Here are Wednesday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Bank of America reiterates Nvidia as buy In a note to clients, the firm laid out several scenarios for Nvidia ahead of earnings on Wednesday after the bell. “Baseline view: FQ4 beat, inlinish FQ1 outlook on slower Blackwell ramp/looming China restrictions, stock recovers (modestly) as investors look ahead to GPU Tech Conference (GTC) on Mar-17.” Goldman Sachs reiterates Apple as buy The firm said it’s “encouraged” by lead times for Apple’s iPhone 16 E. “We’re encouraged by the role that iPhone 16e plays as an entry-level phone in the iPhone portfolio and believe that the price increase (relative to iPhone SE3) and internalized modem should be supportive of margins. There are no lead times on iPhone 16e.” Morgan Stanley reiterates Tesla as overweight The firm said it’s sticking with the stock as the leader in autonomous driving. “When will TSLA supply FSD/autonomy to a traditional OEM? We’re not holding our breath here. While we see scope for some announcements on select platforms, our latest read following 4Q results is that Tesla has plenty of data, is focused on its own path and want to avoid distraction.” Redburn Atlantic Equities upgrades American Airlines to buy from neutral Redburn said it sees margin expansion opportunity for American Airlines. “At the margin, we see 2025 as a period where EBIT margins should expand and, given the tight supply environment we see in the medium term coupled with growth in credit card fees from the new deal signed with Citi (which provide long term, high margin, high recurrence and robust revenue growth) we expect continued margin expansion thereafter.” Citi upgrades Lumen to buy from neutral Citi said in it sees a “favorable risk-reward” for the telecommunications and networking company. “We also believe Lumen retains an opportunity to improve share in the business category over time. We believe the recent pull-back in the shares and the opportunity to deliver forward progress on the catalysts create a favorable risk-reward.” Bernstein upgrades Alibaba to outperform from market perform Bernstein said it has “AI optimism and beyond” for the China e-commerce company. “While last week felt like a local maximum for AI sentiment, the combination of more gainful capital allocation, a better industry structure for AI than legacy cloud, and possible spill-over effects of an AI capex boom in China makes us feel Alibaba’s earnings could now be on a more upwardly-pointing trajectory.” RBC upgrades Fair Isaac to outperform from sector perform RBC said the credit scoring company has pricing power. “Lastly, we believe FICO’s very high incremental margins and management’s shareholder-friendly capital allocation strategy protect against downside risks to EPS. We upgrade FICO shares to Outperform.” UBS upgrades Confluent to buy from neutral UBS said the data streaming tech company is well positioned. ” Confluent’s competitive landscape with the hyperscalers appears stable to modestly improving.” Morgan Stanley upgrades Intuit to overweight from sector weight The firm upgraded the tax company following earnings on Tuesday. “Building momentum in Small Business, solid yields on efficiency initiatives and a conservative 2H25 outlook well sets up INTU for positive revisions near term.” Morgan Stanley downgrades Krispy Kreme to underweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley downgraded Krispy Kreme following earnings on Tuesday. “Quite simply, many elements of the story continue to shift too much for our comfort, so we are making this a relative UW in our coverage, until we develop greater conviction that sustainable demand growth drivers exist in the US.” Barclays upgrades Lennox to overweight from equal weight Barclays said that the heating and cooling company is undervalued. “We think consensus remains too negative; the margin guide for ’25 looks quite conservative.” JPMorgan upgrades Check Point Software to overweight from neutral The firm said it’s seeing “positive change” for the software company. ‘ CPX offered signs the company’s focus on platform development and innovation are beginning to pay off, positioning the company for acceleration ahead as it leverages a best in class technology platform.” HSBC initiates Miniso as buy HSBC said the China variety store retailer is well positioned for share gains. ” Miniso is the largest lifestyle retailer in China and it is making fast inroads into the overseas markets by leveraging on its supply chain strength.” JPMorgan upgrades DLocal to overweight from neutral The firm said it’s finally seeing international momentum for the Uruguayan financial technology company. “We upgrade dLocal to Overweight for the first time since IPO after carrying a Neutral rating for the last ~4 years.” Deutsche Bank upgrades Coupang to buy from hold Deutsche said in its upgrade of the Korean e-commerce company has more room to run. “With the company expanding its lead, we are lifting our target price from USD26.50 to USD28.50, and our recommendation from HOLD to BUY, as: 1) We have lifted estimates, as noted inside, 2) We roll forward our DCF, and 3) We cut our risk free rate assumption from 3% to 2.75%.” HSBC upgrades Home Depot to neutral from reduce The firm upgraded the stock following earnings on Tuesday. ” HD turns first positive SSS [same-store sales] in eight quarters.” Barclays reiterates Instacart as overweight Barclays said the delivery company is seeing “solid trends” following earnings on Tuesday. “Everything seems on track for Maplebear as we move through 2025.” Guggenheim initiates Sportrader as buy The firm said the gaming company has a differentiated offering. “We are initiating coverage of Sportradar Group (SRAD) with a BUY rating and $27 price target.” Loop upgrades Porch Group to buy from hold Loop upgraded the home professional software company following Porch’s earnings. “We are upgrading our rating from “Hold” to “Buy” and reaffirming our price target of $6 following Porch’s 4Q24 earnings release.” Loop reiterates Super Micro Computer as buy Loop raised its price target on the stock to $70 per share from $50. “We’re raising our PT for the third time in five weeks (to $70 from $50 from $40) and reiterating our Buy rating as SMCI remains an important company in an important space with both special situation catalysts and fundamental as GB200 & GB300 (Blackwell) ramp heading into summer and key customers get into full swing.”
