Here are Friday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Bank of America reiterates Nvidia as buy The firm said it’s sticking with its buy rating on the stock following a meeting with Nvidia management at the Consumer Electronics Show. “Big-picture wise we feel more confident in: NVDA as AI incubator: NVDA’s unique/highly leverageable silicon/system/software platform is spawning new growth engines in physical AI/robotics, on-premise AI workstations, AI PC, autonomous driving (Uber, Toyota partnership)…” Truist initiates BioNTech as buy Truist called the company an “oncology powerhouse.” ” BioNTech is an oncology company at heart, even though it was the COVID vaccine (Comirnaty) that made it a household name. With the pandemic in the rear-view mirror, investor focus is increasingly shifting to BNTX’s oncology business.” Citi initiates News Corp with a buy Citi said the media company is well positioned. “We are initiating coverage of News Corp with a Buy rating and a $36 target price.” Bernstein upgrades Thermo Fisher to outperform from market perform The firm said the biotech company is well positioned for outperformance in 2025. “We upgrade Thermo Fisher to Outperform. …. although they do have preclinical exposure we believe it is lower than peers in our coverage, and their later-stage research and / or production-focused revenue could outperform in ’25 … though buying before the FY25 guide requires a strong stomach and a high risk tolerance.” Oppenheimer names Ulta a top pick The firm said it sees an attractive entry point. “We are re-adding ULTA to top pick status following our removal last July around the $413 level driven by concerns at the time of a potential guide-down.” Piper Sandler upgrades Nike to overweight from neutral Piper said it’s bullish on the company’s new CEO. “We upgrade NKE to Overweight with a $90 PT. While we are possibly early with this call, CEO Elliott Hill’s intensified urgency to clean up the marketplace (NKE is taking product back and providing markdown support to partners) should translate to a more visible recovery story entering FY26, while buy-side sentiment remains negative.” Citi upgrades McDonald’s to buy from neutral Citi said the company has a competitive advantage. “After a year-plus transitioning through cumulative pricing pushback by consumers, we expect 2025 will be a year where MCD fully leans back into its scale advantages, drives share gains in key markets and fuels a recovery in margins/EBIT$ growth.” Citi upgrades Sweetgreen to buy from neutral Citi said it’s bullish on the healthy restaurant chain in 2025. “We are of the mindset that SG has translated/will translate better with consumers away from the coasts than bears fear even at current price points, with the scarcity of similar options supporting pricing power/demand.” Mizuho names Amazon, Alphabet and DoorDash top ideas The firm said Amazon, Alphabet and DoorDash are top picks in 2025. “In 2025, our top picks are AMZN , GOOGL, and DASH as we believe all three companies have upside to estimates with improved market positioning.” MoffettNathanson downgrades Roku to sell from neutral MoffettNathanson said the market is too optimistic on Roku. “After upgrading Roku to Neutral from Sell at the start of the fourth quarter due to our belief that the company was poised to deliver above-consensus profit growth, we are returning to our Sell recommendation as we think the market is too optimistic about Roku on several fronts.” UBS upgrades Sunrun to buy from neutral UBS said shares of the solar company are compelling. ” RUN looks attractive given the shares trading near all-time low multiples despite emerging positive fundamental trends…” Barclays upgrades Snowflake to overweight from equal weight The firm said it’s getting bullish on the stock in 2025. “Within our coverage, we are upgrading SNOW to Overweight. After a year of us being on the sidelines, we believe the new management team is addressing the evolving AI data landscape better, and we should see more evidence (in terms of new product momentum) this year.” Morgan Stanley upgrades Gilead to overweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley said the bull case is creeping in for the biopharma company. “We upgrade GILD to OW from EW and our PT goes to $113 from $87.” Goldman Sachs upgrades NXP Semiconductor to buy from neutral and downgrades AMD to neutral from buy The firm said it sees rising competition for AMD . The firm also said it’s getting more bullish on shares of NXPI. “We downgrade AMD to Neutral from Buy with our updated 12-month price target of $129 (down from $175 prior) representing 6% potential upside from current levels. … .We upgrade NXPI to Buy from Neutral with our updated 12-month price target of $257 (down from $260 prior) implying 23% potential upside.” Wells Fargo upgrades Bath & Body Works & Capri to overweight from equal weight Wells said it’s bullish on both retailers in 2025. “We are upgrading BBWI (finally having worked through post-COVID overhang, now inflecting to growth with valuation upside) and CPRI (one of the lowest sentiment, yet most compelling risk/rewards in our space today with many ways to win) to OW.” Needham upgrades Lululemon to buy from hold Needham said it sees a robust demand recovery for the stock in 2025. “We are upgrading shares of LULU to Buy (from Hold), with a 12-month price target of $475. LULU was a laggard in 2024, with shares -25%, which was driven by slowing sales trends in the U.S. However, our checks suggest a strong recovery of demand in December, suggesting that the U.S. could potentially accelerate this quarter.” Bank of America names Chevron a top pick The firm said the oil and gas giant is a top idea in 2025. “We rate CVX Buy and it is our top pick into 2025 despite the oil macro on rising FCF from projects and cost cutting, and getting Hess certainty.” Deutsche Bank reiterates Tesla as buy Deutsche raised its price target on the stock to $420 per share from $370. “For 2025, we expect Tesla to further demonstrate its unique ability to leverage end- to-end (E2E) AI for lucrative commercial applications in robotaxi and robotics, further supported by potential large structural policy shifts in the US and maybe even other western countries.” JPMorgan reiterates Netflix as overweight The firm lowered its price target to $1,000 from $1,101 ahead of earnings later this month. “We remain positive on Netflix fundamentals ahead of 4Q earnings on Tuesday, 1/21, but we’re lowering our 2025 estimates primarily due to FX.” Monness Crespi Hardt upgrades Pinterest to buy from neutral The firm said the stock has an “undemanding valuation.” “The combination of a floundering stock price and improved profitability has left Pinterest with an undemanding valuation. In the end, we believe Pinterest has made great strides in bolstering advertiser support, enhancing the user experience, and collaborating with third-party ad partners.” UBS upgrades Abercrombie & Fitch, Burlington, Boot Barn and Gildan to buy from neutral UBS upgraded several retailers on Friday citing “growth potential.” ” ANF, BURL , BOOT, and GIL all have LDD% [low double digit] or better FY25 EPS growth potential with valuations that don’t fully reflect the opportunities, in our view.”
