Peloton downgraded, Home Depot initiated: Wall Street’s top analyst calls

The most talked about and market moving research calls around Wall Street are now in one place. Here are today’s research calls that investors need to know, as compiled by The Fly.

Top 5 Upgrades:

• Edward Jones upgraded HP Inc. (HPQ) to Buy from Hold. The firm thinks the shares are attractively valued and that the personal computer market will return to growth in 2024 as PCs purchased during the pandemic are replaced.
• DA Davidson upgraded Monday.com (MNDY) to Buy from Neutral with a $170 price target ahead of the company reporting its Q3 results on Monday, November 13. The firm believes the company can outperform guidance by “a healthy margin” based on its analysis of third-party data, talking to managements, and recent reads from relatively similar software reports.
• Goldman Sachs double upgraded DigitalOcean (DOCN) to Buy from Sell with an unchanged price target of $33. The firm believes cyclical risks are priced in with the shares down 7% year-to-date while the company’s structural improvements are underappreciated.
• Wedbush upgraded Ventas (VTR) to Outperform from Neutral with a price target of $51, up from $44. The company showed a “decisive response to its Holiday by Atria hiccup” during Q2, recovering nicely during Q3 with that portfolio either transitioned or getting an influx of capital, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Argus upgraded Hess Corp. (HES) to Buy from Hold with a $171 price target. Following the announcement of its merger with Chevron (CVX), the value of the stock has fallen sharply as Hess faced pressure from weaker crude oil prices and recession concerns, the firm tells investors in a research note.

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Deutsche Bank downgraded Peloton (PTON) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $4, down from $13. The downgrade follows a transfer of analyst coverage. While the firm remains bullish on Peloton having a large total addressable market ahead of it that can support accelerative growth, it says the confidence in underwriting the success of its growth drivers in the medium term is challenging.
• BofA downgraded Sonos (SONO) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $12, down from $20. The firm’s channel checks confirm weakness in consumer electronics.
• Stifel downgraded Ventyx Biosciences (VTYX) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $6, down from $56, following the “disappointing data” from the VTX958 Phase 2 psoriasis study and discontinuation of the psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis programs. LifeSci Capital also downgraded Ventyx Biosciences to Market Perform from Outperform with a $5 price target.
• William Blair downgraded Olo (OLO) to Market Perform from Outperform without a price target. The company reported slightly better than expected Q3 results but underlying trends were disappointing, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Rosenblatt downgraded Adtran (ADTN) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $7, down from $11. The firm cites the company’s high exposure to telecom and Europe for the downgrade.

Top 5 Initiations:

• RBC Capital initiated coverage of Home Depot (HD) with a Sector Perform rating and $303 price target. There are a lot of reasons to like the story over the long term, but various macro factors, including high rates, persistent inflation, and shift from goods to services, skew Home Depot’s near-term earnings risk to the downside, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• RBC Capital initiated coverage of Lowe’s (LOW) with a Sector Perform rating and $194 price target. While Lowe’s under-penetration in pro is a meaningful share gain and margin opportunity over the long-term, it is likely to result in underperformance versus peers near-term as the consumer backdrop worsens, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Bernstein initiated coverage of Birkenstock (BIRK) with a Market Perform rating and $37.15 price target. Birkenstock distribution “can only be kept on a tight leash as long as the brand experiences strong momentum and desirability,” the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Citi initiated coverage of BridgeBio (BBIO) with a Buy rating and $42 price target. The firm believes the shares are compelling given the significant near-term commercial opportunity of acoramidis post the recent Phase 3 success for the treatment of ATTR-CM.
• UBS initiated coverage of Accenture (ACN) with a Neutral rating and $333 price target. Macro uncertainty is balanced by secular shifts in customer preferences towards verticalized offerings in software, the firm tells investors in a research note.