Block upgraded, Dell downgraded: 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:

• Truist upgraded Block (XYZ) to Hold from Sell with a price target of $68, up from $67, ahead of the Investor Day on Wednesday. The risk/reward has improved following the recent pullback in the shares, and while Truist continues to worry about credit risk and the outsized growth of their Cash App Borrow offering, thinks the underlying momentum of the Square segment is improving and that the stock is at least partially pricing in the risk associated with Block’s recent shift towards more lending-related revenue.
• TD Cowen upgraded Yum! Brands (YUM) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $173, up from $162. The firm sees the likely sale of Pizza Hut amplifying Yum’s growth profile.
• Mizuho upgraded Rubrik (RBRK) to Outperform from Neutral with an unchanged price target of $97. The firm cites valuation for the upgrade with the shares down 16% since mid-May “despite good ongoing execution.”
• Barclays upgraded Gap (GAP) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $30, up from $19. The firm likes the company’s “disciplined leadership strategy” under CEO Richard Dickson.
• UBS upgraded Expeditors (EXPD) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $166, up from $138. The firm believes growth in the company’s Customs and other segment to offset pressure from lower ocean rates in 2026.

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Morgan Stanley downgraded Dell Technologies (DELL) to Underweight from Overweight with a price target of $110, down from $144. The firm believes the memory “supercycle” brings downside risk to hardware manufacturer earnings heading into 2026.
• Morgan Stanley downgraded HP Inc. (HPQ) to Underweight from Equal Weight and HP Enterprise (HPE) to Equal Weight from Overweight. The firm believes the memory “supercycle” brings downside risk to hardware manufacturer earnings heading into 2026.
• KeyBanc downgraded Ardent Health (ARDT) to Sector Weight from Overweight without a price target following the Q3 report. The company’s EBITDA baseline exiting 2025 “seems less certain” and KeyBanc’s 2026 estimates are moving materially lower.
• H.C. Wainwright downgraded Celcuity (CELC) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $94, up from $77. At current levels, there is more downside risk than upside, contends H.C. Wainwright.
• Stifel downgraded Sealed Air (SEE) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $45, up from $43.80. Stifel now sees limited valuation in the stock.

Top 5 Initiations:

• Oppenheimer initiated coverage of Pure Storage (PSTG) with an Outperform rating and $120 price target. The firm says its bullish stance is predicated upon its view that Pure Storage is a beneficiary of rising creation and storage of unstructured data that is used to build and deliver AI applications; a long-term share gainer in an all-flash array market, where it has technological advantage; and expanding its customer base to include tier-1 and tier-2 hyperscalers.
• Oppenheimer initiated coverage of Akamai (AKAM) with an Outperform rating and $100 price target. As Akamai continues its transformation, Oppenheimer believes the company will capitalize on newer technology trends such as AI inferencing within cloud computing and API security within cybersecurity, adding to its growth profile.
• Oppenheimer initiated coverage of Fastly (FSLY) with a Perform rating. Despite its positive view of recent operational improvements, Oppenheimer remains on the sidelines until it sees a strong continuation in stride.
• Oppenheimer initiated coverage of NetApp (NTAP) with a Perform rating. The firm notes the company is a leading provider of data storage solutions, but it is facing some near-term growth challenges in the current environment, particularly within the US Public Sector and in EMEA.
• Oppenheimer initiated coverage of Rubrik (RBRK) with a Perform rating. While Oppenheimer agrees with consensus on Rubrik’s product differentiation, market opportunity, and strong management, its neutral view stems from the increasing levels of competition within cyber-resilience, and its belief that the stock is fairly valued at its current growth trajectory.