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

Published Thu, Jul 22 20218:11 AM EDTUpdated Thu, Jul 22 202110:29 AM EDT

Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Thursday: Canaccord raised its price target on Apple to $175 from $165 Canaccord reiterated its buy rating on shares of the tech giant and said it sees "strong demand" for the company's products ahead of its earnings report next week. " Apple continues to demonstrate the strength of its product ecosystem, and we believe consensus estimates will prove conservative for Q3 results and Q4 guidance should Apple return to providing guidance." Barclays reiterates Tesla as underweight Barclays kept its underweight rating on the automaker but said it sees an earnings beat when the company reports earnings next week. " TSLA may post an earning beat as price increases outweigh likely cost pressures. While we acknowledge the profit improvement from pricing moves in 2Q21, and potential near-term upside to the shares, we believe some of these will dissipate over time and remain stubbornly Underweight on valuation. Read more about this call here . HSBC downgrades Chevron to hold from buy HSBC downgraded the oil and gas company on valuation. " Chevron is one of the most leveraged stocks in the sector to improvements in crude prices and its dividend is well supported, but we think positive newsflow on the potential for share buybacks is now largely discounted in valuations." Read more about this call here. JPMorgan reiterates Alphabet as a top idea JPMorgan said in its earnings preview note of Alphabet that the stock would continue to ride re-opening tailwinds. "GOOGL shares are well owned, but GOOGL remains one of our Top Ideas in 2021 as we believe: 1) re-opening will remain a tailwind for Search & YouTube ads, esp. as overall spend continues to shift online & travel continues to recover; 2) overall margins will remain meaningfully above pre-pandemic levels." Morgan Stanley reiterates Boeing as overweight Morgan Stanley kept its overweight rating on shares of Boeing and said the stock is "particularly attractive" especially after the pullback. "Narrowbody demand is strong, investor sentiment is negative, and the stock is oversold this week on the back of no changes in fundamentals." Oppenheimer reiterates Ulta as a top pick Oppenheimer reiterated the beauty retail store as a top pick and said it was bullish on the company's partnership with Target. "We continue to rank ULTA as a top pick and would take advantage of likely continued volatility around COVID-19 headlines, which could again persist." Citi raises price target on Microsoft to $378 from $310 Citi raised its price target on the stock to a Street high ahead of the company's earnings report and said it was the "best" in megacap software. "We expect to see a strong finish to Microsoft's FY21 with a combination of recovering IT budgets, an uptick in expected reseller growth, signs of reacceleration in consumption models and slightly higher PC numbers vs. 3 months ago." Read more about this call here. BTIG upgrades Airbnb to buy from neutral BTIG said in its upgrade of the travel website that it was one of the "most compelling" models in the firm's coverage. "We upgrade ABNB to Buy with a $170 PT on a view that renewed COVID uncertainty yields an appealing entry point for one of the most compelling models in our coverage." Bank of America reiterates Coca-Cola as buy Bank of America kept its buy rating on shares of the beverage giant after its earnings report on Wednesday and said it would emerge from the pandemic in a stronger position. "Key takeaways from the call: (1) the FY21 organic revenue growth outlook increased to a range of +12% to +14% and comparable EPS growth outlook to a range of +13% to +15%; (2) KO is well hedged for inflation this fiscal year and is actively working with bottlers to ensure the system is well insulated against inflationary pressures as hedges roll off in 2022." JPMorgan names Exxon a top pick JPMorgan called Exxon a top pick for the second half of the year and said it saw "improved' cost discipline. "Synchronized portfolio recovery, improved cost discipline and asset sales should drive accelerated de-leveraging." JPMorgan reiterates Honeywell as a top pick JPMorgan wrote in its earnings preview note for Honeywell that the setup is "as good it gets" for the stock. " HON continues to be our top pick, with line of sight to 15-20% EPS growth CARG and the setup as good as it gets cyclically for the next 3-4 years." Bank of America downgrades Travelers to underperform from buy Bank of America said in its double downgrade of the insurance company that it saw a "lack of material upside" due to tough comps. " Travelers continues to enjoy an experience of low claims payouts from courts being closed and/or having diminished capacity during the pandemic. This has created an experience of low paid claims (both attritional and COVID19-specific), though Travelers continues to reserve for these claims as if they will indeed emerge in a delayed manner." Goldman Sachs initiates Foot Locker as buy Goldman said in its initiation of the athletic retailer that it had "innovation" and "pricing power." "We are initiating on Foot Locker with a Buy rating based on: i) FL's strong omnichannel presence, ii) a solid pipeline of new fashion and innovation allowing for pricing power and top line growth." Read more about this call here. Deutsche Bank downgrades AMC Networks to sell from hold Deutsche said in its downgrade of the media company that it saw minimal upside for A MC Networks. "We see limited upside from a valuation perspective and believe the traditional cable networks business continues to face structural headwinds, while we are also cautious regarding the scale that the company's DTC services can ultimately achieve." Goldman Sachs downgrades Williams-Sonoma to sell from neutral Goldman said in its downgrade of the retail store that it saw difficult comps. "With compares more difﬁcult for WSM than other hardlines peers, and with the likely return of promotions in 2022 as supply/demand becomes more in balance, we think consensus estimates for 2022 could be too high after analyzing recent gross margin drivers and performing a sensitivity analysis." Bernstein reiterates Johnson & Johnson as outperform Bernstein said it sees a "strong" recovery for Johnson & Johnson after the company's second-quarter earnings report on Wednesday. "Sales grew 27% and adj. EPS beat consensus by 8%. Management continues to monitor spread of the delta variant but does not anticipate any meaningful disruption in H2. JNJ has a bullish outlook for 2H21 and beyond." Credit Suisse reiterates McDonald's as outperform Credit Suisse kept its outperform rating on shares of the fast food chain and said it saw a "compelling" risk/reward ahead of the company's earnings report next week. "Long-term, MCD is well positioned to gain share globally given the strength of its brand, operational execution, value leadership and healthy franchisee base. At current valuation, we believe MCD offers a compelling risk/reward." Cowen downgrades Atlassian to market perform from outperform Cowen downgraded the Australian software developer mainly on valuation. "We are downgrading TEAM t o Market Perform as we see medium-term model transition pressures & near peak historic valuation levels likely to keep shares range-bound for some time." Bank of America reiterates Visa and Mastercard as buy Bank of America kept its buy rating on Visa and Mastercard and said it expected the two payment company's to beat earnings consensus next week. "We believe both companies can meaningfully beat consensus forecasts for the quarter based on better than expected intra-quarter datapoints from Visa as well as recent 2Q results from large US card issuers." Baird reiterates Amazon as outperform Baird said in its earnings preview note on Amazon that it was bullish heading into the company's second-quarter report. "We agree that large platforms such as AMZN, BABA, PYPL, and SHOP have seen a significant acceleration in customer acquisition and retention that is likely to push their long-term growth trajectories higher, although we see some risk related to such aggressive Y/Y growth expectations given the uncertain macro backdrop." JPMorgan reiterates Ford and General Motors as overweight JPMorgan reiterated its overweight rating on Ford and GM and said it expects "breakout" profits when the two automakers report earnings. "We recommend shares of GM and Ford , both which are likely to handily surpass 2Q and full year expectations while trading at only ~10x 2022 EPS."

The Boeing Airplanes factory where several models of its commercial aircraft, including the 787 Dreamliner, are produced is pictured on September 30, 2020 in Everett, Washington.

Stephen Brashear | Getty Images

Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Thursday: