Here are Wednesday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Tesla, Nvidia, Super Micro, Honeywell, Target and more

Published Wed, Mar 6 20248:03 AM ESTUpdated Wed, Mar 6 202411:31 AM EST

Here are Wednesday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Berenberg upgrades Honeywell to buy from hold Berenberg said the industrial conglomerate is well-positioned. "We upgrade Honeywell to Buy (from Hold) after protracted underperformance versus its SOTP [sum of the parts] peers, on estimates we now believe are beatable." Morgan Stanley reiterates Tesla as overweight Morgan Stanley lowered its price target on the stock to $320 per share from $345, but said it's sticking with the stock. "If there was ever a time for Tesla to potentially post a GAAP EBIT loss in the auto business, it may be this year." Barclays initiates UnitedHealth as overweight Barclays initiated the health-care company with an overweight rating and said it has a "thoughtful benefit design, aggressive cost reductions." "We think UNH is best-positioned to navigate MA over a multi-year timeframe." Roth MKM initiates Aspen Aerogels as buy Roth MKM said it sees a "strong secular opportunity" for the insulation company. "We initiate on ASPN with a Buy rating and $22 PT. We favor current positioning, including a clear focus on profitable growth as management positions the portfolio for what we view as a strong secular opportunity." HSBC upgrades Target to buy from neutral HSBC said it likes the company's strategy following earnings on Tuesday. " Target's strategy aims to drive long-term sales growth market share gains and improve profitability." Deutsche Bank upgrades Target to buy from neutral Deutsche Bank upgraded Target following its earnings report Tuesday. "With 2024 initial guidance behind us traffic improvements underway, and the company's top line on track to inflect positively starting in 2Q, we see a number of drivers ahead for sustained SSS growth and EBIT margin expansion, resulting in EPS of $10+ in the not-too-distant future." JPMorgan initiates BBB Foods as overweight JPMorgan said it sees "high growth and solid returns" for the Mexican discount food company. "We initiate coverage of Tiendas BBB (3B) with an Overweight rating and a Dec24 PT of $30/sh – 43% potential upside. 3B is Mexico's largest hard discount food retailer and the fastest growing listed retailer in the country." Wolfe upgrades GitLab to outperform from peer perform Wolfe said it sees "significant upside" for the software company. "Following GTLB's F4Q24 print which sent shares down 21% we see a story of potentially being one of the fastest growers in software this year with multiple product catalysts and significant upside from pricing." Morgan Stanley upgrades Progressive to overweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock and raised its price target to $227 per share from $185. "As Progressive continues to execute its growth strategy and steadily gain market share, we expect it to become the largest domestic personal auto underwriter." Citi initiates Madrigal Pharmaceuticals as buy Citi said the biopharma company has a "blockbuster-in-waiting." "We are initiating coverage of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals with a Buy/High Risk rating and $382 Price Target." Roth MKM initiates Hyzon Motors as buy Roth MKM said the fuel cell company has healthy near-term visibility. "Initiating coverage of Hyzon at Buy with a $1.60 target. The company is a leading producer of heavy-duty fuel cell trucks, integrating a proprietary stack." RBC downgrades ChargePoint to sector perform from outperform RBC said in its downgrade of ChargePoint that it sees "sluggish macro demand" for the electric vehicle charging company. "We are downgrading to Sector Perform as a result of a challenging macro backdrop that is impacting financial performance." Evercore ISI initiates Casey's General Stores as outperform Evercore ISI said the general store company has "crave worthy growth." " CASY is well positioned to leverage its scale advantage and consolidate a large and fragmented C-Store [convenience] market." Bank of America reiterates Alphabet as buy Bank of America said it sees "search upside" for Alphabet shares. "Overall, we do not see a major traffic impact for Google and continue to see 1Q search upside potential given peer outlooks." JPMorgan reiterates Apple as overweight JPMorgan said headwinds in China roll on, but the firm is sticking with Apple shares. "China smartphone unit sales for first six weeks of 2024, as tracked by Counterpoint research, declined -7% y/y vs. JPM estimate of -27% y/y in 2023, -21% y/y in 2022, highlighting a moderating pace of declines in the first 6 weeks." Bank of America downgrades Old Dominion to neutral from buy Bank of America said it sees limited upside for the freight company. "We lower our rating on ODFL's shares to Neutral (from Buy) as we see limited upside to our PO given its elevated multiple and as volume growth has lagged our forecast." Needham initiates Pure Storage as buy Needham said the data storage company has a "differentiated" offering. " Pure Storage has persistently gained market share from competitors with its differentiated direct-to-flash storage offering." CICC initiates Nvidia as buy The China-based firm initiated coverage of the stock with a buy and called it a "pioneer." "In our view, NVIDIA as a pioneer of accelerated computing has advantages in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and ecosystem and will likely benefit from the accelerating infrastructure construction for AI-generated content (AIGC)." Citi initiates Crinetics Pharmaceuticals as buy Citi said it sees a slew of positive catalysts ahead for the biopharma company. " Crinetics shares appear primed for upside given the positive catalyst heavy year ahead." Argus initiates Super Micro as buy Argus said it sees "years" of growth for shares of Super Micro. "Although SMCI has had huge gains in the past year, the company is primed for multiple years of strong top-line growth, margin expansion, and EPS acceleration."