Wall Street’s top stocks by analysts Wednesday

Here are Wednesday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Wells Fargo reiterates Goldman Sachs as overweight The firm raised its price target to $600 per share from $550 following earnings. ” Goldman Sachs is undergoing a transition to become a more stable firm, with greater contributions from durable revenue streams.” Wells Fargo reiterates Citi as overweight The firm said Citi remains a No. 1 pick following earnings on Tuesday. “Strong 15% EPS beat. Reiterate prior guides. Strong pos. op leverage. Double-digit growth in services (1/4 of firm). CEO seemed to put to rest concerns about escalation of reg issues.” Baird upgrades Grainger to outperform from neutral Baird said the industrial distributor is well positioned. ” GWW share gains, best-in-class ROIC, opportunity to close valuation gap vs. FAST.” BMO reiterates Microsoft as outperform BMO removed Microsoft as a top pick but said it is sticking with the stock. “We are removing MSFT as one of our top picks. Over the next few quarters, we do not envision much upside tension to our/consensus top-line estimates.” Loop reiterates Netflix as buy Loop said it is standing by Netflix ahead of earnings later this week. “We believe there will be a bias to upside revisions and are raising our PT to $800 from $750 and reiterate our Buy rating.” Jefferies initiates Rapid7 as buy Jefferies said in its initiation of the cyber security company that Rapid7 is best positioned. “We see upside from improved execution with GTM [go-to market] changes & focus on the channel (seen in our survey) all while the business trades at less than our implied base value.” Jefferies initiates Brookdale Senior Living as buy The firm said the senior housing company is “set to accelerate as baby boomers age into the sweet spot for the industry.” “We initiate coverage on BKD with a Buy/$8PT given our view that demographic tailwinds for senior housing are set to accelerate as baby boomers age into the sweet spot for the industry.” Citi reiterates J.B. Hunt as a top pick Citi said the shipping giant remains a top pick following earnings on Tuesday. “JBHT outperformed low expectations, with the +8% after-hours move in the stock signaling a sigh of relief from investors.” Wells Fargo initiates Autodesk as overweight Wells Fargo said it is bullish on the software company. “We initiate OW on ADSK given our confidence recent model transitions help pave a cleaner path forward for reaccelerating rev growth & a return to 30+% FCF margin.” Bernstein reiterates Nvidia as outperform Bernstein said it is sticking with shares of Nvidia. “The datacenter opportunity is enormous, and still early, with material upside still possible.” Barclays reiterates Tesla as equal weight Barclays said it is cautiously optimistic heading into Tesla earnings next week. “However, given our expectation of a 3Q beat and reminder of stabilized near-term estimates, we believe the 3Q results could be a positive near-term catalyst.” Jefferies reiterates Apple as hold The firm said iPhone 16 sales are a more near-term driver of Apple shares than anything else. “The GOOG-AAPL deal could be at risk, but the potential damage is likely limited while timing of a final decision potentially far out. On Oct 9, the DoJ decided GOOG has engaged in antitrust practices in monopolizing the search market, and it will impose certain sanctions against GOOG for rectification. One very likely rectification is to ban GOOG from paying AAPL to be the exclusive search engine on iPhone.” UBS initiates California Resources as buy UBS said the carbon energy company is well positioned. “We initiate coverage of CRC at Buy. We view CRC as unique E & P, with a diversified asset base that differentiates it vs. peers, including power, real estate, and an emerging Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) business.” UBS initiates Chord Energy as buy UBS said the energy company has “improving operational efficiency.” “We initiate coverage of CHRD with a Buy rating and $168 PT.” TD Cowen downgrades Yum Brands to hold from buy TD Cowen said it sees a more balanced risk/reward for the parent company of brands such as Taco Bell. “We view YUM’s risk/reward as balanced as we see risk development will miss consensus in 2024-25, while the removal of Taco Bell breakfast at 1/3-2/3 of U.S. locations presents a 1%-2% comp headwind that risks a negative sales revision.” Morgan Stanley reiterates Starbucks as overweight Morgan Stanley raised its price target on the stock to $115 per share from $98. “On a trailing basis, still a tough go, but not the main focus. A chance for a reset, though we think SBUX might wait to discuss a fuller strategic/financial plan. Early signs of what’s to come matter though.” Piper Sandler initiates Disney as neutral Piper Sandler said it sees “limited upside” for the media giant. “We are initiating coverage of Walt Disney (DIS) with a Neutral rating and a $95 price target. We see limited upside to estimates over the next few quarters given the moderation in the experiences segment.” Guggenheim reiterates Disney as buy The firm raised its price target on the stock to $110 per share from $105. “We see fiscal 2025 guidance as key to near-term sentiment on Disney shares and expect implied EPS in a range of $5.00 to $5.20 (up low to mid-single digits) and free cash flow largely similar to the “roughly $8 billion” guide for FY24.” Citi upgrades Cisco to buy from neutral Citi says artificial intelligence will play a bigger role in Cisco’s future than investors assume. “While AI is currently a small piece of the biz (~2% of revs), we see the potential for a stronger contribution. With more AI coming, we are incrementally more constructive on the group and expect continued investor rotation out of semis/hardware into networking equipment to benefit group valuation.” HSBC downgrades Estée Lauder to hold from buy HSBC said it is concerned about issues in China for Estée Lauder. “Recent trip to Greater China and warnings in the beauty segment point to an excessive optimism on our part. Restructuring ongoing with morale likely leading to staff leakage and lack of external hire as CEO now our base case.” Bank of America upgrades Corteva to buy from neutral The firm said the ag chemical company has numerous tailwinds ahead. “We are upgrading Corteva to Buy from Neutral with a raised $67 PO (up from $59), given several recent tailwinds that position the company for success in 2025 and beyond.” Citi adds a negative catalyst watch on Qualcomm The firm said it has lowered expectations as Apple is going away from Qualcomm chips in 2025. “Negative catalyst watch on QCOM — We are launching a negative catalyst watch on QCOM given our expectations of lowered forecast in addition to Apple going away beginning in 2025. We are 11% below Consensus for the December quarter.” Citi reiterates Coinbase as buy The firm lowered its price target on the stock to $275 per share from $345. “We expect COIN’s volatility to rise in the coming few weeks with both 3Q’24 results and US Elections being front and center.”