PayPal downgraded, Costco 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: 

• Mizuho upgraded Costco (COST) to Outperform from Neutral with a price target of $1,000, up from $950, and added the stock to its “Top Picks” list. The shares have corrected 20% on concerns that both the company’s membership and comp sales growth are slowing, but Mizuho believes Costco’s trade-up activity is accelerating with Q1 premium member adds 2-3 times that of total membership.
• Melius Research upgraded Intel (INTC) to Buy from Hold with a $50 price target. Recent news that Nvidia (NVDA) tested the 18A process node and didn’t like it was “stale,” says the firm, which sees “a good chance” that Nvidia and Apple (AAPL) “take a hard look” at producing chips on the 14A node by 2028/2029.
• Raymond James double upgraded Estee Lauder (EL) to Strong Buy from Market Perform with a $130 price target, and added shares to the firm’s Analyst Current Favorites list. Estee Lauder is one of the firm’s top picks for 2026 as its turnaround shifts from story to execution.
• Goldman Sachs upgraded Coinbase (COIN) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $303, up from $294. The company’s recent product launches enhance the competitiveness of its core business, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Hershey (HSY) to Equal Weight from Underweight with a price target of $182, up from $157. The firm says cocoa prices are down over 50% from the peak this time last year, which is a “welcome development” for Hershey.

Top 5 Downgrades:

• BofA downgraded Omnicom (OMC) to Underperform from Neutral with a price target of $77, down from $87. While the near-term merits of the Interpublic Group (IPG) seem clear, the market is underestimating the downside risks on organic growth, EPS dilution from disposals, and the necessity to reinvest behind the legacy Interpublic assets, the analyst tells investors.
• Monness Crespi downgraded PayPal (PYPL) to Neutral from Buy. The firm believes the long-term bull case is still in play, but with current estimates for calendar 2026 not taken down enough, “less than promising” intra-quarter comments, elongated ramps, and building weakness in the 90% of consumers in U.S. that comprise 50% of spend, the firm expects “more compelling entry points likely on the horizon.”
• Piper Sandler downgraded Twilio (TWLO) to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $148, up from $145. The firm says that its general view on the company is unchanged, though it expects the re-acceleration narrative will fade later in 2026, free cash flow estimate upside revisions from here are more limited, Twilio has a relatively fair valuation, and the prior capital return narrative was executed on already.
• Mizuho downgraded AutoZone (AZO) to Neutral from Outperform with a price target of $3,550, down from $3,850. The firm views consensus estimates as “currently misaligned and overly optimistic” following the company’s fiscal Q1 miss.
• TD Cowen downgraded Domino’s Pizza (DPZ) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $460, down from $500. The firm is “pleased” with Domino’s robust U.S. same store sales growth in Q2 and Q3 and appreciates management’s agility in introducing new price point value offerings to improve traffic, but says the strategy has shifted more in this direction than expected.

Top 5 Initiations: 

• Citi resumed coverage of Capri Holdings (CPRI) with a Buy rating and $31 price target following a period of having suspended its rating due to the sale of Versace. While results in recent quarters have been weak on an absolute basis, the firm continues to believe that the Michael Kors brand “has been mismanaged but is not dead” and has significant cash generating potential and notes that Capri has significantly delevered its balance sheet with the sale of Versace.
• DA Davidson initiated coverage of Pinnacle Financial (PNFP) with a Neutral rating and $110 price target following the close of the Synovus merger. The firm has a favorable long-term view of the combination, but thinks Pinnacle is a “show me” story in the near-term given the “negative investor bias” toward mergers of equals and the extended integration timeline.
• Jefferies initiated coverage of Lumexa Imaging (LMRI) with a Buy rating and $23 price target. The firm believes Lumexa will benefit from secular tailwinds in imaging, the opening of new clinics, the ramp of facilities opened in the last few years, and rate growth. Wells Fargo, Raymond James, William Blair, Leerink, Deutsche Bank, and Barclays also started coverage of the stock with Buy-equivalent ratings.
• UBS resumed coverage of Lennox (LII) and Watsco (WSO) with a Neutral rating with a price target of $530, down from $560. Conversations with 20 multi-industry companies suggest Q4 reporting is unlikely to be a major catalyst, as full-year expectations are well calibrated and December commentary limits surprise potential, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• RBC Capital resumed coverage of California Resources (CRC) with an Outperform rating and $70 price target following the close of the all-stock combination with Berry (BRY).