Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
RAYMOND JAMES VIEWS UNDER ARMOUR AS A 'STRONG BUY': Raymond James analyst Matthew McClintock upgraded Under Armour (UAA) to Strong Buy from Outperform with an unchanged price target of $30, representing 67% upside. The analyst has become more comfortable with the company's risk/return profile, particularly regarding execution risk and valuation. Under Armour is ahead of plan with new product already available at wholesale partners and selling through at higher level, McClintock said. Further, after speaking to investors, the analyst believes the ongoing communication between Under Armour and the Securities and Exchange Commission/Department of Justice is likely less to be an overhang to the stock than he originally feared.
BARCLAYS RAISES DICK'S SPORTING TO OVERWEIGHT: Barclays analyst Adrienne Yih upgraded Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $56, up from $45. Dick's Sporting is entering a phase of margin stabilization to expansion over the next 12 to 18 months, Yih said. The analyst sees the company's brick-and-mortar comps remaining sustainably positive along with lower promotional activity from elevated product offerings. She believes Dick's is entering a "virtuous cycle" phase and upgrades the shares despite yesterday's 19% rally.
Additionally, Evercore ISI analyst Warren Cheng upgraded Dick's Sporting to Outperform from In Line as he said the company is "switching from defense to offense."
BARCLAYS BOOSTS BIOMARIN TO OVERWEIGHT: Barclays analyst Gena Wang upgraded BioMarin Pharmaceutical (BMRN) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $98, up from $86. The analyst sees a favorable risk/reward into the Phase 3 data readout for vosoritide, which she expects will be positive. Vosoritide's Phase 3 trial for treating achondroplasia is "well powered to allow for statistical significance," Wang said. Further, the analyst believes BioMarin shares reflect little value for its hemophilia A gene therapy, ValRox.
RAYMOND JAMES DOUBLE DOWNGRADES AXON TO MARKET PERFORM: Raymond James analyst Brian Gesuale downgraded Axon (AAXN) two notches, to Market Perform from Strong Buy, as he believes the stock's "unsustainable energetic move higher" this month cannot be reconciled with fundamentals of the business. The stock has rallied about 50% in the last three weeks without any increases to his model, noted Gesuale, who said "some of this can be chalked up to short covering and a technical breakout." However, he added that it is hard to know when those catalysts will run their course and the stock's positive momentum will reverse.
JPMORGAN CUTS DOLLAR TREE TO NEUTRAL: JPMorgan analyst Matthew Boss downgraded Dollar Tree (DLTR) to Neutral from Overweight with a $96 price target. The company's Q3 miss and Q4 guidance cut takes it multi-year growth algorithm off the table, Boss told investors in a research note.
CITI SUGGESTS ACQUISITION TARGETS FOR PVH CORP.: Citi analyst Paul Lejuez says PVH Corp.'s (PVH) Q3 results were "decent" and that its guidance for Q4 seems achievable. The bigger news coming from the earnings call was that management is looking for acquisition opportunities, Lejuez told investors in a research note. He believes PVH wants to diversify into accessories, which could point to Tapestry (TPR) and Capri Holdings (CPRI) as potential candidates. While paying the right price for an acquisition could be a positive for PVH, the idea that the company would use free cash flow for this purpose "also adds some risk to the story," contended Lejuez. He kept a Neutral rating on PVH Corp.
