Trade Desk downgraded, Instacart 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 Upgrades: 

• Benchmark upgraded Instacart (CART) to Buy from Hold with a $67 price target. The company’s Q2 results and outlook, including a GTV growth inflection, suggest “it may not matter” whether the company is not sustaining category share, as the firm suspects to be the case, since the company is riding “a secular tailwind gaining momentum each quarter,” the firm tells investors.
• Piper Sandler upgraded Monster Beverage (MNST) to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $74, up from $54. Piper cites better visibility on sustainable sales and margin momentum for the upgrade. It believes the stock re-rating for Monster is sustainable.
• Goldman Sachs upgraded Peloton (PTON) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $11.50, up from $7. In its better-than-expected Q4 earnings, the company succeeded in framing of strategic initiatives aimed at delivering differentiated product experiences with an emphasis of widening out beyond fitness and into elements of wellness as well as the potential for a product roadmap focus on personalization, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Truist upgraded Gilead (GILD) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $127, up from $108, after the company beat Q2 expectations for sales and EPS, driven by the HIV segment.
• Piper Sandler upgraded GoDaddy (GDDY) to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $182, up from $180. The firm believes the shares have entered “oversold territory.”

Top Downgrades:

• BofA double downgraded Trade Desk (TTD) to Underperform from Buy with a price target of $55, down from $130. The company’s Q3 outlook that implies a deceleration in underlying growth makes it harder to dismiss concerns about competitive pressures and execution, says the firm. MoffettNathanson, Citi and Wedbush also downgraded Trade Desk to Sell or Neutral-equivalent ratings.
• Wells Fargo downgraded Rockwell Automation (ROK) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $345, down from $365. The firm sees uncertainty around the company achieving its margin targets from tariffs and the macro environment.
• Williams Trading downgraded Crocs (CROX) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $80, down from $135, post the Q2 report. The company’s outlook came in well below consensus estimates due to a weakening low-end to moderate consumer, the firm tells investors in a research note. Stifel also downgraded Crocs to Hold from Buy with a price target of $85, down from $127.
• RBC Capital downgraded Cogent (CCOI) to Sector Perform from Outperform with a price target of $40, down from $74, after the company reported Q2 results. The firm, which reduced its estimates following the report, assumes no acceleration in dividend growth and applies a higher discount rate in its valuation to reflect the company’s higher risk profile, the firm tells investors.
• Loop Capital downgraded Installed Building Products (IBP) to Hold from Buy with a higher price target of $255, up from $200, following its Q2 results. The company’s single-family and multi-family organic sales significantly outpaced the broader industry thanks to the positive mid-high single digit residential growth in key markets, outsized multi-family demand at its insulation business, and a better relative performance from local builders, the firm tells investors in a research note.

Top Initiations: 

• Deutsche Bank initiated coverage of Bowhead Specialty (BOW) with a Buy rating and $39 price target. The company’s focus on the casualty excess and surplus market makes it one of the few public insurers still benefiting from meaningful cyclical tailwinds, the firm tells investors in a research note.
• Jefferies initiated coverage of James Hardie (JHX) with a Buy rating and $34 price target. The firm views the company as a “rare secular growth story.”