Here are Wednesday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, IBM, Amazon, Tesla, Exxon, Gap, Netflix & more

Published Wed, Jan 18 20238:37 AM ESTUpdated Wed, Jan 18 202312:01 PM EST

Here are Wednesday's biggest calls on Wall Street: BMO initiates CrowdStrike as outperform BMO initiated the cybersecurity company and called it "best in class." "We believe that CrowdStrike offers best-in-class endpoint security capabilities and an expanding platform that will help CrowdStrike compete against Microsoft and other vendors." Read more about this call here . Citi opens a catalyst watch on Qualcomm and Intel Citi opened a negative catalyst watch on Qualcomm and Intel due to concerns about weakness. "We expect weakness for both Intel and Qualcomm stocks during earnings given we have received a lot of investor interest in both stocks combined with lower guidance." Morgan Stanley upgrades Gap to equal weight from underweight Morgan Stanley said it sees more "upside than downside" for the stock. "On GPS, we see more upside than downside at current levels, & move to Equal Weight with an unchanged $12 price target from Underweight prior." Morgan Stanley downgrades Skechers to equal weight from overweight Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock on valuation. "For SKX , while the financial profile & long-term opportunity remains compelling, we opt to move to Equal Weight with a $46 price target for a few reasons. 1) The stock sits at the upper end of its historical valuation range, & we fear re-rating may be unlikely while 2) investors digest potentially below-expectations '23e EPS guidance." Morgan Stanley names Apple a top 2023 pick Morgan Stanley said Apple is a "rare best of both worlds outperformer." "We see Apple as a rare best of both worlds outperformer — a more defensive, quality name during challenging times, but an outperformer in the early cycle." Mizuho upgrades Oatly to buy from neutral Mizuho said it sees accelerating growth for the oats beverage company. "We do not expect FCF-positive operations until 2H24, but liquidity tightness appears manageable and EBITDA can inflect positive exiting FY23. Limited elasticity for plant bevs supports our bullishness and improving capacity should accelerate OTLY growth." Cowen downgrades Yeti to market perform from outperform Cowen downgraded the lifestyle outdoor brands company on moderating e-commerce traffic trends. "We are downgrading YETI to Market Perform and lowering our price target to $47 as data regarding brand-level e-com traffic trends is moderating into FY23 with DTC a key top-line and margin driver." Baird names Tesla a top 2023 pick Baird said it's standing by its outperform rating on Tesla shares. "Demand concerns and near-term macroeconomic headwinds loom over the stock after falling nearly 70% in 2022. We are encouraged by the ramp of gigafactories at Berlin and Austin and believe the long-term setup is strong." Morgan Stanley names Amazon a top 2023 pick Morgan Stanley said Amazon is operating from a "leading e-commerce profit-generating position." "Amazon's high-margin businesses continue to allow Amazon to drive greater profitability while still continuing to invest" Citi downgrades Morgan Stanley to neutral from buy Citi downgraded Morgan Stanley after its earnings report mainly on valuation. "In our view, the market is pricing in best-in-class returns and we do not see significant relative upside." Read more about this call here. Bank of America downgrades Levi's to neutral from buy Bank of America said it's concerned about denim demand uncertainty. "We are downgrading LEVI to Neutral from Buy and lowering our PO to $17 (from $19) or 8.5x EV/EBITDA (prev 9x) as we foresee 20% downside to 1H23 estimates and remain uncertain that denim demand will improve in the near term." Read more abo