Here are Wednesday's biggest analyst calls: Tesla, Apple, Netflix, Nike, Biogen, Levi Strauss & more

Published Wed, Sep 28 20228:29 AM EDTUpdated Wed, Sep 28 202212:06 PM EDT

Here are Wednesday's biggest calls on Wall Street: UBS reiterates Levi Strauss as buy UBS said in a note that it's standing by its buy rating heading into earnings next week but that it doesn't see a big positive catalyst. "We doubt there is much LEVI can say over its 3Q report to ease the market's macro concerns and drive a positive sentiment change." Atlantic Equities upgrades Netflix to overweight from neutral Atlantic Equities said it's bullish on the company's ad-supported tier. " Netflix will launch its advertising-supported initiatives in early November. ... We estimate advertising revenues could reach $8bn in 2025, accounting for 15-20% of total revenues at that point." Read more about this call here. Susquehanna downgrades Norfolk Southern and CSX to neutral from positive Susquehanna said in its downgrade of several rail companies that it's concerned about volumes. "We cut forward rail volumes on macro deterioration, with profits under further pressure from investments in service and U.S. union pay hikes through 2024. Downgrade NSC and CSX to Neutral." Morgan Stanley reiterates Boeing as overweight Morgan Stanley said investors should buy the weakness in Boeing stock. " Boeing' s stock has lagged the S & P 500 by ~5.5% in the last week. We view the move as largely beta and market driven and unrelated to any new developments. We see China and MAX 10 risks as potentially overdone at these levels given demand for the MAX ex these risks." Evercore ISI upgrades Illumina to outperform from in line Evercore said in its upgrade of the biotech company that it's bullish on its new products. " ILMN is coming out of a multiyear underperformance vs. secular peers and is about to enter a new product cycle." JPMorgan reiterates Nike as overweight JPMorgan said investors should take advantage of the "peak negativity" on the stock and buy the weakness heading into Nike earnings on Thursday. "Based on recent incoming call volume see 'peak negativity' into the 1Q print w/shares down - 42% YTD (vs. SPX -23%) and shares trading at 20x our CY24 EPS." Northland initiates Sunrun as outperform Northland said in its initiation of the solar company that it's a key beneficiary of the Inflation Reduction Act. " RUN is a high-quality business with very strong and dependable cash flows. The company has a flexible multichannel business model which is ready to burgeon with the growing solar demand well supported by the IRA bill." Wells Fargo reiterates Home Depot and Lowe's as overweight Wells said Home Depot and Lowe's would be two of the biggest beneficiaries of Hurricane Ian. "Historically, Home Improvement, Flooring & occasionally Auto Part categories tend to benefit from hurricane preparation and cleanup activity, and with Ian forecasted to approach FL as a Category 3 storm, the impact could prove measurable." BMO upgrades Biogen to outperform from market perform BMO upgraded Biogen after positive data emerged from the biotech company's Alzheimer's drug trial. Mizuho and Baird also upgraded the stock to buy-equivalent ratings. "We think the top-line data is as strong as can be, with high statistical significance across all endpoints — data doesn't get much cleaner than this in biotech. Importantly, this diminishes the possibility for CMS to deny broad coverage of the drug once approved. Read more about this call here. Morgan Stanley reiterates Apple as overweight Morgan Stanley said it's standing by its overweight rating on Apple after reports emerged from Bloomberg that the tech giant would slow plans to increase iPhone production. "However, it is still early in the iPhone 14 cycle, and the next 3-5 weeks will remain critical in determining the strength of the iPhone 14 cycle as the supply chain receives additional iPhone demand feedback from the early post-launch period and iPhone builds are recalibrated accordingly." Morgan Stanley reiterates Tesla as overweight Morgan Stanley said it's bullish on Tesla's upcoming Artificial Intelligence Day. "We believe Tesla's AI day (Sept. 30) is very much linked to 'Master Plan X' which will outline a mass industrialization of EVs and supporting supply chain that could see Tesla require as many as half a million workers by 2030." Wells Fargo downgrades Lockheed Martin to underweight from equal weight Wells said in its downgrade of Lockheed that it thinks 2023 is set up to be a "difficult U.S. budget environment." "The bull case for defense seems clear — geopolitical tensions are high and politicians have discussed higher defense spending. On the other hand, we think 2023 sets up as a difficult U.S. budget environment, with significant downside potential if tensions ease." Bank of America reiterates Bristol-Myers Squibb as buy Bank of America called the pharmaceutical company a "deep value stock." "In a rising rate environment where investors are more focused on defensive names and cash flow, we continue to view BMY shares as attractive."