Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
JEFFERIES BOOSTS DOLLAR GENERAL TO BUY: Jefferies analyst Christopher Mandeville upgraded Dollar General (DG) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $190, up from $169. The company's strategic initiatives set stage for accelerated EBIT growth with fiscal 2021 "showing notable upside," Mandeville told investors in a research note. The analyst sees EBIT upside relative to fiscal 2020 and 2021 consensus estimates and "sustainable" over 3% comps. His traffic analysis argues in favor of Dollar General taking share from Dollar Tree (DLTR) and Family Dollar.
JPMORGAN CUTS BIG LOTS TO UNDERWEIGHT: JPMorgan analyst Matthew Boss downgraded Big Lots (BIG) to Underweight from Neutral with a price target of $14, down from $31. The analyst sees "material risk" to second half of 2020 estimates after the company missed expectations in Q4. Big Lots' traffic remains negative despite elevated promotional activity, Boss told investors in a post-earnings research note.
WELLS UPGRADES TRADE DESK TO OVERWEIGHT: Wells Fargo analyst Brian Fitzgerald upgraded Trade Desk (TTD) to Overweight from Equal Weight with an unchanged price target of $310. The shares are down 17% over the past four trading days, which creates a more attractive risk/reward profile, Fitzgerald told investors in a research note. Further, while Trade Desk's initial 2020 revenue guide of $863M was slightly below forecasts, a "strong" 2020 gross spend guide of $4.24B suggests an inflection point in client spending trends, which increases conviction in the company's long-term opportunity, contended the analyst.
DEUTSCHE BANK CUTS CRUISE COMPANIES: Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Woronka downgraded Royal Caribbean (RCL) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $80, down from $143, and cut his rating on Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $36, down from $63, stating that he "cannot realistically recommend buying them" given the many unknowns facing the cruise lines. While the multi-year earnings risk is becoming a greater threat for the group, if he owned the stocks already, he "would not sell them [...] and also would not short them," but he wouldn't be a buyer at this time, Woronka told investors. He also maintained a Hold rating on shares of Carnival (CCL).
MKM PARTNERS CUTS CHESAPEAKE TO SELL: MKM Partners analyst John Gerdes cut his rating on Chesapeake (CHK) to Sell and lowered the firm's price target to $0 from $1. The analyst cited the company's higher capital intensity, reduction in oil production composition of its overall output, and the uncertainty regarding the long-term viability of the company's capital structure.
Dollar General
-7.36 (-4.67%)
Big Lots
-6.43 (-28.65%)
Trade Desk
+17.58 (+7.02%)
Royal Caribbean
+1.395 (+1.81%)
Norwegian Cruise Line
+1.27 (+3.66%)
Carnival
+0.3 (+0.94%)
Chesapeake
-0.0312 (-12.00%)