Here are the loudest voices on Wall Street Thursday: Goldman Sachs has repeatedly claimed that Apple and Dell are the beneficiaries of its autonomous AI agents. “The growing popularity of open source autonomous AI agents like OpenClaw has increased investor interest in the potential impact on PC hardware demand. … We see the high-end PC portfolios of AAPL (buy), DELL (buy) and HPQ (sell) also positioned to benefit from this demand driver…” Bai Needham says “fundamentals are stabilizing” as Needham embarks on Abercrombie & Fitch. “We begin coverage of ANF with a buy rating and a price target of $108. We believe the fundamentals are stabilizing after a challenging fiscal year 2025, which makes the stock attractive in our view.” Needham initiates Wolverine Worldwide as Needham says the footwear company is firing on all cylinders. “We are initiating coverage on WWW with a buy rating and a $21 price target. There are many moving parts to this company, but we believe running sneaker brand Saucony has a compelling growth story given its rising brand awareness, better positioning of its core franchises, and broad strength in the running category.” “We initiate coverage of Spotify Technology (SPOT) at 2/Outperform with a price target of $535 based on an expected EV/EBITDA multiple of 27.5x.” Jefferies Upgrades SomniGroup International to Hold Buy Jefferies claims to be a buy on the mattress company. “Since the Iran war began, SGI stock is down about 17% (about 25% off its all-time high), while the S&P is down 4%. SGI trades at 18x 27 EPS, reflecting an LSD% discount to the five-year average, despite the thoroughly strengthened moat created since the Mattress Firm deal on 2/5/25.” Jeffries, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citi as acquisition candidates The company said Wednesday night that it has made acquisition offers to several banks, with Wells Fargo being the top idea. “We begin coverage of seven money center and super regional banks. Buy: BAC, C, PNC, WFC; Hold: JPM, USB, UNPF: TFC. Top candidate is WFC as above-average growth is expected with the removal of the regulatory asset cap in June 2025.” Morgan Stanley upgrades Latin American Airlines from equal weight to overweight Morgan Stanley said Latin American Airlines is best positioned to weather volatile oil markets. “1) We are well-positioned to weather oil price volatility given our top-tier profitability, comfortable leverage, and partial fuel hedging. 2) Our inventory is unlikely to be in demand even in a down-earnings cycle in 2026e. 3) We expect earnings pressures to be temporary, even if oil prices remain high for an extended period of time.” BMO Upgrades ICON to Outperform Market Performance BMO states that the “pharmaceutical environment” for clinical research companies is improving. “Years of overhang in this space continues to resolve. Our latest information on ICLR’s largest customers shows gradual improvement across its base. Notably, our projected 2026 R&D budget has been revised upward since our last announcement.” Needham upgrades Arm to buyout hold Needham said he is bullish on the company’s entry into the silicon market. “Interestingly, Arm’s entry into the silicon market through META perfectly embodies this motto. We’ve been on the sidelines with Arm for two and a half years, and now we’re seeing a series of bets like higher royalties, subsystem entry, and proprietary silicon production pay off.”Morgan Stanley upgrades STMicroelectronics from equal weight to overweight The company says the stock is benefiting from data centers. “While the STM debate has long focused on whether the automotive and industrial cycles have bottomed out, new growth vectors are now emerging in data centers. Given the upside in data center revenues from power and optical and signs of cyclical recovery, we believe we have a clearer picture of STM’s strength in FY27.” Bernstein downgrades Qualcomm from outperforming market performance Bernstein said he sees “memory headwinds.” “We downgrade Qualcomm stock from outperform to market perform and lower our price target from $175 to $140. Mizuho enters Tyson Foods to outperform. Mizuho says it’s seeing “structural growth.” “As the world’s second-largest animal protein processor and marketer and one of the largest food companies by revenue, we believe TSN is well-positioned to benefit from structural growth in protein demand.” Read More JPMorgan Downgrades Scotts Miracle Gro from Overweight to Neutral JP Morgan said, “The raw material issue may create some uncertainty in earnings growth,” and “Scott expects to pay more for raw materials than it is likely to pay in fiscal 2026.” UBS downgraded Mosaic to neutral from buy, and Nutrien downgraded to neutral. Achieving phosphate production improvements to target levels has been difficult, and Fertilizantes’ earnings have also been affected by phosphate stripping margin pressures and credit issues in Brazil. … We downgrade .NTR from Neutral to Sell, indicating that the risk/reward is biased to the downside. “NTR stock is up 19% year-to-date and 35% over the past year. JPMorgan enters Murphy USA as Overweight. JPMorgan says there are many tailwinds for gas retailers and convenience store operators. We see volatile fuel prices (which tend to increase fuel margins) and a mix shift within nicotine to higher margin pouches to be tactical tailwinds for eight-rated MUSA next year.” Blair downgrades Adobe from Outperform to Market Perform. “While we acknowledge that the stock is undervalued at 9 times free cash flow, our main concerns are about the strong competition Adobe faces, especially in its core Creative Cloud.” Jefferies said Robinhood has “a unique ability to attract next-generation investor positions,” adding, “We initiate coverage of Robinhood with a buy rating and a price of $88.” target. “HOOD is being leveraged by a growing number of global retail participants, and its rapidly evolving product set is driving revenue diversity and improved customer retention. Citi initiates Exelon acquisition with power utility to be data center beneficiary. “Given accelerating revenue growth, we recommend EXC acquisition…” Rothschild & Co. Redburn upgrades Wabtech from Hold to Buy Rothschild says attractive entry point: “Wabtec’s premium multiple was temporary and unwarranted” Wabtec’s strong execution, beat-and-raise track record, and market-beating EPS growth warrant a valuation premium and should continue to do so. As a result, we upgraded PT to $285 (16% upside potential) and upgraded it to buy.”Morgan Stanley upgrades residential stocks from equal weight to overweight.Morgan Stanley says apartment REIT stocks have plenty of room to play. “Analysis of urban vs. suburban trends shows urban areas are outperforming, in some cases for the first time in years.” Upgrades to OW, favors EQR with highest urban exposure.” Wells Fargo launches Rush Street Interactive as overweight iGaming is in the best position, Wells says. We like RSI because it is over-indexed for iGaming and has a strong operating history. We see upside to our and Street’s estimates regarding the optionality of state legalization and the potential for growth in Latin America.” Wells Fargo upgrades United Foods from equal weight to overweight Wells says food companies are beneficiaries of Amazon “Following constructive meetings with management, we upgrade UNFI to OW. The turnaround is on track, we are actively leveraging natural/organic growth and AMZN, the upside on target is reasonable, and the stock is undervalued on DD FCF yield. TP at $56, 29% upside.” UBS upgrades Nucor to buy from neutral UBS says Nucor is insulated from Middle East wars “We believe U.S. steel producers are largely insulated from the Iran conflict.”This conflict has three implications for U.S. steel. 1) Possibility of lower growth due to higher interest rates. 2) higher costs (freight + insurance) and transport risks, 3) higher energy = higher costs, raising import parity. ” Read more. Guggenheim begins Cava as an acquisition Guggenheim says the restaurant chain is optimally positioned for growth, “We initiate coverage of Cava Group with a buy rating and $100 price target.”
