Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
APPLE CUT TO SELL AHEAD OF EXPECTED 12S 'DOWNCYCLE': New Street analyst Pierre Ferragu downgraded Apple (AAPL) to Sell from Neutral with a $90 price target. The iPhone 12 looks to have been "the second best-ever received iPhone," after the iPhone 6, but the current super-cycle has brought forward demand and the next iPhone line-up is likely a "12S" type with limited innovation, argues Ferragu. Given that he expects consumers to spend less on consumer electronics as the economy re-opens, Ferragu sees "material downside risk" for a iPhone 12S "downcycle" and models iPhone shipments in the 180M-200M unit range in FY22, which compares to consensus at 234M phones. Consensus calls for shipments to be up 2% against FY21, which would "imply the 12S would be the most appealing iPhone in history" and he thinks that "appears very unlikely," the analyst added.
BUY NIKOLA, PLUG POWER: BTIG analyst Gregory Lewis initiated coverage of Nikola (NKLA) with a Buy rating and $18 price target. The company continues to move forward with its "dual-pronged strategy" of helping transition the heavy-duty Class 8 truck market to battery-electric trucks and hydrogen fuel cells, Lewis tells investors in a research note. While he expects some initial production delays, Lewis expects Nikola's battery-electric trucks production to start ramping in the second half of 2022 with the hydrogen hydrogen fuel cells solution hitting the market by 2024.
Lewis also initiated coverage of Plug Power (PLUG) with a Buy rating and $40 price target. Hydrogen energy is "still largely in its infancy" and there remains a lot of work to be done, largely on the cost and infrastructure side, by Plug and its partners to make green hydrogen a widely accepted energy source for industrial and transportation applications, said Lewis. However, he expects momentum for green hydrogen to build this decade and views Plug as "a well-capitalized, first-mover," the analyst tells investors.
'CONSIDERABLE UNCERTAINTY': Deutsche Bank analyst Emmanuel Rosner initiated coverage of Lordstown Motors (RIDE) with a Hold rating and $8 price target. The analyst says that while the market opportunity is large and Lordstown's truck received decent initial interest from potential fleet customers, there is "considerable uncertainty ahead." In the near-term, the company has encountered large operational and supply chain challenges and material cost overruns in its "aggressive ramp up" towards production, and is "now in urgent need of capital," Rosner tells investors in a research note. Assuming Lordstown can get new capital, interest from fleets could get negatively impacted by competition from incumbent new electric vehicle entries, including Ford's (F) new F-150 Lightning with lower price point, says he analyst.
J&J ASSUMED AT MORGAN STANLEY: Morgan Stanley analyst David Risinger assumed coverage of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) with an Overweight rating and $187 price target. He anticipates strong performance from all three of J&J's business segments of pharmaceuticals, medical devices and diagnostics, and consumer, Risinger tells investors. Pharma's momentum should remain strong, MD&D should see growth accelerate against easy COVID comps given a better cadence of new product introductions and the consumer segment has durable growth prospects, the analyst added.
ZOOM VIDEO PRICE TARGET LOWERED TO $480: RBC Capital analyst Matthew Hedberg lowered the firm's price target on Zoom Video (ZM) to $480 from $550 but keeps an Outperform rating on the shares ahead of its earnings next week. The analyst notes that app download and monthly active user data have come down from pre-pandemic levels but still "remain elevated", adding that his price target reduction reflects lower comparable group multiples. Hedberg adds that limiting churn among monthly users, monetizing free users, and cross-sell of new products will be key for Zoom Video.
Apple
+ (+0.00%)
Plug Power
-0.04 (-0.13%)
Nikola
+ (+0.00%)
Lordstown Motors
+ (+0.00%)
Johnson & Johnson
-0.21 (-0.12%)
Zoom Video
-0.2 (-0.06%)