Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
GOLDMAN CUTS MONSTER TO NEUTRAL FROM CONVICTION BUY: Goldman Sachs analyst Judy Hong downgraded Monster Beverage (MNST) to Neutral from Buy and removed the shares from her firm's Americas Conviction List. She also lowered her price target for the stock to $59 from $67. The company's U.S. sales could remain softer than expected in the near term, driving downward estimate revisions, Hong told investors in a research note. Recent Nielsen data points to a "sizable slowing" in Monster's sales growth, added the analyst. She thinks heightened competition from Red Bull and continued growth from Bang are beginning to have a more sizable market share and sales impact on the company.
JPMORGAN CUTS FEDEX TO NEUTRAL: JPMorgan analyst Brian Ossenbeck downgraded FedEx (FDX) to Neutral from Overweight and lowered his price target for the shares to $202 from $227. Even with another favorable tax offset, FedEx's outlook was lowered more than expected as legacy Express leverage to a strong airfreight market was muted and the full TNT integration remains a second half of 2020 event, Ossenbeck wrote in a post-earnings research note. The analyst is increasingly concerned that the company's operating margins in percent terms will be pressured even if Ground can lower costs fast enough to grow operating profit in dollars. He also believes UPS's (UPS) lack of success in bending the cost curve against rising e-commerce and direct to consumer volumes is a "cautionary note."
NEVRO UPGRADED AT WELLS, BOFA, MORGAN STANLEY, OTHERS: Wells Fargo analyst Lawrence Biegelsen upgraded Nevro (NVRO) to Outperform from Market Perform after the company announced that it was replacing its current CEO, Rami Elghandour, with Keith Grossman and adding Bess Weatherman and Kevin O'Boyle to the board. The analyst noted that Grossman has successfully turned around the previous two companies he led as CEO, and says he is "highly confident" he will be successful in turning around Nevro. Further, Biegelsen believes the company has a good product, participates in a healthy, underpenetrated market, and has a "strong and under-appreciated pipeline." The analyst also raised his price target on the shares to $75 from $50.
BofA/Merrill upgraded Nevro to Buy from Neutral and raised its price target to $70 from $50. Analyst Bob Hopkins said new CEO Keith Grossman is the "best SMid cap commercial turn-around CEO in MedTech." The analyst said Mr. Grossman's sill set is well suited to address Nevro's current challenges combined with a healthy addressable market and full pipeline.
Morgan Stanley analyst David Lewis upgraded Nevro to Overweight from Underweight, telling investors that management changes announced Tuesday and the new platform disclosed at NANS 2019 represent "a new beginning" with a material change in strategy. He also reads the changes as evidence that the board is more committed to execution and shareholder returns, Lewis told investors. He raised his price target on Nevro shares to $70 from $41. Nevro has also been upgraded at JPMorgan and BMO Capital.
CITI CUTS TERADATA TO SELL: Citi analyst Tyler Radke downgraded Teradata (TDC) to Sell from Neutral and lowered his price target for the shares to $36 from $42. The shares are up over 20% since the company preannounced a strong Q4, but the quarter benefitted from one-offs, Radke told investors in a research note. Sales responded to favorable incentives that go away, and customers were pre-buying ahead of 2019 pricing hikes, contended the analyst. He sees a "tougher set-up" for Teradata in 2019 as the company rolls out a new product and pricing strategy "into a somewhat skeptical customer base."
DA DAVIDSON INITIATES LYFT WITH A BUY: DA Davidson analyst Tom White initiated Lyft (LYFT) with a Buy rating and a price target of $75 ahead of the company's IPO filing next week with a target price range of $62 to $68 per share. The analyst is positive on Lyft's "impressive U.S. market share gains, momentum, and continued growth of the broader Ridesharing market". White adds that the company's enterprise value to sales multiple appears to be "reasonable", even though he sees some uncertainty around Lyft's long-term margin ramp and autonomous driving technology positioning.
