Check out today's top analyst calls from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
PIPER UPS OKTA TO OVERWEIGHT: Piper Sandler analyst Rob Owens upgraded Okta (OKTA) to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $270, up from $250. Strength in last night's Q3 results drives confidence in the company's growth opportunity, Owens tells investors in a research note. He believes it is "time for investors to dive back in" given Okta's strong fundamentals and "compelling" outlook. The recent selloff in the stock has created a buying opportunity as the company is well positioned to deliver further growth into 2022 with new solutions that will address adjacent security segments, Owens contends.
CITI SAYS BUY SNOWFLAKE: Citi analyst Tyler Radke upgraded Snowflake (SNOW) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $470, up from $299, following last night's results. Snowflake's growth is at an "inflection point" following the "very strong" Q3 report, Radke tells investors in a research note. The analyst believes large enterprise budgets are starting to unlock, which should drive larger deals, while the partnership and competitive environment are more favorable. He views the recent pullback in shares of Snowflake as creating an attractive entry point. The stock is flat from December 2020 despite the company maintaining 110%-115% product growth with stronger profitability, says Radke.
Meanwhile, Loop Capital analyst Mark Schappel assumed coverage of Snowflake with a Hold rating and $310 price target. The company's Q3 results were "customary exceptionally good" as total revenue grew 110%, product revenue grew 110% and RPO grew a "solid" 94%, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Snowflake also recorded its first positive quarter of operating income, while the qualitative commentary around deal activity and the pipeline was equally upbeat, Schappel adds.
BUY ALPHABET, FACEBOOK: UBS analyst Lloyd Walmsley assumed coverage of Alphabet (GOOG; GOOGL) with a Buy rating with a price target of $3,925, up from $3,190. The analyst believes that shares can see positive estimate revisions and multiple expansion on the back of faster than expected top line growth and margin inflection at Google Cloud, adding that his analysis suggests that the Cloud value attribution could add 7%-12% annual tailwind to shares if this can be realized in the next two years. Walmsley further stated that strong revenue and margins will become evident in Google Cloud over the next 12 months.
Walmsley also assumed coverage of Meta (FB) with a Buy rating with a price target of $425, up from $416. The company is positioned to benefit from better operating performance and multiple expansion following the reset of third quarter results, the analyst told investors in a research note. Ad checks tell him budget cuts specific to ATT/privacy headwinds were swift, and as ad tech improvements hit, budgets are expected to return quickly, Walmsley added, stating that he sees additional upside potentially coming from Reels, Watch and e-commerce functionality.
Additionally, the analyst assumed coverage of Twitter (TWTR) and Snap (SNAP) with Neutral and Buy ratings, respectively, and downgraded Pinterest (PINS) to Neutral from Buy with a $42 price target after also assuming coverage of the name.
FAVORITE NAME IN U.S. INTERNET SECTOR: UBS analyst Kunal Madhukar assumed coverage of Amazon.com (AMZN) with a Buy rating and $4,700 price target. Amazon is the analyst's favorite name in the U.S. internet sector. The shares could see a multiple re-rating on positive estimate revisions for retail and Web Services as consensus revenue estimates are too conservatives, Madhukar told investors in a research note. Further, the analyst believes Amazon has "multiple levers" to drive margins.
Madhukar also upgraded eBay (EBAY) to Buy from Neutral with an $80 price target after assuming coverage of the name, and initiated coverage of Etsy (ETSY) with a Sell rating and $215 price target.
ON THE SIDELINES: UBS analyst Lloyd Walmsley initiated coverage of Airbnb (ABNB) with a Neutral rating and $176 price target as part of a broader research note on Online Travel. The analyst stated that he is skeptical around the company's long-term listings growth, and is also not convinced that work-from-home permanently changes the total addressable market for Airbnb. Walmsley added that he still sees near-term upside potential from higher average daily rates, with data and checks showing continued improvement in U.S. vacation markets, though he noted that as business travel returns, share is migrating back to hotels.
Walmsley also initiated coverage of
BULLISH ON UBER, LYFT: UBS analyst Lloyd Walmsley initiated coverage of Uber (UBER) with a Buy rating and $80 price target. The analyst believes the stock's current valuation is underappreciating the company's Mobility and Delivery business, and sees Uber's margin improvement and multiple expansion story with a 4-times upside to downside skew as the most attractive in the sub-sector under his coverage. Walmsley further cited Uber's category share gains in Mobility and stabilizing market share in food delivery.
Walmsley also started coverage of Lyft (LYFT) with a Buy rating and $60 price target. The company benefits from a strong post-pandemic recovery as a pure-play rideshare business operating in a "stable duopoly market," with limited noise around investment in delivery wars and having no exposure to international competition, the analyst told investors in a research note. Lyft could lose some modest share to Uber, but this would be mix related rather than competitive, Walmsley added, stating that its margins "can still scale."
Additionally, the analyst initiated coverage of DoorDash (DASH) with a Neutral rating and $200 price target.
KYNDRYL SEPARATION: Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani resumed coverage of IBM (IBM) with an In Line rating and $125 price target following the Kyndryl (KD) separation that occurred last month. While the spin enabled IBM to shed a declining asset that accounted for over 25% of revenue and he views IBM as a more attractive asset positioned for sustainable growth, Daryanani argued management will need to demonstrate consistent execution against its medium-term targets for him and investors to be more positive on the name.
Alphabet
+20.23 (+0.71%)
Alphabet
+15.07 (+0.53%)
Ticker changed to META
-0.325 (-0.10%)
Symbol now META
+
-0.72 (-1.68%)
Snap
-0.49 (-1.04%)
-0.1 (-0.27%)
Amazon.com
+7.77 (+0.23%)
eBay
-0.16 (-0.24%)
Etsy
-10.91 (-4.20%)
Airbnb
+2 (+1.23%)
Booking Holdings
+74.54 (+3.60%)
Expedia
+2.81 (+1.81%)
TripAdvisor
+0.13 (+0.52%)
Trivago
+0.015 (+0.72%)
Uber
+1.565 (+4.34%)
Lyft
+1.885 (+4.93%)
DoorDash
+3.87 (+2.39%)
IBM
+0.49 (+0.42%)
Kyndryl Holdings
+0.5 (+3.17%)
Okta
+20.53 (+10.34%)
Snowflake
+33.19 (+10.68%)