Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
EV 'RENAISSANCE': Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives initiated coverage of General Motors (GM) with an Outperform rating and $85 price target. GM CEO Mary Barra have led the legacy auto company back to the top of the auto industry in the United States and the team's "laser focus on electric vehicles" has given new energy and strategic focus to GM, said Ives. The "Street has clearly started to take notice," added Ives, who thinks GM continues to be a re-rating story as its EV "renaissance" leaves it being seen as a broader disruptive technology play.
DISCOVER UPGRADE: Citi analyst Arren Cyganovich upgraded Discover Financial Services (DFS) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $150, up from $101, after assuming coverage of the name. Of the card issuers, Discover has the "clearest near-term path" to benefit from the return of consumer card spending and lending as pandemic-related benefits expire and elevated payment rates return to lower levels, Cyganovich tells investors in a research note.
BUMBLE AND MATCH: RBC Capital analyst Brad Erickson initiated coverage of Bumble (BMBL) with an Outperform rating and $65 price target. The company believes the company is the "quality over quantity play in online dating." He sees an expanding total addressable market and thinks Bumble's female-first drives "differentiated monetization and profitability tailwinds." The company's pricing power in the category "is just scratching the surface, which portends longer-term margin upside," Erickson tells investors in a research note.
Erickson also initiated coverage of Match Group (MTCH) with an Outperform rating and $190 price target. The analyst thinks the online dating market will double over the next five years and says Match is the "leading and diversified player." Erickson likes the company's roll-up strategy, which he says raises the odds it can capture "whatever growth the market has to offer."
MANAGED CARE SPACE: Seaport Global analyst Joseph France initiated coverage of the Managed Care space with Buy ratings on Anthem (ANTM), Centene (CNC) and UnitedHealth (UNH) and Neutral ratings on Humana (HUM) and Molina Healthcare (MOH). For the group, France thinks near-term concerns about COVID-related headwinds appear "well-advertised" and he expects enrollment growth and margins will mostly expand in 2021. The opportunity for managed care to extend more coverage to more individuals "seems tremendous," added the analyst.
'NEGATIVE' FOR RAIL VALUATIONS: The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the Biden administration will pressure the maritime and freight railroad regulators to address rising shipping costs as part of an expected executive order targeting "big businesses," JPMorgan analyst Brian Ossenbeck tells investors in a research note. The order will reportedly focus on freight rate prices and the "dangers of consolidation" within the ocean and freight railroad industries, the analyst adds. Ossenbeck believes the implications for rail valuations are a "clear negative," saying it touches the "third rail" of the industry, or durable pricing power above inflation. It is "tempting to buy the dip," but there doesn't appear to be a "quick fix on the horizon" for the industry, says the analyst. Publicly traded companies in the space include CSX (CSX), Canadian National (CNI), Canadian Pacific (CP), Kansas City Southern (KSU), Norfolk Southern (NSC) and Union Pacific (UNP).
