Here are Monday's biggest analyst calls of the day: Netflix, Snap, Corning, Vizio, Alphabet & more

Published Mon, Apr 19 20218:14 AM EDT

Key Points

Bank of America reiterated Netflix as buy.
Bank of America lowered its price target on Peloton to $150 from $175.
Wells Fargo initiated Vizio as overweight.
JPMorgan raised its price target on Alphabet to $2,575 from $2,390.
Credit Suisse upgraded Textron to outperform from neutral.
Citi upgraded First Solar to buy from neutral.
JPMorgan upgraded Corning to overweight from neutral.
Citi named Applied Materials a top pick.
Morgan Stanley downgraded Church & Dwight to underweight from equal weight.
BMO initiated Zynga as outperform.
JPMorgan reiterated Snap as overweight.
Susquehanna upgraded Apache to positive from neutral.
Morgan Stanley reiterated Microsoft as a top pick.
Susquehanna downgraded Qualcomm to neutral from positive.

Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Monday: Bank of America reiterated Netflix as buy Bank of America reiterated its bullish call on Netflix ahead of its earnings report on Tuesday and said the streaming giant was in a "strong position." "We believe that Netflix will continue to see durable growth despite increasing competition and should face less regulatory scrutiny vs mega-cap tech peers. We also see recent price hikes as a further indication that Netflix is in a strong position despite added competition and see upside potential to revenue and EPS estimates." Bank of America lowered its price target on Peloton to $150 from $175 Bank of America lowered its price target on shares of Peloton after a government agency warned about accidents with children involving the company's treadmill. The firm added it still liked the stock long term. "Two risks we see from the CPSC's Tread+ warnings for new Tread sales include: need for implementation of additional safety features that delay launch (seems unlikely given Peloton's public response to the CPSC), and publicity risk from Tread+ injuries could impact demand for the new Tread." Read more about this call here. Wells Fargo initiated Vizio as overweight Wells Fargo initiated the electronics television company with an overweight rating and said it was well positioned for future growth. "VZIO is uniquely integrated between smart TV sets and its connected TV (CTV) operating system, implying advantages to building an installed base of monetizable active users in the fast-growing CTV marketplace." Read more about this call here. JPMorgan raised its price target on Alphabet to $2,575 from $2,390 JPMorgan raised its price target on shares of Alphabet and said it had an attractive valuation among other things. "Overall, we remain positive on Alphabet as we believe: it is well positioned across ads, clouds, & a number of other key initiatives to both drive & benefit from long-term digital trends; and it has an attractive combination of top-line scale, growth, & margins, supporting our view that valuation remains attractive..." Credit Suisse upgraded Textron to outperform from neutral Credit Suisse said in its upgrade of the industrial conglomerate that it had become more "constructive" on a sustained business jet recovery. "However, we are now somewhat more constructive on two of the above issues and upgrade our forecast and rating. Specifically, we are more positive on bizjet exiting the pandemic, particularly the light and mid-sized jet segments where TXT concentrates." Read more about this call here. Citi upgraded First Solar to buy from neutral Citi upgraded the solar company and placed a positive catalyst watch on shares of First Solar and said it sees an "attractive" risk/reward. "We identify five potential catalysts across U.S. tax policy (potential inclusion of a 10-year solar tax credit extension and the revival of the 48C Advanced Manufacturing Tax Credit), U.S. trade policy and upward estimate revisions related to production and margin outperformance." Read more about this call here . JPMorgan upgraded Corning to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said in its upgrade of the specialty glassware and ceramics company that it had a more bullish long term outlook. "We are upgrading our recommendation on GLW shares to OW, despite the shares being almost 20% higher than the level at which we downgraded to Neutral in Dec'20, led by a change in the long-term outlook." Read more about this call here . Citi named Applied Materials a top pick Citi named the semiconductor a top pick and said it expected semiconductor companies to "regain the manufacturing lead." "We move AMAT to our top equipment pick as we now expect both memory and logic wafer fabrication spend to grow evenly in 2021 vs prior outsized memory view. AMAT has balanced WFE sales mix among US peers and we expect the valuation discount to close with its peers as the company is better positioned to hit its FY24 target model." Morgan Stanley downgraded Church & Dwight to underweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley said in its downgrade of the stock that it was "priced to perfection." "We have great respect for CHD 's management and their historical track record, but the stock seems priced to perfection in an environment that is unfavorable to US centric home personal care names, with rising commodity costs, and lower volume post COVID." BMO initiated Zynga as outperform BMO initiated the social media gaming company and said it had several "competitive advantages" over its peers. "ZNGA specializes in free to play social games and utilizes live services, supported by superior data analytics, to enhance in-game monetization and returns from advertising. We think ZNGA has a competitive advantage in creating deeper relationships with its players over other mobile competitors." Read more about this call here. JPMorgan reiterated Snap as overweight JPMorgan reiterated its overweight rating on shares of Snap ahead of the company's earnings report on Thursday and said it sees "sequential revenue acceleration." "We believe the company's +56%-60% revenue guidance should prove conservative as mgmt: baked in some impact from iOS14 changes, which will likely be pushed into 2Q; & also indicated the company could grow in-line with the 4Q20 rate if its recent momentum sustained. While SNAP is lapping tough Jan/Feb comps, we believe the easier March comp coupled with a strong digital economy should result in sequential revenue acceleration." Susquehanna upgraded Apache to positive from neutral Susquehanna upgraded the hydrocarbon exploration company and said it sees "higher prices mitigating balance sheet concerns." " APA' s exploration upside in Suriname remains the main reason to own the stock. When we downgraded the stock last March, we saw APA's legacy business being too dilutive to its Suriname upside at lower oil prices. But in a $55+/bbl WTI world, the legacy business is much more viable." Morgan Stanley reiterated Microsoft as a top pick Morgan Stanley reiterated the tech giant as a top pick in software and said it had an "attractive valuation" among other things. "An improving spending environment drives several sources of potential upside to Q3, most prominently around the hybrid cloud engine (Azure + Server Products) and Windows OEM. Strong positioning for multiple secular trends and an attractive valuation make MSFT a Top Pick in Software." Susquehanna downgraded Qualcomm to neutral from positive Susquehanna downgraded Qualcomm on valuation among other things. "The Street is littered with analysts who have failed to 'call the cycle' correctly, and at very best… we recognize this call is early. That said, industry lead-times and valuation multiples have expanded to levels well beyond their historical averages, adding potential risk to this already volatile sector."

Evan Spiegel, CEO of SNAP Inc.

Stephen Desaulniers | CNBC

Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Monday: