Booking, Carvana upgraded: 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:

• Wedbush upgraded Carvana (CVNA) to Outperform from Neutral with a price target of $400, up from $380. The firm believes the recent pullback in shares is overdone, and investors should take advantage of this period of relative weakness.
• BofA upgraded Booking Holdings (BKNG) to Buy from Neutral with an unchanged price target of $6,000. The firm believes concerns about disintermediation risks to Booking from Google (GOOGL) and OpenAI’s Agentic tools are “overdone” and sees AI-related selloff in shares as one that creates a buying opportunity.
• HSBC upgraded Flutter Entertainment (FLUT) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $228, down from $265. The firm sees a buying opportunity following the recent selloff in the shares.
• Wolfe Research upgraded Morgan Stanley (MS) to Outperform from Peer Perform with a $198 price target. Revenue growth is poised to accelerate from both share gains in investment banking and accelerating organic growth in wealth management, the firm tells investors.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Merck (MRK) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $125, up from $90. Following recent business development, pipeline progress, and new launches, the firm sees Merck filling the shortfall from Keytruda LOE and growing revenue in the early 2030s.

Top 5 Downgrades:

• UBS downgraded JFrog (FROG) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $65, up from $48, after resuming coverage of the name. While AI-related tailwinds are meaningful, the larger revenue impact likely remains 12-18 months out, the firm says, adding that the strong positioning appears largely reflected in the valuation.
• Jefferies downgraded Exact Sciences (EXAS) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $105, up from $90, citing the pending acquisition by Abbott (ABT). The firm thinks the takeover premium represents a win for Exact Sciences and does not expect another bidder to come over the top given precedent deal multiples.
• Evercore ISI downgraded QuantumScape (QS) to In Line from Outperform with a price target of $12, up from $8. The firm cites valuation for the downgrade with the shares up 200% year-to-date.
• UBS downgraded Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $188, up from $163. Following the strong Phase 3 GEA update and a 25% stock move, Jazz now appears fairly valued with a balanced risk/reward profile, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• TD Cowen downgraded PureCycle Technologies (PCT) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $9, down from $16. Orders have been delayed and the firm is assuming delays to the company’s growth plan, so it moves to the sidelines for now as it lets the company prove out the value proposition and demonstrate profitability.

Top 5 Initiations:

• BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage of Meta Platforms (META) with an Outperform rating and $800 price target. Meta, which is “only getting better at monetizing” its 3B user base, can afford to aggressively invest in AI to stay ahead of competitors and leverage its dominance in social media to keep winning in social commerce, the firm tells investors.
• Citi initiated coverage of Synopsys (SNPS) with a Buy rating and $580 price target. The firm believes the electronic design automation market is “emerging as the backbone” of the next growth phase of artificial intelligence.
• Citi initiated coverage of Cadence Design (CDNS) with a Buy rating and $385 price target. The firm sees a favorable fundamental setup for Cadence.
• Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of Clean Harbors (CLH) with a Neutral rating and $228 price target. The firm is positive on the company’s “industry-leading” position in hazardous waste disposal and collection, but sees a mixed near-term outlook for Clean Harbors.
• JPMorgan initiated coverage of Hyatt (H) with an Overweight rating and $178 price target. The firm believes the company’s multiple will re-rate higher and that its 2-4 times valuation discount to its larger-cap C-Corp peers will tighten.