Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
RAYMOND JAMES DOUBLE UPGRADES DISH TO STRONG BUY: Raymond James analyst Richard Prentiss double upgraded Dish (DISH) to Strong Buy from Market Perform with a $44 price target. Following the recent pullback on investor concerns about the shift from a spectrum bank to a wireless operator, now is the "opportune time" to buy shares of Dish, Prentiss told investors in a research note. The T-Mobile (TMUS) and Sprint (S) merger saga should wrap up in the next six months, while 5G network deployments by U.S. carriers needing multiple spectrum bands should ramp, contended the analyst. He likes Dish whether it stays a pay TV-only operator or adds 4G wireless operations.
GUGGENHEIM BOOSTS LYFT TO BUY: Guggenheim analyst Jake Fuller upgraded Lyft (LYFT) to Buy from Neutral with a $60 price target. Improving U.S. ride hail competitive dynamics and Lyft's "surprising leverage to that trend" should allow the company to reach EBITDA positive in 2021 versus prior expectations of 2023, Fuller told investors in a research note. The key driver of the improving competitive backdrop is simple, said Fuller. Lyft and Uber Technologies (UBER) are now public, and Uber needs margin from U.S. ride hail to support its efforts internationally and in the "highly competitive" restaurant delivery business, argued Fuller. Fares are rising and incentives are falling, contended the analyst.
BAIRD, SUSQUEHANNA CUT FOOT LOCKER TO NEUTRAL: Baird analyst Jonathan Komp downgraded Foot Locker (FL) to Neutral from Outperform. The analyst said his value turnaround thesis has been pushed out following its disappointing Q2 results. He did say his longer-term views remain largely intact as he likes its strategic positioning supported by it loyalty program, connected inventory/POS, and other initiatives which will scale over time. Komp lowered his price target to $37 from $54 on Foot Locker shares.
Additionally, Susquehanna analyst Sam Poser downgraded Foot Locker to Neutral from Positive and lowered his price target for the shares to $39 from $46.
PIPER JAFFRAY CUTS CREE TO NEUTRAL: Piper Jaffray analyst Harsh Kumar downgraded Cree (CREE) to Underweight from Neutral and cut his price target for the shares to $38 from $57. The analyst reduced his estimates reducing to reflect broader weakness in the LED market and the impact of Huawei on the Cree's Wolfspeed business. He's now expecting a "flattish" second half of 2019 and early 2020, with limited gross margin expansion until June 2020. Kumar remains wary of the stock's valuation despite his positive view on the company's long-term growth prospects.
RBC CAPITAL SAYS NETFLIX PENETRATION ON THE RISE: RBC Capital analyst Mark Mahaney kept his Outperform rating and $450 price target on Netflix (NFLX), saying the findings of his U.S. survey in August suggested that the platform penetration metric has risen to 64% from 63% in May and 57% in August of last year. The analyst also noted that 64% of survey respondents are "extremely" or "very" satisfied with the service, which is up from 62% in May, while the churn intentions count of users planning to cancel has remained flat at about 12%. Mahaney further pointed to a "surge" in Netflix users in the U.K, with platform penetration reaching record high level of 67% vs. 56% last year.
