Broadcom, Arista Networks initiated: 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 State Street (STT) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $112, up from $85. Among the trust banks, State Street should be the biggest beneficiary of the recent upturn in equity markets, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• JPMorgan upgraded Vail Resorts (MTN) to Neutral from Underweight with an unchanged price target of $167. The firm sees a favorable risk/reward at current share levels.
• Baird upgraded FICO (FICO) to Outperform from Neutral with a price target of $1,900, down from $2,021. The material share pullback on “changing regulatory risk perception” returns FICO to a valuation that can enable good multi-year upside, while reducing the magnitude of potential downside risk, creating a favorable risk/reward, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• JPMorgan upgraded Noble Corp. (NE) to Overweight from Neutral with a $30 price target after meeting with management. The firm highlights management’s confidence in securing incremental term work for its deepwater floater fleet to boost earnings visibility in 2026, although it says near-term conditions remain choppy in both the deepwater and the harsh environment jack-up market.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Barings BDC (BBDC) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $9.50, up from $8.50. The firm cites the company’s credit stabilization and “shareholder-friendly” realization of its MVC Capital credit support agreement for the upgrade.

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Goldman Sachs downgraded Booz Allen (BAH) to Sell from Neutral with a price target of $94, down from $108. The firm sees limited revenue and earnings growth over the medium-term for the company, while saying the stock’s valuation still has downside risk.
• TD Cowen downgraded Freshpet (FRPT) to Hold from Buy with an unchanged price target of $96. The firm cites its concerns about decelerating retail sales growth trends for the downgrade.
• Truist downgraded BNY Mellon (BK) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $97, up from $87. The firm expects the stock to take a “breather after a very strong run.”
• TD Cowen downgraded Skechers (SKX) to Hold from Buy with an unchanged price target of $63. The window for another bidder for Skechers to emerge has closed, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Jefferies downgraded Rocket Pharmaceuticals (RCKT) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $2.50, down from $29. The FDA clinical hold on the company’s pivotal Phase II program of RP-A501gene therapy for Danon heart disease pushes back timelines and raises some questions around the drug’s overall benefit/risk profile, the firm tells investors in a research note. Morgan Stanley and Leerink also downgraded the stock to Neutral-equivalent ratings.

Top 5 Initiations:

• Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage of Broadcom (AVGO) with a Buy rating and $301 price target. The company is arguably the “pre-eminent” application-specific integrated circuits co-partner with a strong pipeline of future customers, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage of Arista Networks (ANET) with a Buy rating and $112 price target. Arista’s networking products are “significant beneficiaries” of both larger generative artificial intelligence cluster sizes and the shift towards ethernet for back-end networks, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage of Marvell (MRVL) with a Neutral rating and $67 price target. The firm has some reservations about Marvell’s contribution to future Amazon Web Services (AMZN) Trainium chips.
• William Blair initiated coverage of Oklo (OKLO) with an Outperform rating and no price target. The firm says Oklo will accelerate regulatory timelines and improve unit economics by capturing the premium on clean baseload electricity through direct power purchasing agreements.
• Citi resumed coverage of TripAdvisor (TRIP) with a Neutral rating and $16 price target. While “encouraged” with continued growth at Viator, improving revenue declines at the Tripadvisor brand and a more streamlined ownership structure following the transaction with Liberty Tripadvisor, the firm views the risk/reward as balanced at current levels given more limited near-term visibility due to macro uncertainty.