Here are Wednesday's biggest analyst calls of the day: Apple, Netflix, Disney, Uber, FedEx & more

Published Wed, Sep 22 20218:21 AM EDT

Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Wednesday: Oppenheimer reiterates McDonald's as outperform Oppenheimer kept its outperform rating on the fast food company and said it like McDonald's "strengthening" free cash flow. "After outpacing the S & P by +5% in September, MCD remains an enticing idea into year-end. With market uncertainty elevated, we believe shares offer minimal downside risk owing to defensive characteristics and minimal China exposure." Credit Suisse reiterates Disney as outperform Credit Suisse said in a note to clients on Wednesday that it's sticking with its outperform rating on Disney after its CEO warned of slowing subscriber growth at a conference on Tuesday. " Disney lost $14B of market cap on Tuesday, almost entirely when CEO Bob Chapek made his business update commentary. That amounts to ~$5 million for every Disney+ Hotstar subscriber we removed from our model, subscribers that are clocking in at $0.45/mo of subscription revenue – we removed $4m of revenue from F4Q21 and $16m of revenue from FY22 due to the 3m Hotstar sub shortfall." Read more about this call here. Raymond James downgrades FedEx to market perform from outperform Raymond James downgraded the shipping company after its disappointing earnings report on Tuesday. "We are downgrading shares of FedEx from Outperform to Market Perform after a disappointing quarter (despite solid top line trends), lowered guidance (only 90-days post establishing it), continued heady capex investments (despite a cloudier outlook), back-end loading of the guidance (a risky elixir), and more global uncertainty." Argus upgrades Simon Property to buy from hold Argus said in its upgrade of the stock that it's exiting the pandemic in a "stronger competitive position." "Simon's fundamentals appear to be improving more rapidly than we anticipated. We are also optimistic about Simon's e-commerce investments, including its $280 million joint venture with Rue Gilt Groupe, and ownership stakes in J.C. Penney, Forever21, Eddie Bauer, Brooks Brothers, and Lucky Brands." Read more about this call here. Raymond James reiterates Dave & Buster's as strong buy Raymond James said it's standing by its strong buy rating on shares of the entertainment and restaurant company after it announced on Tuesday that its CEO is retiring. The firm says the stock's valuation is compelling. "This unexpected announcement follows the company's record 2Q revenue and profit results that were reported less than two weeks ago on 9/9. Despite the company's strong business recovery, PLAY shares continue to trade at a compelling valuation in our view." Evercore ISI initiates coverage of SunPower as outperform Evercore said that it sees several long-term catalysts for the solar company that should propel shares higher. " SunPower has been hindered in recent years by the ambiguity and disruption of a long period of reorganization and divestitures, resulting in a meaningful valuation discount relative to peers. However, we believe investors are presently overlooking both industry and company specific long-term catalysts that will eventually help close the valuation gap." Wells Fargo initiates coverage of Vimeo as overweight Wells said that it sees an attractive entry point for the video platform company. "We are initiating coverage of VMEO with an Overweight rating and $47 PT. We view the post-2Q pullback (from $45 pre-print on 8/5) as overdone; despite a partial recovery, we believe current valuation still presents an attractive entry point, with 45% upside to our price target." Loop reiterates Snap as buy Loop said it believes Snap's ad business will remain a "powerful driver for the near and medium term." "We remain bullish on Snap as the company continues to show the best revenue growth momentum in the Internet advertising sector and with significant monetization upside to match other networks." Stifel raises price target on Netflix to $650 from $580 Stifel raised its price target on the stock and said it sees accelerating subscriber growth over the next six months. "We are forecasting accelerating net subscriber growth in 2H:21, supported by a notably strong content slate and positive engagement data (QTD in 3Q), as Netflix enters the seasonally favorable periods for sub growth." Jefferies initiates coverage of SoFi as buy Jefferies said the online personal finance company is an "industry leader." "We believe that 'Flywheel', SoFi's synergistic business model, will continue to drive significant user growth, product adoption, and margin expansion. SoFi has also made progress on obtaining a bank charter – all of which should support attractive long-term growth." Read more about this call here. Cowen reiterates Uber as outperform Cowen raised its price target on Uber to a Street high of $82 from $80 and said it sees the company reaching profitability sooner than expected. "[Yesterday] Uber updated 3Q21 guidance and expectations for 4Q21, with an improved profitability profile. Uber raised EBITDA expectations for 3Q & 4Q, given efficiencies at Mobility & Delivery and tightened 3Q21 Gross Bookings guide range." Barclays reiterates Apple as equal weight Barclays says Apple' s iPhone 13 sales look strong in China but "uncertain" in the U.S. "This cycle is a little more challenging to gauge given the abnormal comparison (last year two models in mid-October and two models in mid-November) and supply chain issues (potentially clouding delivery times). Regardless, China seems better than expectations, and the US is more uncertain." KeyBanc upgrades Ambarella to overweight from sector weight KeyBanc said in its upgrade of the semiconductor company that it's one of the most attractive M & A candidates in the sector. "With its computer vision (CV) and AI capabilities, AMBA possesses a differentiated and scarce asset that is aggressively being adopted across several key end markets including automotive and security." Evercore ISI reiterates Nike as outperform Evercore acknowledged the Vietnam supply chain issue as well as the risks in China for Nike, but the bank said they are overdone. "We share the market's caution that Nike and others are likely to miss out on some of the robust demand due to inventory shortages from Vietnam factory and other supply chain shutdowns." Mizuho reiterates Salesforce as a top pick Mizuho said Salesforce is well-positioned heading into its investor day on Thursday. "More broadly, we believe CRM is very well situated to help its vast customer base manage revenue and process optimization via digital transformation, and the Investor Day is on deck for Thursday. CRM remains one of our top picks over the NTM (near term), and we reiterate our $300 PT." Citi reiterates Delta as a top pick Citi reiterated Delta as its top pick and said the shares are oversold. "Buy-rated Delta looks best positioned in the group, considering its strong brand management, its lack of pandemic-era equity dilution, along with the US government's decision to allow vaccinated foreigners to visit." William Blair reiterates Chipotle as outperform William Blair said it's bullish on the Mexican chain restaurant company adding smoked brisket to its menu. "The launch of smoked brisket has increased our confidence in Chipotle's ability to deliver double-digit comps throughout the second half of the year, alongside 60%-plus EPS growth and consistent 20%-plus restaurant-level margin."

Boxes containing the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine are prepared to be shipped at the McKesson distribution center in Olive Branch, Mississippi, U.S. December 20, 2020.

Paul Sancya | Reuters

Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Wednesday: