Target downgraded, Salesforce 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:

• DA Davidson upgraded Salesforce (CRM) to Neutral from Underperform with an unchanged price target of $225. The firm notes Starboard increased its stake in Salesforce by 47% this quarter and “another round of activist involvement may help the company correct course.”
• Raymond James upgraded Wingstop (WING) to Strong Buy from Outperform with an unchanged price target of $420. The firm remains confident that Wingstop’s comparable sales can start to improve through September and accelerate further through Q4 as comparisons ease.
• BTIG upgraded Par Technology (PAR) to Buy from Neutral with a $65 price target. Par is proving to be the “premiere” enterprise restaurant tech solution and deserves a premium multiple, contends BTIG.
• UBS upgraded Kennametal (KMT) to Neutral from Sell with a price target of $21, up from $19. The firm doesn’t see an immediate downside catalyst following two years of negative organic growth and guidance calling for a third.
• H.C. Wainwright upgraded MiNK Therapeutics (INKT) to Buy from Neutral with an unchanged price target of $35 post the Q2 report. The firm sees the company’s Phase 2 gastric cancer data later this year as a “significant catalyst” for the shares.

Top 5 Downgrades:

• BofA downgraded Target (TGT) to Underperform from Neutral with a price target of $93, down from $105. Target is now underperforming Walmart (WMT) on a comparable sales compound annual growth rate vs. 2019 and digital trends “look very challenged,” the firm tells investors.
• HSBC downgraded Cisco (CSCO) to Hold from Buy with a $69 price target. The company’s fiscal Q4 results and 2026 outlook missed HSBC’s estimates as the networking segment slows, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• BofA downgraded Applied Materials (AMAT) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $180, down from $190, following a “surprisingly weak” fiscal Q4 outlook.
• Gordon Haskett downgraded BJ’s Wholesale (BJ) to Hold from Buy with a $105 price target ahead of the earnings report. The shares are “due for a breather” after rallying 70% over the past two years, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• BofA downgraded Spire (SR) to Underperform from Neutral with a price target of $76, down from $81. The firm sees limited near-term accretion from the company’s acquisition of Piedmont Natural Gas given the purchase multiples and financing uncertainty.

Top 5 Initiations:

• Susquehanna initiated coverage of Parker-Hannifin (PH) with a Positive rating and $860 price target. The company has positioned itself to capitalize on the more cyclically resilient growth trends in aerospace and defense, digitalization, electrification, and clean technologies, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Jefferies initiated coverage of MYR Group (MYRG) with a Hold rating and $202 price target. The firm views the company’s data center exposure as “exciting” but says the shares already reflect a strong fundamental outlook.
• Wells Fargo initiated coverage of Revolution Medicines (RVMD) with an Overweight rating and $67 price target. The firm believes daraxonrasib’s mechanism of action is “de-risked” in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and second-line non-small cell lung cancer
• Piper Sandler initiated coverage of ICU Medical (ICUI) with an Overweight rating and $145 price target. The path to stability for the industry and ICU has been uneven and taken longer to achieve than many anticipated, but Piper believes the weight of the evidence points to ICU being in the early stages of finally showing the operational improvements necessary for margins and cash flow to take steps forward.
• Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage of Avalo Therapeutics (AVTX) with an Overweight rating and no price target. The firm says the company’s lead drug AVTX-009 is an IL-1N2 antibody currently in a Phase 2 trial for hidradenitis suppurativa with a readout expected in mid-2026.