Jefferies upgrades Fastenal from hold to buy Jefferies says the stock is optimally positioned for 2026. “We upgrade Fastenal to Overweight, with an upside price target of $14.” JPMorgan upgrades Dollar General from Neutral to Overweight JPMorgan calls Dollar General stock a “consistent compounder.” “DG is positioned to deliver multi-year same-store sales of 2-3%(+), supported by the company’s new store waterfall and store refurbishment/renovation, as well as company-specific initiatives including discretionary reset and value valet.” Macquarie launches Pony AI to outperform Macquarie says the Chinese robotaxi company’s share price has room for further upside. “Pony’s strategy to rapidly deploy robotaxis in China’s first-tier cities appears appropriate as the robotaxis industry is still in its infancy.” Jefferies Upgrades KLA Corp. to Buy Jefferies raised its price target on KLA Corp. to $1,500 per share from $1,200. “AI continues to drive spending, with WFE (wafer fabrication equipment) accelerating to C26/C27. PT 1,500 given its very large leading edge exposure and recent relative multi-resets at premium closings relative to peers Bank of America will upgrade Bristol-Myers and acquire it from neutral Bank of America, which likes the company’s research and development pipeline. “We upgrade Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) from Neutral to Buy and raise our price target from $52 to $61 per Char based on a 10x P/E multiple applied to FY27E EPS.” Wedbush reiterates Tesla outperforms Wedbush says he’s sticking with the stock heading into 2026 “In a nutshell, Tesla is taking a major step forward on the path of the AI revolution with autonomous robot technology at the forefront for 2026, which we believe will be a ‘game changer and define the future of Tesla.’ We maintain our Outperform rating and $600 price target.” UBS launches Waystar with UBS acquisition The cloud management platform system is expected to continue to see strong growth. “We enter coverage on Waystar (WAY) with a buy rating and a price target of $41. Waystar is a cloud-native revenue cycle management (RCM) platform that is positioned to capture the multi-year secular shift to automation, electronic trading, and AI-enabled workflows across provider organizations.” UBS begins acquisition of Valley National Bank UBS says it has “clear prospects” for the New Jersey-based regional bank. “We initiate coverage on VLY with a Buy rating and $15 price target.” Morgan Stanley Upgrades Doximity from Equal Weight to Overweight Morgan Stanley says it buys the healthcare technology company’s stock price on the downside. “The poor performance of DOCS is inconsistent with increased business checks and platform engagement.” Read more. JPMorgan upgrades IMAX from neutral to overweight JPMorgan upgraded the movie stock after its investor day. “We upgrade IMAX to Overweight (from Neutral), moving to $47 PT on Dec. 26. This month’s investor day (where we had the opportunity to speak with the company’s operating team) and recent fundamental performance clearly demonstrate a change in IMAX’s position in the exhibition market.” Goldman Sachs Upgrades Marriott to Neutral Buy Goldman says the stock is optimally positioned heading into 2026. “We upgrade Marriott International to Neutral Buy as the company is one of the best-positioned companies in our coverage to benefit from continued relative strength in the high-end consumer, international, and group/leisure sectors…” Goldman Sachs Upgrades Las Vegas Sands to Neutral Buy Goldman sees “sustained momentum” in LVS. In fact, our excess liquidity analysis suggests that LVS could repurchase about 30% of its current market cap (about $13 billion) if it flexibly adjusted its balance sheet to about 3x net leverage (still well below its peers). read more. Bernstein reiterates that Nvidia will outperform Bernstein said the company is sticking with Nvidia after a series of investor meetings. “The data center opportunity is huge, but it’s still early days and significant upside potential remains.” KeyBanc lowers Adobe rating from sector weight to underweight The bank says outperformance on margin will be tough. “Downgrading Adobe to underweight again suggests it may be difficult to outperform given the growth and/or margin trade-offs.” KeyBank raises Trane Technologies from sector weight to overweight.Key calls the HVAC company a strong buy. “We are upgrading TT stock to OW at $500 PT.” KeyBanc downgrades ServiceNow from sector weight to underweight The bank sees back-office trends as concerning. “We downgrade ServiceNow to Underweight and set a price target of $775.” Bank of America begins acquisition of Central Bank Company Bank of America calls the regional bank “high quality.” “We initiate coverage of Central Bann Company (CBC) with a buy rating and a $27 PO, suggesting an 18% upside potential.” Morgan Stanley Upgrades Hershey to Overweight from Equal Weight Morgan Stanley said the chocolate stock is undervalued. “We upgrade HSY to OW and deliver a total return of approximately 20%, including a yield of approximately 3%, as this stock rarely offers strong EPS growth among staples.” Ross Downgrades Costco Sales from Neutral The company says competition is increasing for Costco. “Despite the first-quarter revenue beat, fundamental metrics are concerning: 1) Renewal rates are declining, 2) Paid membership numbers are decelerating and are likely negative quarter-on-quarter (adjusted for openings), and 3) year-over-year revenue traffic is decelerating.” Deutsche Bank upgrades McCormick to hold from buy Deutsche says the spice maker is a top pick for 2026. “While MKC trades at a notable premium to the average Staples company and certainly the average Foods company, we see MKC’s exposure to more stable growth spices/seasonings/extracts/flavors/heating categories, competitive advantages based on structured sourcing within these categories, and our view that this valuation premium of 3 is justified.” BTIG Upgrades Enersys to Buy BTIG states that battery manufacturers are major providers of data center technology. “We upgrade Enersys (ENS, Buy, $175 PT) on the back of improving demand for backup battery and power solutions for telecommunications, industrial power, and data centers.” Wells Fargo Upgrades Masco to Overweight from Equal Weight Wells said the building materials company’s valuation is reasonable. “We upgraded MAS to Overweight today simply because this is one of the lowest beta ways to play the group and we like it amidst the uncertainty…” Jefferies upgrades Viking Holdings from Hold to Buy Jefferies expects continued growth in the luxury liner. “We will upgrade VIK based on visible growth and business model strength and positioning.” Read more. Goldman Sachs launches SiTime acquisition Goldman says the silicon-based precision timing solutions company is the beneficiary of the data center. “We begin coverage on SITM with a buy rating and a 12-month price target of $420.” Goldman Sachs downgrades Texas Instruments from buy to sell, citing what Goldman sees as “lackluster execution.” “We downgrade Texas Instruments from buy to sell based on lackluster overall cycle execution and lower leverage than peers in the expected upcycle.” Goldman Sachs Downgrades Arm from Neutral to Sell Goldman sees limited upside potential. “Given its limited impact on the AI cycle, overall non-traditional market traction, and business model shift, we downgrade ARM Holdings from neutral to sell.” Goldman Sachs upgrades Teradyne from sell to buy Goldman says the semiconductor equipment testing company has a lot of upside potential. “We are upgrading Teradyne to buy-from-sell as we believe Teradyne will gain greater traction in GPU testing and traditional customers will recover.” Jefferies upgrades Trex from hold to buy Jefferies says the building products company is at an attractive entry point. “We’re upgrading TREX to Buy and raising PT to $42.” Susquehanna opens Fabrinet on a positive note Susquehanna said semiconductor optics makers are in a good position. “We begin coverage on Fabrinet, a leader in transceiver contract manufacturing and a key supply partner for NVIDIA with growing opportunities in AI infrastructure.” Bank of America upgrades Charles River to acquisition from neutral Bank of America says the life sciences company has “early-stage research exposure.” “CRLs are likely to be the preferred way to gain exposure to early-stage pharmaceutical R&D. The company is also well on its way in the cost reduction/strategic review process. “TMO is our top choice given its strong ties to biopharmaceuticals and multiple lines of business that would benefit from improved pharmaceutical spending.”Evercore ISI starts Honeywell outperforming. Evercore says 2026 will be a pivotal year for Honeywell stock. “HON has the richest catalytic pathway of any stock we cover…” Evercore ISI opens GE Bellnova with Outperform Evercore says GE Bellnova stock isn’t cheap, but has solid growth. “Although expensive, you get what you pay for. We expect organic revenue to grow more than 10% from 2025-28E, margins to expand by 1,000 bps, and recurring capital returns.” Wolf downgrades AT&T from outperform to peer perform. The researchers say AT&T is currently uncertain about its stock price. “Due to our ‘wait and see’ approach to ARPU in a changing market, we downgrade T to Peer Perform.” Evercore ISI reiterates that Apple is outperforming Evercore says the stock remains a top idea in 2026 and the stock is attractive over the long term. “AAPL: Attractive LT opportunity driven by long-tail upgrade cycle (new iPhone form factor), AI tailwinds from smarter Siri, monetization opportunities with third parties across an installed base of over 1.5 billion, solid growth in wearables and services, and high margins.”
