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Here are Wednesday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Evercore ISI downgrades Marriott to in line from outperform Evercore downgraded the hotel giant mainly on valuation. “Having run through our $180 price target, with shares up 22% YTD (vs. S & P +8%) and +32% since our July ’22 assumption of coverage (vs. S & P +7%) we’re moving to the sidelines and lowering our rating on MAR shares to In-line from Outperform.” Citi downgrades Bath & Body Works to neutral from buy Citi said it sees too many margin headwinds for the stock. ” BBWI is facing significant margin headwinds which we expect to continue into 2023 and potentially beyond.” UBS reiterates Apple as buy UBS said that a foldable iPhone remains possible for Apple after the tech giant filed a recent patent. “In the drawings filed along with the patent application, an electronic device with multiple foldable sections is highlighted, indicating a potential new form factor, while early, is possible.” Morgan Stanley reiterates Amazon as overweight Morgan Stanley said it’s standing by its bullish thesis on shares of the e-commerce giant. “In our view, the slope of AMZN’s Retail EBIT improvement is likely to continue to be driven by improving fulfillment and shipping cost per unit economics as AMZN grows into its logistics overbuild.” Loop initiates Dick’s as hold Loop said in its initiation of Dick’s that it’s waiting for a better entry point. “All that said, we think our bullish fundamental outlook is largely priced in—particularly given our view the core DICK’S Sporting Goods concept has very limited domestic organic square footage growth prospects. We await a more attractive entry point to become more constructive.” RBC upgrades Ecolab to outperform from market perform RBC said in its upgrade of the water treatment company that it’s going on “offense.” “With pricing ‘heavy lifting’ complete, ECL appears to be shifting to offense, focusing on net new business wins with stable retention (~mid 90%’s) despite robust FY22 pricing actions.” Deutsche Bank initiates DigitalBridge as buy Deutsche said it likes the company’s “high-growth” approach. “DigitalBridge’s high-growth, and increasingly asset-light business model represent a unique approach to investing in digital infrastructure.” Read more about this call here. Citi downgrades Upstart Holdings to sell from neutral Citi said it sees a challenging outlook for the lender. “We had concerns for a more challenging outlook going into results, though were still surprised by the company’s indications. We surmise Street estimates for FY’23 revenue will fall similarly as ours (down ~35%) and we do recognize Upstart has at times been overly cautious with its outlook.” Piper Sandler upgrades U.S. Bancorp to overweight from neutral Piper said the bank that is “one of the sturdiest large regional stories in an uncertain environment.” “Specifically, we are raising our rating on U.S. Bancorp from Neutral to OW given what we see as a disconnect between the sturdiness of the earnings/ profitability outlook but a persistent discount valuation.” Mizuho reiterates SoFi as buy Mizuho said SoFi is “resilient” in a challenging environment. “We are also raising our PT from $6 to $9 due to encouraging commentary from management on GAAP profitability by 4Q23 and continued resilience in a challenged environment.” Cowen reiterates Walmart and Target as outperform Cowen said the big box giant’s have “value leadership.” “We appreciate WMT as a ‘retail ecosystem’ inclusive of alternative income streams from digital advertising & Walmart+. TGT ‘s margins & inventory are a work in progress, but we are optimistic for 2023 on multi-category & digital scale.” Jefferies downgrades American Eagle Outfitters to hold from buy Jefferies downgraded American Eagle Outfitters on valuation and “challenges” ahead. “Despite the Better-Than-Expected Holiday Results, Go-Forward Macro Headwinds As Well as the Company’s Current Valuation Lead Us To Shift Our Rating To Hold. Read more about this call here. Barclays initiates Tesla as overweight Barclays said Tesla has the “clear lead” in the global electric vehicle environment. ” TSLA is the company which appears most favorable in our Two Clocks framework, as TSLA is by and large managing to ‘one clock’ – with near-term strength in financials, alongside leading the way on EV and the software transition. Read more about this call here. Tudor Pickering Holt & Co. downgrades Ford to hold from buy Tudor said it’s awaiting better execution from Ford . “Looking forward to incremental transparency at March and May events, but moving to sidelines and awaiting execution to become more constructive.” Gordon Haskett reiterates McDonald’s as a top pick Gordon Haskett said the fast food giant continues to gain share. ” MCD, the lone restaurant company large cap to see upward revisions across the board.” Melius downgrades Southwest to hold from buy Melius said it has strategy concerns regarding the airline. “On the stock-specific calls, we have concerns regarding Southwest’ s strategy in the challenging operating environment and their desire to grow ~20% in 2H23, which could put estimates at risk. Wells Fargo reiterates Goldman Sachs as overweight Wells said it’s standing by its overweight rating on the stock but that it’s cautious heading into the company’s investor day later this month. ” Goldman has good long-term prospects with strong book value growth and share gains. Yet, the Feb. 28 investor day may be a sell-the-news event depending on how well it addresses questions about strategy, returns, and management.” Evercore ISI reiterates Salesforce as outperform Evercore raised its price target on the stock to $200 per share from $175 and said it’s sticking with its outperform rating. “While we expect the F4Q results will illustrate the challenges CRM is facing in terms of the demand environment, we believe this is also the first step in terms of accepting a new economic reality that requires a higher focus on FCF/share growth.”
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