Lululemon downgraded, Dick’s Sporting 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:

• Citi upgraded Dick’s Sporting (DKS) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $280, up from $225, following the close of the Foot Locker acquisition. The firm views the combined company as a “powerful force” in athletic footwear and apparel.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Thomson Reuters (TRI) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $212, up from $187. The stock’s valuation has contracted on “misplaced” artificial intelligence concerns, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Jefferies upgraded Iqvia (IQV) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $225, up from $195. The firm names the company its new top pick among the contract research organizations.
• Jefferies upgraded Charles River (CRL) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $195, up from $142. The company’s discovery and safety assessment bookings are improving, and it has “several ways to create value” via a sale of all or part of its manufacturing solutions segment, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Citi upgraded Hyatt (H) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $167, up from $138. While the firm continues to anticipate a relatively tepid RevPAR environment, it also believes that several factors can drive share appreciation from current levels.

Top 5 Downgrades:

• KeyBanc downgraded Lululemon (LULU) to Sector Weight from Overweight without a price target. The company’s fiscal Q2 earnings report was mixed, with revenue falling short of expectations and U.S. growth turning negative for the first time in several years, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Mizuho downgraded Pinnacle West (PNW) to Neutral from Outperform with a price target of $90, down from $102. The company’s 5% load growth is supported by large manufacturing facilities and data centers, but Mizuho’s forecast model indicates a “regulatory lag will eat away” at most of the accretion until 2028.
• Jefferies downgraded Icon (ICLR) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $175, down from $220. The firm now sees “too many headwinds” for Icon to continue recommending the shares.
• UBS downgraded AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $43, down from $62. Starlink’s acquisition of EchoStar’s (SATS) S-Band spectrum for $19B “fortifies its position” in the space-to-cellular market and increases risk for AST, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Evercore ISI downgraded BXP (BXP) to In Line from Outperform with a price target of $76, up from $75, following the investor day. The firm cites BXP’s larger disposition program and slower revenue growth relative to prior expectations for the downgrade.

Top 5 Initiations:

• JPMorgan initiated coverage of Reliance (RS) with an Overweight rating and $350 price target. The firm believes the company’s “resilient” margin profile, diversification, and record of steady growth is underappreciated at current share levels.
• JPMorgan initiated coverage of Badger Meter (BMI) with an Overweight rating and $230 price target. The firm views the company as an attractive core long-term holding for industrial and sustainability focused investors seeking exposure to “several multi-decade secular tailwinds,” including water scarcity and aging water infrastructure.
• Leerink initiated coverage of Metsera (MTSR) with an Outperform rating and $77 price target. Leerink believes that Wall Street underappreciates the company’s monthly injectable GLP-1, monthly injectable amylin, daily oral GLP-1 peptide, and peptide manufacturing peptide scale advantages relative to competitors.
• B. Riley initiated coverage of Blaize (BZAI) with a Buy rating and $9 price target, which offers 184% potential upside. The company is in the “very early innings” of an enterprise artificial intelligence adoption cycle, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Citi initiated coverage of MSG Sports (MSGS) with a Buy rating and $285 price target. The firm views the shares as undervalued when compared to the recent transaction values of other sports teams.