Here are Wednesday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Evercore ISI reiterates Tesla as in line Evercore said it’s very cautious heading into Tesla earnings Wednesday after the bell. “hard to see a short-term clear catalyst (up or down) into the print given core Auto metrics look in line with ’17-17.5%’ gross margin.” JPMorgan adds Qualcomm and HP Inc to the focus list JPMorgan added HP Inc to the focus list and said it’s a top value idea. The firm also added Qualcomm to the focus list and says it’s a top growth idea. “Place Qualcomm on Analyst Focus List as a growth idea and Positive Catalyst Watch for upcoming earnings print. … .Add HPQ to Analyst Focus List as a value idea.” JPMorgan upgrades Cisco to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said the stock is attractively valued. “Upgrade Cisco to Overweight on limited further downside on Enterprise spending and inexpensive valuation.” JPMorgan adds Charles Schwab to the focus list JPMorgan added the stock to its focus list after its earnings report and said it sees “improving fundamentals.” “We are adding the Schwab stock to our Analyst Focus List with compelling upside (~44%) given improving fundamentals and our expectation for adj. EPS to rise from $3.32 in 2023E to $6.00 in 2025E.” Bank of America upgrades bluebird bio to buy from neutral Bank of America said it sees an attractive entry point for the biotech company. “Upgrade to Buy: positioned to lead in attractive sickle cell gene therapy market.” Bank of America reiterates Amazon as buy Bank of America said it’s bullish heading into Amazon earnings later this month. “We think further multiple expansion is possible, driven by accelerating AWS growth and improving retail margins. Jefferies reiterates Meta as buy Jefferies said it’s bullish heading into Meta earnings on July 26. “We are positive on META’ s fundamentals, as we expect a Q2 rev beat and Q3 rev guidance likely calling for growth accelerating against easier comps.” UBS reiterates Berkshire Hathaway as buy UBS said it’s bullish heading into earnings in early August. “Our calculation of intrinsic value would imply that Berkshire is trading roughly 15% below its intrinsic value at its current price.” Citi initiates Republic Services as buy Citi initiated the waste management company with a buy and said it sees upside. “We view RSG as the top consolidator in US waste with upside to guidance for ’23 M & A spending and placeholders for ’24’/25.” JPMorgan downgrades Cinemark to neutral from overweight JPMorgan downgraded the movie theater company due to concerns about the Hollywood strikes. “Our prior upgrade of CNK in January was largely predicated on an increasing film supply driving a higher domestic box office. While we think the industry has demonstrated an ability to run at ~$8.5-9.0b of gross revenue, we estimate further improvement will require more wide releases.” Argus downgrades AT & T to hold from buy Argus downgraded the stock due to concerns about reports of lead contamination in cables. “We see a new material risk to AT & T from a Wall Street Journal investigation into the possible environmental effects of the lead-clad copper cables used by the company for many decades.” JPMorgan downgrades Joby to underweight from neutral JPMorgan said investors should wait for a better entry point. “Moreover, with Archer at least close to Joby in terms of certification, in our view, we see relative outperformance in ACHR vs. JOBY, the latter which we now rate UW.” JPMorgan adds DuPont to the focus list JPMorgan said the stock is a “high quality, early cycle end market leverage play that is mispriced.” ” DuPont has emerged from the last 5 years as a changed company that we believe no longer resembles the chemical profile of the past, but qualifies as more of a diversified materials technology company, where end market leverage matters the most, and it should trade more in the direction of EE/MI, like 3M of the past, pre- PFAS.” Guggenheim initiates Texas Roadhouse as buy Guggenheim said in its initiation of the restaurant that it has “best-in-class returns and differentiated operating model.” “We think the key competitive differentiator for Texas Roadhouse vs. full-service peers sits in its value proposition.” Bank of America reiterates Microsoft as buy Bank of America raised its price target on the stock to $405 per share from $340 and said it’s a “leading AI play.” “We reiterate our Buy rating and view Microsoft as a top pick and raise our PO to $405 (38x C24E FCF) from $340 (was 32x) given our view of Microsoft as a leading AI play in software. Bank of America reiterates Apple as neutral Bank of America raised its price target on the stock to $210 per share from $190 and said it’s cautious heading into Apple earnings on August 3. “We expect weaker iPhone demand (checks indicate weak production trends) to be somewhat offset by resilience in Services (App Store growth better, subscriptions strong) and FX trends (1% headwind) which is better than guidance of 4% headwind.” Bank of America reiterates ServiceNow as a top pick Bank of America reiterated ServiceNow as a top idea and said channel checks show “broad strength” in the second quarter. “Our calls with nearly a dozen partners suggested healthy Q2 deal activity, with perhaps a modest uptick from last quarter from easing macro pressure.” Bank of America reiterates Block as buy Bank of America said shares of the company formerly known as Square are undervalued. “We are bullish on SQ ‘s full-fledge dual-sided ecosystem (Square and Cash App). Shares underperformed in ’22 due to macro concerns, but we believe the stock is not being given enough credit for the general resilience the business has shown to date as well as its opex discipline.” JPMorgan reiterates Spotify as overweight JPMorgan raised its price target on the stock to $190 per share from $160 and said it’s bullish heading into earnings next week. “We reiterate our Overweight rating on SPOT as we expect continued solid MAU (monthly average users) & Subscriber growth, podcast profit in late 2023 or early 2024, ramping Marketplace contribution, increased cost discipline, Gross Margin expansion, & positive operating & net income in coming quarters.”
