Here are Thursday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Roblox, Nvidia, Disney, Boeing, Axon, Block & more

Published Thu, May 11 20238:45 AM EDTUpdated Thu, May 11 20239:22 AM EDT

Here are Thursday's biggest calls on Wall Street: CLSA double downgrades Block to underperform from buy CLSA said it's concerned about long-term growth for Block. "We are stepping aside on Block as our concerns around the macro environment now eclipse our ongoing enthusiasm around prospects for long-term growth." Barclays initiates PagSeguro as overweight Barclays said Brazilian payment processing company has pricing power. "We like the company's ambitious but focused strategy of (a) integrating its own consumer- and merchant focused digital bank ( Pag Bank) into its payment processing service and (b) moving "upstream" by signing larger merchants as clients." Credit Suisse upgrades RingCentral to outperform from neutral Credit Suisse upgraded the software company after its earnings report Wednesday. " RNG reported another strong data-point that the company is structurally improving its profitability profile." KeyBanc upgrades Albemarle and Livent to overweight from sector weight Key said in its upgrade of Livent that it sees lithium demand improving. The firm also upgraded Albemarle and says the stock's valuation is attractive. "We expect demand for lithium in China to improve after a downturn that started in November 2022. Evercore ISI reiterates Apple as outperform Evercore said it's bullish on Apple's position in the advertising space. "We continue to see a material opportunity for Apple in the advertising space and we think they can grow to $30B in revenue (vs. $4-5B in FY22). Maintain Outperform & $190 target." Susquehanna upgrades International Game Technology to positive from neutral Susquehanna said the gaming company has numerous positive catalysts. " International Game Technology : U/G To Positive; Fav. Downside Protection Thru Lottery With Upside Catalysts." Goldman Sachs downgrades Twilio to neutral from buy Goldman said it's concerned about slowing growth for Twilio. "For Twilio, we remain cautious on the near-term trajectory for revenue growth due to its usage-based model and slowing growth in Data and Applications, plus its ability to re-accelerate to its mid-term growth target." Bank of America adds Progressive to the US1 list Bank of America added the insurance company to its US1 list and said shareholders should buy the dip. "Taking an advantage of a recent dip in the share price of Progressive (PGR) shares, we are adding the stock the US1 List. JPMorgan upgrades Norfolk Southern and J.B. Hunt to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said in its upgrade of Norfolk that it sees operations set to improve. The firm also upgraded J.B. Hunt and says it sees the "end of inventory de-stocking." "Intermodal providers will also benefit from the shift in TL (full truck load) momentum and we are upgrading JBHT to OW and SNDR to N which also benefit from recent progress on a West Coast port labor deal, improving rail service, and the end of inventory de-stocking. We are also upgrading NSC to OW as operations are set to improve when the East Palestine track remediation wraps up in June and the network fully adjusts to proactive changes to mitigate derailment risk." JPMorgan upgrades Axon to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said in its upgrade of the taser maker that investors should buy the dip. "We take advantage of ~15% decline in AXON' s stock price yesterday post print (S & P up 80bps) and upgrade to OW from N." Roth MKM upgrades Roblox to buy from neutral Roth MKM said an "inflection point" is on the horizon for Roblox . "We are taking a more constructive view towards Roblox following comments from management that increases in headcount and compensation will soon be slowing." Credit Suisse upgrades Alcoa to outperform from neutral Credit Suisse said it sees aluminum prices recovering. "We upgrade Alcoa to Outperform, and add it as a top pick, as we see LME (London Metal Exchange) aluminum prices recovering over next year as global demand cycles higher." Read more about this call here . B. Riley initiates Children's Place as buy B. Riley said the children's clothing retailer is well positioned. "Our investment thesis is that as the fog of the COVID era lifts, investors will find that PLCE is at least as good as it ever was and get a free option on it being measurably better." Barclays downgrades Northrop Grumman to equal weight from overweight Barclays downgraded Northrop due to "margin deterioration." "Gap to Peers Likely Less Than Expected on Margin Deterioration, Downgrade to EW." Bank of America reiterates Nvidia as buy Bank of America said it's standing by it buy rating on the AI beneficiary. "Net-net, we maintain our Buy rating on NVDA (upside from gaming recovery, data center/AI expansion, Morgan Stanley reiterates Advances Micro Devices as overweight Morgan Stanley said AMD's AI opportunity is in the "multiples." "We have tried to set conservative forecasts for AMD' s AI, given historic false starts, but higher price points plus supply chain commentary is pointing to an opportunity that is multiples of our initial target." Piper Sandler downgrades Mosaic and CF Industries to neutral from overweight Piper downgraded several fertilizer companies on Thursday due to bearish U.S. crop data. "We are downgrading shares of CF, MOS and LXU to Neutral and reducing the PT's to $80, $42, $12, respectively, from $110, $62 and $22 as data from the most recent Crop Progress report sets the stage for a possible record US corn crop." Goldman Sachs reiterates Robinhood as neutral Goldman said its sticking with its neutral rating on Robinhood shares after its earnings report on Wednesday. "Results were solid, as NII (net interest income) came in ahead of expectations, largely driven by better securities lending related revenues, while transaction related revenues came in roughly in line and expenses were better than expected." Deutsche Bank reiterates Disney as buy Deutsche said it's standing by its buy rating on Disney shares after its earnings report on Thursday. "Our take on F2Q Results and Implications for the Outlook: F2Q results were mixed relative to our estimates with Total Segment OI coming in above our estimate, but DTC revenue falling short." Read more about this call here. Baird reiterates Boeing as outperform Baird said the aerospace giant is a "top cyclical play." "While the BA stock is up only 5% ytd, we expect a material move higher in coming months as higher production begins to kick in and investor shift focus to 2024 with much better fundamentals for revenue, earnings and FCF." Correction: A previous headline misspelled Roblox.