Here are Tuesday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Tesla, Boeing, Airbnb, GM, Coinbase, Target, Macy's and more

Published Tue, Dec 12 20238:48 AM ESTUpdated Tue, Dec 12 202311:24 AM EST

Here are Tuesday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Wells Fargo initiates Freshpet as overweight Wells Fargo said the online pet food company has "EPS leverage." "We believe FRPT has a long distribution runway, and EPS leverage improves over time." Deutsche Bank names Applied Materials a top 2024 pick Deutsche Bank said the stock is cheap. " AMAT shares are up +52% YTD but the stock remains the least expensive among large-caps reflecting investor concerns that lagging-edge investments, primarily in China, will eventually normalize." Stifel initiates Alcon as buy Stifel said shares of the eye-product company are attractive. " Alcon, Inc . (ALC, $71.99, Buy): Initiating Coverage With a Buy Rating and $85 TP - A core holding with sustainable MSD%+ [mid single digits] sales growth and margin expansion potential." Wolfe initiates Take-Two Interactive as outperform Wolfe said its bullish on shares of Take-Two Interactive. "Net bookings step-up for F'25+ fueled by core franchise growth (e.g. Grand Theft Auto VI) coupled w/ a stable mobile business translate to +9.3% rev. growth & 300bps of margin expansion." TD Cowen names Walmart a top 2024 pick TD Cowen said the big-box retailer is a top idea for 2024. "We view WMT as a retail-tech leader & strategic investments in Walmart+, e-commerce marketplace & digital advertising will drive margins higher." JPMorgan upgrades Amalgamated Financial to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said in its upgrade of Amalgamated that it sees upside for the banking company. "With the management delivering on its prior financial targets, while this had narrowed the valuation discount in 2022, the discount has widened again as growth moderated in 2023 with shares now trading at an elevated implied cost of equity." RBC upgrades Amgen to outperform from sector perform RBC said it sees pipeline optionality for the pharma giant. "We are upgrading AMGN to Outperform from Sector Perform, raising our price target to $300 from $256. We believe the 2024 catalyst set-up coupled with emerging clarity on out-year growth drivers is deserving of new credit as a diversifying commercial portfolio, new growth opportunities in the market, and pipeline optionality are better harmonized for sustainable share appreciation." Goldman names Target a top pick in 2024 Goldman said Target is a top idea for 2024. "We see long-term growth for TGT tied to 1) market share gains across categories from various mall-based retailers on strong merchandising and 2) a recovery to 6%+ operating margins over the long term, supported by a normalization of mix, markdowns, freight/transportation costs, and shrink, along with scale and efﬁciency gains." JPMorgan upgrades Rio Tinto to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said the metals and mining company is best in class. "Our Overweight rating reflects our medium-term outlook for iron ore, where we expect the market to remain relatively balanced." Citi downgrades Macy's to sell from neutral Citi said in its downgrade of Macy's that it's skeptical of a buyout deal. "Consider Us Skeptical of a Deal Materializing; Downgrade to Sell." Goldman Sachs upgrades Sprouts to buy from sell The firm said its previous call on the grocery store chain was wrong. "We have been wrong on our prior Sell rating for SFM, as the company has executed better-than-expected amid its transformation focusing on health enthusiasts, and we are upgrading to Buy given the relative risk-reward compared to the rest of our coverage at this point, noting we forecast limited earnings growth across the group in 2024." Goldman Sachs upgrades PVH to buy from neutral Goldman Sachs said it sees improving execution for PVH . "Investments in brand, innovation, and marketplace management provide additional support. While the stock has recently outperformed, we see ongoing upside to estimates into 2024/2025." UBS reiterates Apple as neutral UBS said it's cautious on Apple's Vison Pro launch. "Vision Pro could launch earlier than expected but limited financial impact. This past June, Apple unveiled its much anticipated Vision Pro mixed reality headset with a release date in the US expected in "early 2024"with other countries later in the year. Given preliminary feedback from the supply chain at that time, our base case assumption was the device would be available likely in late March 2024." Raymond James reiterates Coinbase as underperform Raymond James said it's standing by its underperform rating on shares of Coinbase. "Ultimately, the balance of results appears to be on the negative side, as 2024 revenue and adjusted EBITDA expectations are down 60%+ since June 2021." Goldman Sachs upgrades Ralph Lauren to neutral from sell Goldman Sachs said it sees too many headwinds for Ralph Lauren , but margins are improving. "The wholesale channel remained pressured in F2Q24, with NA and Europe wholesale revenues declining 7% ex-FX, though management noted the decline in Europe was partially driven by a Y/Y timing shift from earlier deliveries and lapping favorable allowances in FY23." Argus upgrades Humana to buy from hold Argus upgraded the stock after it called off its merger with Cigna. "We are upgrading Humana Inc . (NYSE: HUM) to BUY from HOLD with a target price of $550." Cantor Fitzgerald initiates FuboTV as buy Cantor said it's bullish on shares of the streaming TV service. " FUBO is a streaming service aiming to disrupt traditional cable and broadcast Pay- TV providers with a "sports-first" offering that covers 220+ channels." Morgan Stanley upgrades Hewlett Packard to overweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley said in its upgrade of the stock that it's underappreciated. "Adding to this list, we upgrade HPQ (cyclical with strong operational efficiency)." JPMorgan upgrades Martin Marietta and Vulcan to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said it's getting more bullish on the sector. "Thus, we are now more constructive, and hence we are upgrading MLM and VMC to OW (vs. N prior) and EXP to N (vs. UW prior) and see an average 10% upside for the space." JMP upgrades Zillow to market outperform from market perform JMP said in its upgrade of the stock that it sees share gains. "We are increasing our top- and bottom-line estimates to reflect our company and industry analysis, underpinned by modest share gains by Zillow Group, Inc. and normalizing existing home transactions." JPMorgan upgrades Henry Schein to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said concerns about share losses for the dental company are overdone. "On balance, we now see a path for HSIC to move past 2023 where it underperformed dental peers and work through several overhangs in 2024." JPMorgan upgrades Sempra to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said the energy company is underappreciated. "Poised to materially capitalize on record TX demand, driving increasing levels of system investment need all without ratepayer affordability concerns facing other parts of the country, we see Sempras TX leverage as underappreciated, particularly given comprehensive TX tracker mechanisms." Bank of America initiates Crocs as buy Bank of America said in its initiation of the stock that it's a "rebound story at a broken multiple." "We are initiating coverage of Crocs (CROX) with a Buy rating and $128 PO, implying potential upside of 22%. The Crocs business has strong momentum having increased sales at a 25% CAGR since 2019." Bank of America upgrades Quest Diagnostics to buy from neutral Bank of America said in its upgrade of the diagnostics company that it's "growth at a reasonable price." "As we look ahead to 2024 we raise our 2024-26 adj. EPS estimates for Quest Diagnostics (DGX), increase our PO to $160, and upgrade shares to Buy from Neutral." Piper Sandler upgrades HubSpot to outperform from neutral Piper Sandler said it sees improving website traffic for the software company. "We are upgrading HUBS to Overweight and raising our estimates by $60M for 2024E assuming 19.4% growth based on the combination of improving data from our 2024 CIO survey coupled with a recovery in website traffic that rose m/m in both October and November." JPMorgan downgrades Comerica to neutral from overweight JPMorgan downgraded the bank on valuation. "Looking ahead, although Comerica has significantly reduced its asset sensitivity profile through swaps and securities, we find Comerica as being slightly worse positioned than most of its peers should the Fed cut rates in 2024." Barclays downgrades Airbnb to underweight from neutral Barclays said its survey checks show short-term rental plateauing for the company. "Clear market leader in alt accommodations, but our proprietary Barclaycard data points to STR [short term rental] demand plateauing/perhaps even rolling over, and competitive pressures from hotel peers is picking up." William Blair initiates Boeing as outperform William Blair said in its initiation of the stock that the company's production rates are trending higher. " Boeing's production rates, the main focus for investors, should continue to trend higher." B. Riley initiates Traeger as buy B. Riley said it sees margin tailwinds for the grilling company. " Traeger is a leading player in the pellet grill market, which has faced significant model uncertainty over the past few years stemming from the COVID unwind, excess channel inventories, and supply chain headwinds, in addition to an increasingly discerning consumer." Morgan Stanley reiterates Tesla as overweight Morgan Stanley said in a note Tuesday that it's sticking with the stock, but Tesla could "potentially [lose] money in EVs" in 2024. " Tesla OP margins peaked at over 19% in early 2022 and have since fallen to 7.6% in 3Q23. Fierce price competition and Cybertruck losses could test break-even in bearish scenarios." UBS names General Motors a top 2024 idea UBS said in a note Tuesday that it preferred GM over Ford in 2024. "Favor GM over F. Remain Buy-rated on both, but see greater cost traction at GM and more total return upside potential. While F's multiple may be absolutely too low, we don't believe premium to GM warranted." Correction: A previous version misstated the rating change on Ralph Lauren from Goldman Sachs.