Here are Monday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Evercore ISI upgrades Chewy to outperform from in line Evercore ISI said the pet company is well positioned. “First, industry reports, channel checks, and our own proprietary consumer survey suggest that the U.S. Pet Industry has stabilized after two years of decline, with evidence of both cyclical growth greenshoots and ongoing secular Online penetration.” Morgan Stanley reiterates Meta as overweight The firm said it is bullish on the stock in 2025. ” META is our GenAI compounder with multiple call options that could come into view.” JPMorgan reiterates Alphabet as outperform JPMorgan said Alphabet is a top idea in 2025 and that its survey checks show it is a top artificial intelligence beneficiary. “Investors surveyed expect GOOG/L to be the biggest beneficiary of GenAI (35% of respondents).” Morgan Stanley names Amazon as a top pick The firm said the stock is underappreciated. ” AMZN becomes Top Pick as we see GPU-related [graphic processing units] investments widening its retail advantage to take more share, more profitably.” Morgan Stanley upgrades e.l.f. Beauty to overweight from equal weight The firm said the beauty stock has a compelling entry point. “We are upgrading ELF to OW as valuation looks compelling relative to outsized LT growth potential after a sharp pullback in the stock in H2 of 2024, with US scanner data leveling off recently to still solid growth, as well as strong LT growth for international/Naturium, and easier comparisons ahead.” Morgan Stanley upgrades RH to overweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley said RH is “underappreciated.” “Stepped-up quantity and quality of new collection launches, favorable ‘wealth effect’ at high-income households and removal of reversion overhang come together at just the right time.” UBS upgrades Capital One to buy from neutral UBS said the company’s deal with Discover is “transformative.” “In the case of COF /DFS, we see a rare opportunity for investors to own a vertically integrated payments platform and card juggernaut, leveraging DFS’s credit and debit networks to generate revenues without taking balance sheet or credit risk, and to lower the company’s natural cost of funding — driving synergies well beyond what is typical in bank mergers.” Piper Sandler upgrades Douglas Emmett to overweight from neutral The firm thinks the real estate investment trust may benefit from the wildfire damage with an urgent need for office space. “Upgrading DEI t o OW. While office doesn’t immediately come to mind, we believe the rebuilding effort will boost demand from those involved plus replacement for space damaged.” Bank of America upgrades Range Resources to buy from neutral The firm upgraded the natural gas exploration company and says it is a “quality name” in 2025. ” RRC has always been a quality name with a low break even and deep inventory which has been reflected in its multiple.” UBS upgrades Discover to buy from neutral UBS said it is bullish on the company’s merger with Capital One. “As we discussed in our note upgrading COF to Buy, we view the results of the merger as a rare opportunity for DFS investors to own a vertically integrated payments platform and card juggernaut…” TD Cowen reiterates Nvidia as a top pick TD Cowen said the company will continue to ride the “AI tailwinds.” “We anticipate a smooth print/guide for NVIDIA which is in a ‘sweet spot.’ Blackwell ramp is beginning (and supply constrained), and we’re probably too early in the cycle for much noise to come on Blackwell Ultra.” Needham upgrades Instacart to buy from hold Needham said competition fears are “overblown.” “We are upgrading CART to a Buy rating, placing the stock on the Needham Conviction List and establishing a $56 PT.” JPMorgan upgrades Legal Zoom to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said the online legal company is at an “inflection point.” “Accordingly, we place LegalZoom on Positive Catalyst Watch, expecting management to guide 2025E ahead of the Street for profitability during its 4Q24 earnings release (expected in February).” Jefferies downgrades Pinterest to hold from buy Jefferies said it is concerned about slowing growth. “Downgrade PINS to Hold (from Buy) on expectations of slower Performance+ rollout and margin growth against more muted ad checks.” Needham upgrades KLA to buy from hold Needham said the semis company is the “place to go to” in 2025. “We are upgrading KLAC to Buy. We were previously cautious on KLAC due to its high China exposure and management’s overly bullish view on China WFE [wafer fab equipment] in 2025.” JPM downgrades Constellation Brands to neutral from overweight JPMorgan said it sees limited visibility for the beverage company. “Deterioration in consumer demand towards the end of FQ325, particularly in November (management said Hispanic unemployment was a key driver of a more cautious consumer as this cohort accounts for ~50% of STZ beer volumes), leading to a miss in the quarter and a guidance cut to FY25.” Goldman Sachs initiates Newmont Mining as buy Goldman Sachs said the metals and mining company is well positioned. ” Newmont has one of the strongest EBITDA growth outlooks amongst our Australian gold coverage on a medium-term view on the back of production improvements across new and existing projects, further supported by gold pricing strength.” Morgan Stanley upgrades Wix.com to overweight from equal weight The firm said the Israel-based website company is well positioned. “We are upgrading Wix to Overweight from Equal-weight based on 1) improving growth in Self-Creators benefiting from AI innovation; 2) durability in Partners revenue with upside from industry disruption…” Morgan Stanley reiterates Tesla as a top pick Morgan Stanley raised its price target on the stock to $430 per share from $400. “In our view, Tesla’s recent share price appreciation has begun to discount the expanding ‘surface area’ between Tesla and physical AI including the company’s natural advantages in terms of data collection, robotics, energy storage, AI/compute, manufacturing and supporting infrastructure – including the benefits of working across Elon Musk’s other companies.” Guggenheim reiterates Netflix as buy Guggenheim raised its price target to $950 per share from $825. ” Netflix remains the undisputed streaming leader, and we continue to see that leadership position driving sustained, long-term shareholder returns.” Bernstein reiterates Eli Lilly as outperform Bernstein said the stock is its top idea in 2025. ” Lilly is still our top-pick going into 2025, we see them taking a clear leadership position (particularly with the opening from Cagrisema readout and continuing to lead on the path to next-generation Obesity therapies & the possibility for differential policy pressure relative to NOVO.” Bank of America upgrades American Electric Power to buy from underperform Bank of America said the utility company is attractive. “We are upgrading American Electric Power (AEP) to Buy from Underperform following the announcement of a 19.9% minority sale of transmission holding company assets for $2.8Bn and the appointment of Trevor Mihalik as CFO.” Morgan Stanley upgrades Semrush to overweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley said the search engine marketing company is well positioned. “Semrush is a leader in Online Visibility Mgmt positioned to accelerate growth with a large enterprise product opportunity.” Deutsche Bank adds a catalyst buy on 3M The firm said it is bullish into the company’s investor day in February. ” 3M stock has moved broadly sideways since 3Q24 earnings season, and we think the next major catalyst is approaching, the February 26, 2025 Investor Day.
