The most talked about and market moving research calls around Wall Street are now in one place. Here are today's research calls that investors need to know, as compiled by The Fly.
Top 5 Upgrades:
Citi upgraded Texas Instruments (TXN) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $235, up from $200. The firm believes Texas Instruments' margins are bottoming and should rebound back to the previous peak, which would result in 100% earnings growth.
Mizuho upgraded Corning (GLW) to Outperform from Neutral with a price target of $47, up from $44, ahead of the September 19 review of the company's optical glass fiber business and following the recent pullback in the stock.
Jefferies upgraded BrightView (BV) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $17, up from $13. The firm expects the company's revenue growth to return to low-single-digits and margins to reach new records.
Raymond James upgraded Netstreit (NTST) and EPR Properties (EPR) to Strong Buy from Outperform with price targets of $19 and $54, citing valuation. The firm increased estimates and price targets for the majority of the net-lease real estate investment trusts.
BTIG upgraded Consensus Cloud Solutions (CCSI) to Buy from Neutral with a $30 price target. The firm believes the acute care and hospital buying market is improving and says expectations for Consensus Cloud's revenue and earnings growth are low.
Top 5 Downgrades:
BofA downgraded American Express (AXP) to Neutral from Buy with a $263 price target. While the firm maintains a favorable view of AmEx's execution and longer-term strategy, recent commentary from retailers and travel companies suggests that the spending backdrop is challenging, and the firm sees limited incremental upside given subdued billings volume growth and the stock's current premium valuation.
BofA downgraded Cogent (CCOI) to Underperform from Neutral with a price target of $65, down from $75. Cogent is well past the one-year anniversary of the Sprint Wireline acquisition and is behind schedule in monetizing the wavelength opportunity, the firm tells investors.
Wells Fargo downgraded Sonoco Products (SON) to Underweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $52, down from $54. While simplifying into bigger and more focused businesses is the right strategy over the long-term, the shares offer limited upside over the next 6-12 months given questions surrounding Eviosys' earnings potential and funding uncertainty, the firm tells investors in a research note.
Truist downgraded Triumph Group (TGI) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $15, down from $17. The firm cites the company's continued weak cash generation, ongoing challenges in its interior segment, a general lack of near-term catalysts, and potential risk to management's fiscal 2025 outlook given the heavy second half weighting for the downgrade.
Morgan Stanley downgraded Altus Power (AMPS) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $4, down from $8. The firm believes the outlook for distributed solar is improving but recommends investors "stay nimble" and position in companies with scale, a proven operating and funding model, and de-risked earnings outlook.
Top 5 Initiations:
Needham initiated coverage of TransMedics (TMDX) with a Buy rating and $208 price target. The company's Organ Care System is supported by extensive clinical data and multiple FDA approvals and is enabling TransMedics to revolutionize the "large" and less than 6% penetrated organ transplant market, the firm tells investors in a research note.
Wells Fargo resumed coverage of Keysight Technologies (KEYS) with an Overweight rating and $180 price target. The firm cites solid Q3 results and Q4 guide upside.
Barclays initiated coverage of Talen Energy (TLN) with an Overweight rating and $178 price target. Talen has "a unique opportunity to take advantage of its fleet concentration in PJM territory" with rising demand, increasing power prices, spark spreads, and a lack of new generation coming online fast enough to meet data center demand, the firm tells investors.
William Blair initiated coverage of TWFG (TWFG) with an Outperform rating. The firm says the company stands to benefit from distribution mix shift toward independent agents and market share gains enabled by its scale and "differentiated technology."
Lake Street initiated coverage of Sight Sciences (SGHT) with a Buy rating and $10 price target. The firm believes investors are underappreciating Sight's ability to reaccelerate growth and assuming policies are finalized in their current form, the 13% consensus growth forecast in 2025 "will be too low."