclays upgraded Qorvo to overweight from equal weight Barclays upgraded the semiconductor company and said it was bullish on the company's "near-term trends." "We are upgrading QRVO to OW as we like the diversity and drivers a little better than SWKS but both likely can work. ... .We believe near-term trends remain strong, with growth in Android yielding June flat to even up slightly vs guide of below $1B." JPMorgan upgraded D.R. Horton to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said in its upgrade of the homebuilder that its valuation was "attractive." "Finally, in terms of stock selection, we upgrade DHI to Overweight from Neutral, as we view its valuation, trading in-line with its larger-cap peers against our 2022E EPS despite our outlook for continued above average operating margins and return on equity, as attractive." Deutsche Bank upgraded ADT to buy from hold Deutsche upgraded the alarm company after a meeting with its management team and said it was bullish on ADT's partnership with Google. "We hosted ADT 's management team for a fireside chat on Day 2 of our conference and came away more constructive on the business and the opportunity ahead. During our chat, the company highlighted a number of secular tailwinds for the business as smart home adoption accelerates and as they lean into the broader opportunity to enable their consumers." Morgan Stanley reiterated Exxon as a top pick Morgan Stanley reitated the oil and gas company as a top pick with 15% upside. The firm raised its price target to $71 from $60 "As we wrote about in our recent upgrade proactive cost & capex cuts coupled with rebounding margins support outsized rate of change in FCF and dividend cover for XOM in 2021 — a dynamic that we expect will support further re-rating in shares. Incremental since our upgrade, reduced spending in 2021, additional capex flexibility, further operating cost cuts, and a clearer strategy around climate risk supports our constructive thesis on the stock and should further boost free cash flow and dividend cover." Mizuho initiated Tesla as buy Mizuho initiated the electric vehicle company and said it was a "leader for the next decade and beyond." "With Tesla's cutting-edge battery technology driving key leadership in the EV market and providing sustainable energy storage for residential & industrial applications, disrupting the global energy market, we see TSLA as a leader for the next decade and beyond." Read more about this call here. Wells Fargo upgraded Costco to overweight from equal weight Wells Fargo said in its upgrade of the stock that it sees a "compelling" buying opportunity. "Our call is based on the following: 1) The stock's return to pre-pandemic levels seems to imply that COST keeps none of the upside, which seems wrong to us. At least some share gains should be sticky given member growth, and emerging trends represent incremental positives. 2) The membership fee looks poised to increase in the next 18 months and represents a potential catalyst for sales and earnings." Read more about this call here. Oppenheimer downgraded General Electric to perform from outperform Oppenheimer downgraded the stock on valuation but said the foundation was "solid" for the company. "Given shares having eclipsed our prior $13 PT, we are moving to a Perform rating. GE reiterated target for high single digits FCF/sales operating profile longer-term, anchored by Aviation FCF returning to 2018–2019 levels ($4.2–4.4B), which we anticipate could marginally materialize during 2023, though possibly more likely 2024." Mizuho initiated Nio as buy Mizuho initiated the electric vehicle company with a buy and said it sees "significant upside" particularly as it expands in China. " NIO is a leader and innovator in the premium automotive EV segment; it is domiciled in China, the largest and most prolific EV market globally. NIO has a key differentiation from peers: a premium EV offering with a lower cost of ownership through its novel Battery-as-a-Service battery swap module." Read more about this call here . Cowen named Tapestry and Farfetch as top picks Cowen named the luxury retail company's as top picks and said they were well positioned to gain new customers as the economy reopens. "Our new top ideas are TPR , FTCH, and MYTE as we believe global discretionary and luxury platforms are well positioned to capture wallet share from a healthy consumer & retain newly acquired customers." SocGen downgraded Oracle to hold from buy SocGen downgraded Oracle mainly on valuation after the company's earnings report on Wednesday. "While raising our DCF TP to $76 from $70 on higher estimates, we lower our rating to Hold from Buy, with the valuation up to speed with fundamentals. Reported overnight, 3Q21 results were a beat and 4Q21 guidance broadly in line."

The General Electric Co. logo is seen on the company's corporate headquarters building in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. July 23, 2019

Alwyn Scott | Reuters

Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Thursday: