Here are Friday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Amazon, Costco, Ford, Meta, McDonald's & more

Published Fri, Oct 28 20228:41 AM EDT

Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Friday. Goldman Sachs reiterates Amazon as buy Goldman said it's standing by shares of Amazon after its "mixed" earnings report on Thursday. "Based on our work, we remain convinced in a multi-year operating income margin expansion story for Amazon on the back of improved eCommerce margins, less International losses & higher profit margin mix contribution from AWS and advertising. Read more about this call here . Morgan Stanley reiterates Apple as overweight Morgan Stanley says Apple is still "best of breed" after its earnings report on Thursday. "A Sept Q beat and in-line to above Street Dec Q guide illustrates the consistency of Apple's ecosystem, especially compared to a challenging Megacap tech earnings season." Read more about this call here. Deutsche Bank downgrades Caterpillar to hold from buy Deutsche says there is "not enough potential upside" in Caterpillar stock after the company's earnings report on Thursday. "But nothing we learned today [Thursday] has changed our cross-cycle valuation framework, and so although we did raise our PT by 13% to $221, there is simply not enough upside potential left vs. the current stock price to maintain a Buy rating." Read more about this call here. Morgan Stanley reiterates Ford as overweight Morgan Stanley says it likes Ford more as a "restructuring play" than as a way to play the electric vehicle sector. "Ford's 3Q earnings were mostly a non-event. ... .We like Ford as an ICE run-off play and a corporate restructuring play." Baird downgrades Stanley Black & Decker to neutral from outperform Baird said it's not giving up on shares of the industrial tools company, but that turnarounds take time. "While we believe SWK is taking the right steps longer term and are encouraged by some early signs of traction on commercial execution, we're moving to the sidelines on shares." Truist upgrades Gilead to buy from hold Truist said in its upgrade of Gilead that it has a "unique" oncology platform. "Oncology is where we are differentiated vs. the street; between Trodelvy and RCUS partnership which could potentially give them a chemo-free triplet regimen for lung cancer, we believe GILD has a unique oncology platform." Morgan Stanley reiterates Costco as overweight Morgan Stanley says the stock is defensive and in "rare air." "Unit growth and market share gains are cornerstones of the COST story. Tone seems constructive with inventory overhang diminishing. '23 could be a "special" year. Defensive growth." Wolfe upgrades First Solar to outperform from peer perform Wolfe says in its upgrade of the solar company that it sees a rapidly improving long-term outlook. " FSLR had another surge of bookings in Q3 at even higher rates. Our prior concern that IRA cash windfalls would be competed away looks increasingly unlikely - instead the LT outlook is improving!" Read more about this call here . Edward Jones downgrades Meta to hold from buy Edward Jones downgraded the stock due to its disappointing earnings report earlier this week. "We are downgrading our rating on Meta Platforms to a Hold from a Buy. The company's investment in the metaverse will increase more than we expected in 2023 despite a challenging macroeconomic environment." Piper Sandler upgrades Unity Software to overweight from neutral Piper said in its upgrade of the video game engine developer that it sees an attractive entry point. "That said, Unity remains a strategic 3D creator platform with a subscription base that could exceed $1B by 2025." UBS reiterates Deckers as buy UBS says the shoe company is one of the "best" growth stories. "We believe DECK's strong 2Q report indicates the company is capitalizing on a market share gain opportunity that will allow it to deliver strong growth despite weak macro." Barclays upgrades Intel to equal weight from underweight Barclays said in its upgrade of Intel that it finally sees a "bottom in sight." "The ship is far from righted but it's time to set aside our long-time UW given 1) the PC market has corrected with share losses much slower than feared, 2) cost/capex cuts should help preserve book value." Goldman Sachs reiterates Pinterest as buy Goldman says the social media company is showing signs of "resilience" after its earnings report on Thursday. "Pinterest's Q3 '22 earnings report was broadly positive in our view, particularly amidst a volatile overall advertising environment – user growth showed positive signs of stabilization/reacceleration with engagement trends remaining strong, while revenue growth outperformed fears as demand showed signs of resilience." Morgan Stanley reiterates McDonald's as overweight Morgan Stanley said the fast food giant is a must-own "in these times" after its earnings report on Thursday. "Another stand-out top line quarter, with call outs for US/ Europe against myriad pressures on the consumer. European business arguably even benefitting from macro while US has another marketing success on hand. Maintain OW, 3Q another proof point on why investors should own MCD in these times."