Buy/Sell: Wall Street’s top 10 stock calls this week

What has Wall Street been buzzing about this week? Here are the top 5 Buy calls and the top 5 Sell calls made by Wall Street’s best analysts during the week of March 24-28. 

Find all top-rated stocks by the best-rated analysts on TipRanks.

Top 5 Buy Calls:

1. Roku initiated with an Outperform at FBN Securities

FBN Securities initiated coverage of Roku (ROKU) with an Outperform rating and $93 price target. The company has “nascent” initiatives spanning video advertising and display ads, the firm tells investors in a research note. FBN Securities believes Roku has lots of growth drivers in place to offset the macro environment.

2. Carvana upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley following pullback 

Morgan Stanley upgraded Carvana (CVNA) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $280, up from $260. A sharp pullback in the share price presents “a unique opportunity for investors to gain exposure to a leader in auto retail and fleet fulfillment,” says the firm, which recent site visit reinforced the company’s competitive advantages. While Carvana remains more exposed to a lower strata of auto credit relative to the rest of its auto coverage, the company has demonstrated execution with profitable growth and addressed leverage concerns, Morgan Stanley added.

3. Guggenheim sees attractive entry point after pullback, upgrades Pinterest to Buy 

Guggenheim upgraded Pinterest (PINS) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $40, up from $39. User-growth trends remain “healthy,” and the firm expects monetization of the user base to grow at above-market rates from 2025-2027. With shares down 19% off a recent peak Guggenheim sees “an attractive opportunity to invest in the still early-stage global user, monetization and profit growth opportunity.” 

4. Melius expects Boeing to keep seeing positive news, upgrades to Buy 

Melius Research upgraded Boeing (BA) to Buy from Hold with a $204 price target following the company’s win over Lockheed Martin (LMT) for the Air Force’s sixth-gen fighter program. Although Kelly Ortberg has been at the helm for less than a year, the firm believes he is the right leader to turn Boeing around as he has empowered employees to provide “brutal” feedback on the company’s leadership and culture, allowing him to implement necessary improvements. While Melius acknowledges that Boeing Defense “remains a fixer-upper,” Phantom Works’ NGAD win should provide Boeing with $20B of profitable cost-plus defense sales over the next five years. The firm adds that it believes Boeing is “entering a period of positive news flow that can drive the stock higher.”

5. Cloudflare double upgraded to Buy at BofA on differentiated approach to AI 

BofA double upgraded Cloudflare (NET) to Buy from Underperform with a price target of $160, up from $60. The firm identifies two catalysts underpinning growth acceleration, namely a differentiated approach to AI and the company gaining momentum in network security, particularly Secure Access Service Edge. BofA places a “high probability” on Cloudflare becoming the leader in AI-as-a-Service.

Top 5 Sell Calls:

1. General Mills initiated with an Underweight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of General Mills (GIS) with an Underweight rating and $53 price target. The firm launched coverage of the U.S. packaged food industry with an In-Line view. Earnings visibility is low with sales growth expected to “remain muted” given ongoing secular consumption headwinds and constrained pricing power while accelerating commodity inflation and continued need for reinvestment limits margin expansion potential, Morgan Stanley tells investors in a research note. The firm’s base case assumes a more stable backdrop for food consumption and a continuation of secular headwinds, resulting in a “widening dispersion of fundamental performance. 

Morgan Stanley favors “advantaged categories, demonstrated pricing power, and thriving brands,” while being cautious names that face slower growth and higher reinvestment risk. Its Top Pick is BellRing Brands (BRBR), as the firm believes the recent pullback creatives a compelling entry point for a “scarce growth asset.” The firm expects General Mills’ “disadvantaged: North America retail exposure and persistent pet challenges will limit its sales momentum and continue to weigh on sentiment.

Morgan Stanley also started coverage of Kraft Heinz (KHC) and WK Kellog (KLG) with Underweight ratings.

2. Helmerich & Payne resumed with an Underweight at Morgan Stanley 

Morgan Stanley resumed coverage of Helmerich & Payne (HP) with an Underweight rating and $27 price target. The firm contends that the market may be underappreciating the depth and duration of conventional land drilling market activity pressure in Saudi Arabia, which is now H&P’s biggest market outside of the U.S. However, recently launched Middle East unconventional drilling campaigns may offer less upside than the firm had previously thought and U.S. land drilling activity and pricing/margin upside may be more limited than consensus expectations, Morgan Stanley tells investors.

3. Super Micro downgraded to Sell at Goldman Sachs 

Goldman Sachs downgraded Super Micro (SMCI) to Sell from Neutral with a price target of $32, down from $40. The shares are up 38% year-to-date, making it the best performing stock in Goldman’s hardware coverage. The firm now views Super Micro’s risk/reward as unfavorable, seeing downside risks on valuation, competition, and gross margins. Competition in artificial intelligence servers is intensifying due in part to less product differentiation following investments from competitors in recognition of the large market opportunity, which likely will pressure Super Micro’s early market share leadership in AI servers, contends Goldman. It believes the company’s MCI’s gross margins likely will decline on increasing competition.

4. BofA downgrades Voya Financial to Underperform in “reset” year 

BofA downgraded Voya Financial (VOYA) to Underperform from Neutral with a price target of $71, down from $79. Should management’s long-term guidance of 90%-100% income to free cash flow conversion hold true, it implies about $70M0-$780M of income for 2025, or $7.10-$7.90 of EPS, as compared with consensus of $8.14, the firm says. Despite management guidance, BofA has “difficulty” finding low enough margins to justify sub-$8 EPS in 2025, presenting downside to our already reduced 2025 EPS forecast, telling investors that it views 2025 as a “reset” year.

5. Ally Financial downgraded to Sell at BTIG 

BTIG downgraded Ally Financial (ALLY) to Sell from Neutral with a $30 price target. The firm says a number of negative macro trends and industry commentary have made it more cautious on the auto lending industry and particularly prime auto lending. Ally faces asset yield pressure in superprime, prime and near-prime auto loans from competition among the top 10 banks for prime and superprime auto loans, as banks pursue lower net charge-offs, BTIG tells investors in a research note. The firm is expecting a guide-down when Ally reports Q1 earnings, and is 32% below consensus on Q1 earnings, primarily from interest income.