Here are the key calls on Wall Street on Friday: Piper Sandler introduces Couchbase to overweight Piper said in its introduction of Couchbase that the sell-off for the cloud database services software company was overdone. “The secular drivers for multi-cloud databases remain compelling.” Bernstein reiterates Tesla as underperformer Bernstein says it is maintaining its underperformer rating on the stock. “We do not believe Tesla can regain market share or grow materially until it brings all new, lower-cost offerings to market — likely not until 2026 and 2027 — and believe the company’s valuation has become increasingly decoupled from prevailing fundamentals.” Wolfe upgrades Newmark Group to outperformer from peer perform Wolfe says the commercial real estate advisory firm is well positioned. “NMRK is overweight capital markets, which we believe is the most advantageous business area right now.” Williams Trading upgrades Nike to buy from sell Williams said in its upgrade of Nike that it welcomes management changes. “Upgrade to buy. Price target raised to $93 from $67. We don’t believe a major change in direction is imminent for the company, but the recent rehiring of Tom Peddie as VP of Marketplace Partners (aka: head of U.S. wholesale) suggests a change is underway.” Barclays upgrades CF Industries to overweight from equal weight Barclays said in its upgrade of the agribusiness that it sees “sustainable gain.” “We are upgrading CF to OW from EW based on its total return potential – given a propensity for buybacks – and investments in low-carbon assets that will give them a superior advantage going forward.” JPMorgan upgrades Sphere to overweight from neutral. JPMorgan said it sees an attractive risk-reward for the Las Vegas entertainment company. “We are upgrading our rating on SPHR from neutral to overweight and setting a Dec. 25 price target of $57 (up from our previous Dec. 24 price target of $37).” Piper Sandler upgrades Microchip to overweight from neutral Piper sees a number of positive catalysts for the semiconductor chip company going forward. “We are upgrading MCHP shares as we see numerous growth levers turning on in the near term.” Wells Fargo downgrades Lumen to underweight from equal weight Wells sees declining revenue for the internet service provider. “We are downgrading LUMN shares to underweight but raising the price target to $4 (from $1.75).” Raymond James upgrades Kimco Realty, Kite Realty to strong buy from market perform Raymond James says several mall real estate investment trusts are bullish. “We are upgrading KIM and KRG to strong buy as we see more upside in mall REITs with lower multiples and/or those trading at discounts to NAV (net asset value).” Morgan Stanley names FTAI Aviation as top pick Morgan Stanley said the aviation company has “underestimated” growth prospects. “FTAI becomes our top pick in the aerospace space. We are raising our price target to $140 from $105 as we continue to believe FTAI’s growth prospects are underestimated by the market.” Morgan Stanley reiterates Walmart as a buy Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Walmart to $82 per share from $75 following Thursday’s earnings release. “Another quarter that confirms the story of market share gains and expanding profit margins.” BMO reiterates Netflix as an outperformer BMO says Netflix is well positioned for on-demand video streaming over the long term. “We are increasingly positive on TTD (OP, $100.50) and NFLX (OP, $663.22) as both are well positioned to tackle emerging CTV (connected TV) opportunities.” Mizuho reiterates Alphabet as an outperformer Mizuho says the hurdles to an Alphabet split appear high. “Recent press reports suggest that the Justice Department may seek a breakup of Alphabet after the company lost the antitrust case related to search advertising. While we are not legal experts, we believe the hurdle for a breakup is quite high given the precedent set by AT&T in 1982.” Evercore ISI adds a tactical underperform for Palo Alto Networks The company says it is sticking to its long-term outperform rating on the stock but is cautious heading into next week’s earnings announcement. “Our core L/T thesis on PANW as the dominant cyber provider remains unchanged; however, as we think through the lineup to print (8/19), we believe F4Q could serve as a clearing event to reset the numbers, potentially providing a better post-EPS buying opportunity.” Cantor Fitzgerald Upgrades Teradyne to Overweight from Neutral Cantor called the stock one of the “sneakier” AI betting strategies in the semiconductor space. “Given the profile of the company’s exposure, scarcity in AI leverage, upside to consensus estimates, and earnings power approaching the high end of the company’s target model in calendar year 2026, we are upgrading TER to Outperform and adding to our Top Picks list.” Bank of America Downgrades Estee Lauder to Neutral from Buy Bank of America downgraded the cosmetics company due to China weakness. “We are downgrading EL’s shares to Neutral from Buy to reflect the reality of the beauty category’s weaker-than-expected performance in China (historically about a third of revenue).” New Street Upgrades Cisco to Buy from Neutral New Street upgraded the stock following the earnings release earlier this week. “The cyclical headwinds are now behind us and Cisco is returning to growth.” Jefferies reiterates Nvidia as a buy Jefferies says it is maintaining its buy rating on the stock despite concerns about delays in Nvidia’s Blackwell chip. “After our view on the NVDA Blackwell delays, we received a lot of feedback from investors trying to gauge the impact on earnings. Our main takeaway is that confidence in the magnitude of upside potential in NVDA estimates has declined, but a beat is still needed.” Wells Fargo upgrades Fox to overweight from equal weight Wells says it likes the media company’s sports strategy. “We believe FOXA has the right approach to navigate a changing TV ecosystem.” BMO reiterates Microsoft as top pick BMO says it’s sticking with the tech giant. “We believe Microsoft’s leading AI position and portfolio breadth make MSFT, along with SAP, our top pick designation.” Bank of America reiterates Salesforce as a buy Bank of America raised its price target on the stock to $316 per share from $288. “Recent discussions with nearly a dozen key Salesforce partners indicate intact activity, with deal activity remaining largely at first-quarter levels.” Deutsche Bank reiterates buy rating for Live Nation Deutsche says demand for the concert and live event company remains “healthy.” “Venue Nation, the venue portfolio owned and operated by Live Nation, represents a growing business with attractive returns, and we see further opportunities to expand this opportunity.” Bank of America reiterates buy rating for Applied Materials The company says growth drivers are “on track” for the chip company following earnings results on Thursday. “In our view, the combination of AMAT’s scale and balanced portfolio positions the company as a key beneficiary of the growing demand for all chips in a data-driven economy.”
