Here are Tuesday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Bank of America reiterates Netflix as buy The firm said it’s bullish on the stock ahead of earnings later this week. “Amid recent market volatility, Netflix’s strong subscription model with critical entertainment (which historically has performed well in a recession) has made the stock a defensive choice for investors and driven outperformance versus other technology/Mag 7 companies.” Roth MKM initiates RedCloud as buy Roth said the e-commerce platform has a “significant” total addressable market. “RedCloud Holdings (RCT) is a B2B E-commerce Tech platform that facilitates buying and selling of consumer goods in wholesale in emerging markets.” Baird adds a bullish fresh pick on Itron Baird said the water tech company has an “increasingly predictable business.” ” ITRI is a name we want to own into the quarter and are adding a Bullish Fresh Pick through the week of ITRI’s Q1 EPS report. An increasingly predictable business and stable customer base give us increased confidence in ITRI’s ability to beat estimates despite macro uncertainty.” Redburn Atlantic Equities initiates Nvidia as buy The firm said Nvidia is a top idea. “A semiconductor slowdown, not a derailment, lies ahead. Our top picks when the dust settles are NVDA (B), ASMI (B), LRCX (B) and VAT (B). US policy is acting simultaneously to: a) change its terms of trade, b) reshore semiconductor production and c) win the AI ‘arms race’.'” Berenberg initiates Nike as hold The firm said in its initiation of the stock that the turnaround needs time. ” Nike has formidable competitive advantages but fixing the culture and the unforced strategic errors of the past will take time, as the CEO’s decision to focus on key countries, cities and fields of play acknowledges. A strong balance sheet and undemanding valuation hedges near-term margin weakness.” Barclays downgrades General Motors to equal weight from overweight Barclays said it’s concerned about the tariff effect for GM. “Our downgrade reflects the significant risk of near-term earnings pressure from tariffs, as we reduce our ’25 EBIT estimate to $8.6bn from $14.4bn prior.” Wells Fargo downgrades Howmet Aerospace to equal weight from overweight Wells said it’s concerned about a global slowdown affecting aerospace. “We cut numbers across the aerospace group, as we think a global economic slowdown hits both OE and aftermarket. We downgrade HXL and HWM t o Equal Weight.” Wells Fargo reiterates Goldman Sachs as overweight Wells said it’s standing by the stock following earnings on Monday. “Looking back, GS showed underperformance vs. peer in 1Q25 cap mkts (tougher comps), and sluggish asset/wealth mgmt growth. Looking ahead, surprisingly higher 1Q25 IB pipeline, excess capital, and ongoing cost plans should help.” Morgan Stanley reiterates Costco, O’Reilly, AutoZone and Walmart as overweight The firm said all four stocks are “best positioned” in a recessionary environment. “Within Hardlines, we see COST, WMT, ORLY, & AZO as best positioned.” HSBC upgrades KKR to buy from hold HSBC said the risk/reward is compelling for the private equity company. “We upgrade our rating to Buy from Hold as we view the risk-reward equation more favorably, following the sharp correction in KKR’ s stock price.” Bank of America upgrades Church & Dwight to buy from neutral Bank of America said the consumer company has a “defensive portfolio.” “Our rating change is based on our view that CHD is poised to benefit from a challenging consumer backdrop and potential trade-down with its value portfolio. In our Consumer Staples recession playbook, CHD outperformed the S & P 500 Index in the last four recessions, at an average beat of 22% vs. the S & P 500 Index” UBS upgrades HubSpot to buy from neutral UBS said the software company is “high quality.” “We’re upgrading our outlook from Neutral to Buy given our view that the set-up is attractive for a high-quality software company who has a more conservative FY25 guide (less likely to need a material cut) and could be a snapback long if macro headwinds prove to be overblown.” Bank of America downgrades PepsiCo to neutral from buy The firm downgraded the stock over concerns about its Frito-Lay brand. “We downgrade shares of PepsiCo (PEP) from Buy to Neutral and take our PO to $155 from $185. In our view, Frito-Lay North America (FLNA) growth is likely to remain below long-term trendline this year.” Baird reiterates Tesla as outperform The firm said it’s sticking with Tesla. “We believe Q1 numbers will be messy given the lower than consensus deliveries and varying estimates for Model Y ramp. The re-ramping of the Model Y across all four factories is likely still ongoing which adds risk to Q2 delivery estimates, in our view. Despite seeing catalysts in the intermediate- to long- term, we remain tepid on Q1/Q2.” Morgan Stanley names Taiwan Semiconductor a catalyst driven idea. Morgan Stanley said it’s sticking with TSM ahead of its analyst meeting on April 17. “We expect the company’s comments on: 1) semiconductor tariff, 2) AI demand sustainability, and 3) the possibility of an Intel JV to result in stock volatility.” Bank of America reiterates Microsoft as buy The firm lowered its price target on the stock to $480 per share from $510. “There have been rumors that Microsoft is pulling back on capex. While Microsoft is likely shifting capex within geographies, the company remains building capacity for the long term.” Bank of America downgrades Dow to underperform from buy The firm said the chemical company is facing a “perfect storm.” “Our prior Buy rating on Dow was driven by our view that the company had significant leverage to a macro/petchem recovery in the next couple of years. However, DOW is now facing a ‘perfect storm’ of softening macro, emerging barriers to trade, and higher US feedstock costs, which have led us to cut our 2025-26 EBITDA estimates by 17%/23% to $4.8bn/$5.4bn.” Evercore ISI reiterates Apple as outperform Evercore said it’s standing by the stock in the face of Apple tariff headwinds. “Apple looks positioned to deliver upside to Mar-qtr but focus will be on Jun-qtr guide and how they incorporate the impact of tariffs. There are a lot of moving parts on the tariff calculations, but currently imports from China are subject to a 20% tariff – though there is concern that we get a sector tariff that impacts electronics imported from China over the next few months. Benchmark initiates MercadoLibre as buy Benchmark said the LatAm e-commerce company is well positioned. “We are initiating coverage of MercadoLibre, Inc. (MELI) with a Buy rating and a PT of $2,500. MELI stands out as a dominant regional leader in the global e-commerce setting, leveraging underpenetrated markets in Latam that are primed for significant growth in both online retail and fintech. Needham initiates Aurora Innovation as buy The firm said it’s bullish on the autonomous trucking company. ” AUR is an industry leader in autonomous mobility, set to leverage their Aurora Driver platform and industry partnerships as they create the market for autonomous trucking on US highways winning share in a $1T market generating revenue on a per-mile driven basis while solving for industry pain points allowing for faster, cheaper transportation of goods.”
