Tesla, Intuitive Surgical downgraded: 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:

• Redburn Atlantic upgraded Charles Schwab (SCHW) to Neutral from Sell with a price target of $82, up from $65. Schwab is the dominant player in the two fastest growing segments of the U.S. retail wealth management market – the self-directed market and the independent registered investment advisor custody market, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Seaport Research upgraded Oklo (OKLO) to Buy from Neutral with a $71 price target. The firm sees fuel availability as the key variable in Oklo’s future success.
• Jefferies upgraded Quaker Houghton (KWR) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $146, up from $115. The firm says that solid margins and return on capital employed above 2019 levels despite soft end markets, a 64% cut in the stock’s valuation over four years leading to share prices last seen when earnings per share were less than $5, and a 7% free cash flow yield mark Quaker as a “good quality-at-a-reasonable-price candidate.”
• Redburn Atlantic upgraded LPL Financial (LPLA) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $460, up from $420. LPL is positioned to benefit from “two durable secular shifts” in the advisor-mediated market – the continued migration of advisors from captive models to independence in pursuit of autonomy, higher revenue retention and client ownership, and the move towards outsourcing in the institutional market, the firm says.
• Williams Trading upgraded Steven Madden (SHOO) to Buy from Hold with a $31 price target. Trends, especially in women’s dress shoes and western boots, “are starting to move Steve Madden’s way,” the firm tells investors in a research note.

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Argus downgraded Tesla (TSLA) to Hold from Buy with no price target. The stock “appears to be currently trading on non-fundamental events,” says the firm, which is concerned that the “war of words” between President Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, along with expiration of EV credits, could further weaken demand for new Teslas. Baird also downgraded Tesla to Neutral from Outperform with an unchanged price target of $320.
• Deutsche Bank downgraded Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) to Sell from Hold with a price target of $440, down from $515. Encroachment to Intuitive’s Instruments and Accessories segment by remanufactured instruments is inevitable and likely to be increasingly meaningful over the next few years, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Morgan Stanley downgraded McDonald’s (MCD) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $324, down from $329. McDonald’s is a “top quality business but hasn’t been, and probably will not be, insulated from some structural pressures on fast food,” the firm argues.
• Mizuho downgraded Chewy (CHWY) to Neutral from Outperform with a price target of $47, up from $43. The firm remains constructive on the long-term trajectory of Chewy’s business model, but says the current setup into and post the Q1 results is “increasingly less attractive.”
• Redburn Atlantic downgraded Robinhood (HOOD) to Sell from Neutral with a price target of $48, up from $40. The company “has executed a notable turnaround,” but the Robinhood bull case requires conviction that recent improvements are sustainable, says the firm, which believes there is some uncertainty around the company’s “moats,” adoption rates of new products and the durability of user engagement.

Top 5 Initiations:

• Arete initiated coverage of SanDisk (SNDK) with a Buy rating and $63 price target. The shares trade at a “steep discount” to their historical valuation multiples, likely reflecting SanDisk’s weaker market position today, the firm argues.
• Morgan Stanley coverage of Molina Healthcare (MOH) with an Overweight rating and $364 price target. While “varying permutations of policy headwinds are looming” across Medicaid, the overhang is disproportionately reflected in Molina at “trough valuations,” the firm tells investors in a research note. Morgan Stanley also started coverage of Centene (CNC) with an Overweight rating and $70 price target.
• Citizens JMP initiated coverage of eToro (ETOR) with an Outperform rating and $85 price target, implying 24% upside from the last close. eToro’s shift to consistent profitability reduces downside risk in the stock, the firm tells investors in a research note. Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, Needham, Canaccord, Cantor Fitzgerald and Mizuho also started coverage of the name with Buy-equivalent ratings, while Keefe Bruyette, Citi, UBS, Susquehanna, Deutsche Bank, BofA and Redburn Atlantic initiated eToro with Neutral-equivalent ratings.
• Barclays initiated coverage of Ryder (R) with an Overweight rating and $190 price target. Ryder appears to be executing on a revised operating strategy emphasizing transportation services, with a “large, flexible asset base that should position the company favorably in a potential upcycle,” the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage of Docebo (DCBO) with an Overweight rating and $35 price target. The firm estimates the company is targeting an estimated total addressable market in excess of $60B towards the end of this decade, “offering plenty of opportunity for revenue expansion.”