Here are Friday's biggest analyst calls: Gap, Apple, Tesla, CVS, Citigroup, Ulta & more

Published Fri, May 27 20228:36 AM EDTUpdated Fri, May 27 202211:52 AM EDT

Here are Friday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Jefferies upgrades Ulta to buy from hold Jefferies said it's turning more constructive on shares of Ulta. "We are reframing our thesis, upgrading to Buy with an 'all clear' signal re: makeup recovery, favorable channel shift, share gains, leverage on tighter costs & inventory, embedding freight cost reality, and well positioned if a trade down into mass/masstige occurs." Read more about this call here. Evercore ISI reiterates Netflix as in line Evercore said it sees upside if Netflix rolls out an ad-supported service. "We see two primary implications for Netflix's fundamentals from an Ad-Tier — reducing Churn and driving incremental new subscribers that are currently priced out." JPMorgan downgrades American Eagle Outfitters to neutral from overweight and Gap to underweight from neutral JPMorgan downgraded several fashion retailers on Friday, citing a lack of visibility. "Multiyear Visibility Increasingly Clouded by Supply Chain & Inflation: A key take from both AEO and GPS is lack of visibility from management into multiyear business plans at this time." Needham upgrades Boston Scientific to buy from hold Needham said the medical device company has "numerous" growth drivers and that it could be a good candidate for M & A. "There is increasing speculation about Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ — Not Rated) M & A plans especially as it spins off its consumer business. If JNJ decides to acquire a large med tech company, we believe that BSX could be a good fit." Read more about this call here. Loop reiterates Amazon as buy Loop lowered its price target on shares of Amazon to $2,825 from $3,750, but said the stock is a stalwart with a "defensible moat." "Valuation of growth assets are disconnected from decadelong norms as markets correct in anticipation of recession. We encourage investors to look for buying opportunities in stalwarts with defensible moats and well-managed innovators that will emerge stronger. This is Amazon in our view." Bernstein downgrades UnitedHealth to market perform from outperform Bernstein downgraded the health insurance company mainly on valuation. "We believe that UNH's two greatest strengths have been strategic vision and strategic capital deployment, which has contributed to ~19% growth over the 2015–2021E time period." Credit Suisse downgrades Citi to neutral from outperform Credit Suisse said in its downgrade of the banking giant that it sees "limited" upside right now. "Risk vs. reward … we realize that the downside to C shares may prove more limited given a valuation within reach of prior cyclical troughs; but we believe the upside, relative to peers, will also prove more limited given the long road ahead in Citi's transformation process." Read more about this call here. Morgan Stanley downgrades Gap to underweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley downgraded Gap after its earnings report on Thursday, noting it sees "consistent mis-execution." "The 1Q22 EPS miss materialized & updated FY guidance proves the downside EPS risk we've highlighted YTD has been well founded. Consistent mis-execution & a likely decelerating macro/industry headwinds leave room for further negative revisions." Read more about this call here. Bernstein downgrades CVS to market perform from outperform Bernstein said in its downgrade of CVS that it sees limited price earnings improvement for the foreseeable future. "We expect that CVS is on a strategic path to developing an omni-channel value-based care business, with primary care practice at retail locations, and virtual-care and home-care delivery capabilities." Pivotal upgrades Roku to hold from sell Pivotal upgraded the stock mainly on valuation. "Nothing has really changed around our concerns here, offset partially by some signs of chip shortages alleviating and it appears NFLX may move sooner on offering an ad-based alternative (that we assume could allow Roku to benefit), however the material decline in the shares has driven the valuation to levels that we view as reasonable." JPMorgan reiterates Apple as overweight JPMorgan said that, after analyzing China smartphone data, Apple' s iPhone shipments appear to be slowing down. "We interpret the monthly data as lumpy and also likely triggered somewhat by shutdowns, but the softening in the YTD trend as reflective of the impact of consumer-spending slowdown in the region, and while iPhone share continues to expand as per expectations, shipments are unlikely to be completely immune to a broader market slowdown." Morgan Stanley upgrades Macy's to equal weight from underweight Morgan Stanley said it thinks the retail giant can "outshine" industry peers. "Compared to peers, M's '22 guidance appears prudently conservative and embeds uncertain macro & industry headwinds. Thus, we see lower risk of future earnings cuts, which could result in relative outperformance vs. peers. Balance sheet de-risking should also support a higher multiple." Morgan Stanley downgrades Urban Outfitters to equal weight from overweight Morgan Stanley downgraded Urban Outfitters after its earnings report on Thursday, saying it sees a delayed margin recovery. "The 1Q miss & 2Q guide-down suggest sales & margins appear constrained amid inflationary pressures, rising costs and increasing promotions." Credit Suisse reiterates Tesla as outperform Credit Suisse said it sees an "attractive entry point" for shares of Tesla right now. "Yet the long-term opportunity for TSLA remains intact, making us view the recent pullback in the stock as an attractive entry point." UBS reiterates McDonald's and Yum as buy UBS said McDonald's and Yum Brands were executing well. "We believe larger scale competitors with strong absolute value perceptions are best positioned to profitably and effectively execute against value platforms, including MCD and YUM. Atlantic Equities reiterates Coinbase as overweight Atlantic Equities said in a note that shares of Coinbase are undervalued. "While the shares have sold off significantly this year, we believe that the current valuation significantly undervalues the long-term opportunity for the company as the crypto-economy evolves."