Here are Thursday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Citi reiterates First Solar as buy Citi said First Solar is well positioned heading into earnings on July 31. “We expect investors to focus on: 1) impact of lower tariffs on guidance, 2) bookings in 2Q vs buyside expectations for ~0.5GW, 3) Asia capacity utilization, 4) potential International de-bookings…” Barclays reiterates Tesla as equal weight Barclays said it’s “confused” ahead of Tesla earnings next week. “The set-up for Tesla into 2Q EPS is confusing – similar to 1Q. However, net net we see potential for the stock to outperform.” Citi upgrades Steven Madden to buy from neutral Citi said in its upgrade of Steven Madden that margins are bottoming for the shoe retailer. “We are upgrading shares from Neutral to Buy and raising our TP from $26 to $32.” Jefferies upgrades Mondelez to buy from hold Jefferies said it likes the food products company’s execution. “While U.S. retail sales data suggests a still pressured consumer, we believe Europe dynamics, strong execution, and an improving cocoa outlook position MDLZ well for profit upside in ’26 and beyond. Upgrade to BUY.” Read more. Jefferies downgrades Starbucks to underperform from hold Jefferies said there are no signs of improving fundamentals yet for Starbucks . “Downgrading to Underperform w/ a $76 PT and below-Street estimates near-term as we think the stock has surpassed reasonable expectations for improving fundamentals, in our view.” Jefferies downgrades Shake Shack to underperform from hold Jefferies said it sees too much optimism already baked in for Shake Shack. “Recent re-rate in stock is baking in much optimism around near-term SSS [same-store sales] trends, in our view.” Bernstein reiterates Nvidia as outperform The firm said it’s sticking with Nvidia . “The datacenter opportunity is enormous, and still early, with material upside still possible.” Bernstein reiterates Netflix as outperform Bernstein raised its price target to $1,390 per share from $1,200 ahead of earnings on Thursday afternoon. “With Netflix trading at 40x ’26 consensus EPS and earnings just around the corner, long- term fundamentals have taken on even greater importance in navigating potential near- term volatility.” JPMorgan upgrades Cars.com to overweight from neutral JPMorgan upgraded the used car company on valuation. “Upgrade CARS to OW from N on valuation support and reduced cyclical risk:” Read more. Evercore ISI downgrades Progressive to in line from outperform Evercore said it sees a more balanced risk/reward. “We have been bulls on the PGR stock for over the last 2yrs and while we don’t see much more downside with the stock now at ~16x NTM P/E, we struggle to see how the stock outperforms given where we are in the cycle, less positive consensus EPS revisions.” Needham initiates Vertical Aerospace as buy Needham said the eVTOL company is well positioned. “We initiate coverage of EVTL with a Buy rating and $9 price target.” HSBC initiates CoreWeave as reduce HSBC said it sees too many negative catalysts. “Contrary to consensus for a steep decrease, we expect CRWV’ s blended average interest rate to remain elevated. As it diversifies into customers with lower credit ratings than Microsoft (impacts borrowing cost) and we believe Open AI has not extended a material cash advance despite committing to USD15bn-plus of offtake, CoreWeave’s liquidity looks stretched.” Mizuho upgrades Brixmor to outperform from neutral Mizuho said it’s bullish on shares of the real estate investment trust “We herein upgrade BRX to Outperform, as we see favorable relative value/GARP, defensive tenancy, leading SNO [signed not opened] tailwinds and leasing spreads, which should support better relative near-term earnings growth – for not only FY25, but also FY26.” JPMorgan adds Hewlett Packard Enterprise to the focus list JPMorgan said shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise have more room to run. “We are moving to an OW rating on HPE following the completion of the JNPR acquisition, which enhances its position and firmly establishes it as one of the largest Networking companies, with one of the broadest portfolios encompassing switches, wireless access points, routers, and more.” TD Cowen reiterates Microsoft as buy TD Cowen raised its price target on the stock to $580 per share from $540. “MSFT reports 4Q on 7/30. While shares are hitting all-time highs, we think the story continues to grow increasingly attractive w/ MSFT positioned as a clear beneficiary in the AI cycle.” Benchmark initiates CarMax as buy Benchmark said the used car company is poised for a rebound. “We are initiating coverage on CarMax (KMX) with a Buy rating and $75 PT. JPMorgan reiterates Apple as overweight The firm raised its price target on Apple to $250 per share from $230. “We rate shares of Apple Overweight from the combination of AI and age of installed base led volume replacement cycle while Services continues to demonstrate robust growth delivering acceleration in earnings growth.” Wells Fargo reiterates McDonald’s as overweight Wells said McDonald’s is a best idea heading into earnings on August 6. “Shares are -19pts vs. SPX post-Apr, yet we see Q2 comps accelerating ~500bps q/q (inflecting positive) into likely bullish QTD commentary via Snack Wraps. Beyond that, compares ease, innovation is ramping & Int’l/FX should drive EPS upward. We’re buyers here. Barclays initiates Futu Holdings as overweight Barclays said in its initiation of Futu that the stock is well positioned for growth. “We initiate coverage of Asia’s leading online broker with an OW rating and $176 price target.” Bernstein reiterates Amazon as outperform Bernstein said Amazon is a top idea at the firm. “In the near term, AWS is back in focus, and we expect to see top-line acceleration driven by improving performance in core and modest AI-related benefits as GPU supply constraints eased intra quarter.” Leerink upgrades Elanco to outperform from market perform The firm upgraded the pet health company and said it sees an attractive risk/reward for Leerink. “All-in, we see a path to MDD [mid double digits] EPS growth in the outer years. This represents the best estimated growth profile in our coverage and is accompanied by the lowest multiple.” Bank of America upgrades CSX to buy from neutral The firm raised its price target on the railroad to $42 per share from $34. “We upgrade CSX to Buy from Neutral, and increase our POs for CSX and NSC, given increased potential for M & A discussions to drive valuation interest in US railroads higher.”
