(This is CNBC Pro’s live coverage of Thursday’s analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 15-20 minutes to view the latest post.) A slew of analyst moves are out Thursday morning, including an upgrade to a major energy company. Bernstein raised its rating on Chevron to outperform from market perform. The firm cited optimism around production picking up in the Permian basin during the fourth quarter. Clorox also got an upgrade from Citi . Estee Lauder wasn’t as fortunate, however. RBC Capital Markets downgraded the stock to sector perform from outperform and slashed its price target after the company cut its quarterly guidance. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. 8:09 a.m. ET: Analysts stay downbeat on Airbnb despite quarterly revenue beat Airbnb may have reported stronger-than-expected revenue in the third-quarter, but its muted forward guidance has analysts remaining on the sidelines. Goldman Sachs analyst Eric Sheridan reiterated his sell rating on shares and lowered his price target by $3 to $114. “Airbnb had a solid Q3 ’23 earnings report in our view – slight beat on revenue with a more pronounced upside in terms of Adj EBITDA (repeating a theme of recent quarters) as the outsized recovery in travel trends in a post-pandemic environment and shift from goods to services in consumer spending has led to a strong secular/cyclical combination in growth over a multi-year time frame,” Sheridan said in a Thursday note. However, the current risk-reward profile has him remaining bearish on shares. Morgan Stanley also reduced its price target to $105 from $110, implying about 10% downside potential from Wednesday’s close. “Room night growth is slowing, while high-margin ADRs remain sticky. We don’t believe this combination will lead to durable, high-multiple growth,” analyst Brian Novak said in a Thursday note. He maintained his underweight rating on shares. Meanwhile, Evercore kept its outperform rating on shares. It also pulled back is price target to $136 from $168, suggesting shares could jump more than 13% from where they closed on Wednesday. Analyst Mark Mahaney believes Airbnb is the “most innovative asset in Online Travel, based on its consistently successful product development rollouts. “Some engine trouble, but the flight plan is clear,” Mahaney said in a client note on Thursday. — Hakyung Kim, Michael Bloom 8:07 a.m. ET: Truist upgrades Amgen on sales potential, obesity drug upside A strong drug pipeline and proven sales ability gives Amgen’s stock solid upside from here, according to Truist. Analyst Robyn Karnauskas upgraded the pharmaceutical stock to buy from hold, saying in a note to clients that the company has the potential for growth on multiple fronts. “Their investment in derm and primary care sales force and DTC could continue to grow the topline. We also note GLP-1/obesity data could be near-term catalysts that could drive up the stock. We update our model to include Tepezza and the other products from the recent acquisition. With the acquisition and base biz growth, we’re starting to see topline growth,” Karnauskas said. Amgen reported its third-quarter results on Tuesday, showing 4% revenue growth year-over-year and raising its full-year revenue guidance. The company also said that it expected trial updates of its obesity drug candidates in 2024. The stock fell 2.9% on Tuesday but erased most of that loss with a 2% gain on Wednesday. Truist raised its price target on Amgen to $320 per share from $260. The new target is more than 22% above where the stock closed Wednesday. — Jesse Pound, Michael Bloom 7:55 a.m.ET: Bank of America upgrades Oscar Health to buy Bank of America upgraded shares of New York-based health insurance company Oscar Health to buy from neutral Thursday. The Wall Street firm sees an 80% upside potential in the stock with “compelling” near-term catalysts. “We expect the insurer to report strong Q3 results and positive 2024 guidance,” Bank of America said in a note. “The company is benefitting by raising prices above peers and from overall market growth due to Medicaid expansion.” Other catalysts include strong execution from a “newly installed and highly regarded” management team of former Aetna executives and simplification of its earnings disclosures, the firm added. The bank raised its 12-month price target to $9 from $8, compared to Oscar’s Wednesday close of $4.98. — Yun Li, Michael Bloom 7:51 a.m. ET:JPMorgan initiates WK Kellogg at neutral, says valuations could be more attractive JPMorgan sees a mixed outlook for WK Kellogg . The bank initiated coverage of the cereal manufacturer on Thursday with a neutral rating and 2024 price target of $11, translating to upside of 10%. The stock is down 41% since debuting last month at $17, after being spun off from Kellogg. Analyst Ken Goldman pointed out that, although the stock looks cheap in comparison to other packaged food companies, it’s still not the most compelling investment available given its numerous risks. “We think a discount is warranted when considering the possibility that profit does not expand as much as anticipated, the floating interest rate nature of the debt, and the likely level of cash burn over the next couple of years,” he wrote. Goldman is also unsure if supply chain investments will power gross margin expansion to the level expected by the company. “The cereal category has experienced demand erosion over time, and we don’t necessarily see management’s outlook for 0% revenue growth the next few years as conservative,” he noted. — Lisa Kailai Han, Michael Bloom 7:26 a.m. ET: There’s no end in sight for SolarEdge’s sell-off, according to Truist and BMO There’s bad news ahead for SolarEdge Technologies , at least in the near term, analysts at Truist and BMO think. Truist’s Jordan Levy lowered his rating to hold from buy and cut his price target to $70 from $120. Levy’s new forecast implies a downside of 7.6% from the stock’s Wednesday close of $75.59. BMO analyst Ameet Thakkar, meanwhile, downgraded SolarEdge to market perform from outperform, decreasing his price target to $68 from $111. This corresponds to a downside of 10%. Shares of SolarEdge have plummeted more than 73% this year, plagued by an overall deteriorating backdrop in the solar industry and a waning European demand story which cratered the stock price in October . After posting weaker-than-expected guidance for its fourth-quarter revenue, SolarEdge plunged more than 20% in the premarket. SEDG 1D mountain SEDG drops “While we admittingly should’ve taken SEDG’s recent update & ENPH’s recent guide down as more indicative of what was to come, we had underestimated the magnitude/speed at which the European resi outlook has deteriorated, along w/the subsequent impact on SEDG’s margin profile,” Levy wrote. “Further we believe the rapid change in volume/margin outlook demonstrate the worryingly limited visibility SEDG has into sell-through levels.” Thakkar echoed Levy’s sentiment that lower margins will weigh down SolarEdge’s near-term recovery, but provided the caveat that long-term trends still appear to favor the stock. “We believe distributed solar generation is still a secular growth story, both in Europe and the U.S. However, it has become apparent that the base level of demand in 2022 is not the correct starting point,” he said. — Lisa Kailai Han, Michael Bloom 6:59 a.m. ET: There could still be more upside ahead for Roku despite its 46% year-to-date rally, says Pivotal Research Despite a strong rally so far this year, Roku stock could still have more room to go, according to Pivotal Research Group. The firm upgraded shares of the streaming device manufacturer to hold from its previous sell rating. Analyst Jeffrey Wlodarczak also lifted his price target to $75, implying a 26% potential upside from the stock’s Wednesday close of $59.70. Shares of Roku have rallied more than 46% this year. ROKU YTD mountain ROKU in 2023 Wlodarczak cited the company’s third-quarter earnings beat as a catalyst behind the upgrade. Meanwhile, the company is expected to hit its earnings targets next year, and the expected end of the actor’s strike should also boost its stock price. “At current price levels indicated in the pre-market we view ROKU as reasonably valued,” the analyst wrote. “ROKU occupies an attractive position in the content ecosystem with penetration in the all-important US market of 50% of U.S. broadband households, scale (that management appears intent on proving out financially) and currently have the best product of any streaming aggregator.” — Lisa Kailai Han, Michael Bloom 6:41 a.m. ET: HSBC calls Amazon ‘one of the most attractive stories in tech,’ initiates at buy Near-term headwinds can’t stop Amazon’s massive growth potential, according to HSBC. The firm initiated coverage of the e-commerce giant with a buy rating, setting a price target of $160. This corresponds to a 16.8% potential upside from Wednesday’s close. Shares of Amazon are up 63% this year. The stock rallied last week after posting better-than-expected earnings results for its third quarter. AMZN YTD mountain Amazon YTD Analyst Christopher Johnson sees strong growth ahead, despite “fragile” sentiment around the stock lately. “AWS remains one of the most attractive stories in tech; short-term growth hiccups don’t impair the secular growth story,” he wrote. “We believe that the short-term cyclical headwinds at AWS create an attractive entry point in one of the best secular growth stories in tech.” Specifically, Johnson thinks that the firm can grow its free cash flow through greater focus on cost management and slowing capital expenditures, especially as sales growth reaccelerates back to pre-pandemic levels. The analyst also cautioned investors to not overlook Amazon Web Services, the firm’s “crown jewel.” “Amazon’s structural opportunity in cloud surpasses even the lock-in,” he wrote. “Although much of Amazon’s recent de-rating appears to have been driven by slowing growth at AWS, we have high conviction that this is short term and macro-driven, and that investors should have confidence in the long-term growth opportunity that the secular shift into the cloud will bring.” — Lisa Kailai Han, Michael Bloom 6:09 a.m. ET: Stifel upgrades Generac to buy, sees 40% upside ahead Stifel sees a rosy growth outlook ahead for Generac. The firm upgraded shares of the power generation products manufacturer to buy from hold. Analyst Stephen Gengaro’s price target of $135, up from $130, implies a more than 40% potential upside. Shares of Generac are down 4.5% this year. GNRC YTD mountain GNRC YTD Gengaro cited a slew of catalysts for the upgrade. “After being on standby since assuming coverage about a year ago, we believe the risk/reward in the shares is favorable,” he wrote. “Positives include: 1) a normalization of home standby generator field inventory levels; 2) roughly $300 million of HSB sales growth in 2024 simply due to under-shipping demand in 2023; 3) solid underlying growth in the HSB business supported by rising grid instability; and 4) valuation.” — Lisa Kailai Han, Michael Bloom 5:39 a.m. ET: RBC downgrades Estee Lauder, cites low visibility from management There might still be troubled times ahead for Estee Lauder , according to RBC Capital Markets. The bank downgraded shares of the cosmetics company to sector perform from outperform and lowered its price target to $115 from $195. This still implies a potential upside of 10% from Wednesday’s close. Estee Lauder sold off nearly 19% Wednesday, after the company lowered its full-year earnings per share guidance to between $2.17 a share and $2.42, versus its previous guidance between $3.50 to $3.75 per share. EL 5D mountain EL 5-day chart “While the data points around China were negative during the quarter, we thought EL’s guidance (provided last quarter) already embedded this dynamic. We were clearly wrong,” wrote analyst Nik Mod. “While we gave management the benefit of the doubt on having a handle on the situation, there are simply too many headwinds and not enough visibility at this time for us to believe in the 2H growth story.” — Lisa Kailai Han, Michael Bloom 5:39 a.m. ET: Citi upgrades Clorox Clorox shares got an upgrade to buy from neutral at Citi, which also hiked its price target to $150 per share from $135 per share. The new target implies upside of 30% over the next 12 months. “We believe the worst of the negative impacts from the August cyberattack is largely behind,” wrote analyst Filippo Falorni wrote. “While the ultimate full recovery of market share and shelf space will take time, CLX is already working with retail partners to rebuild inventories and should be able to ship ahead of consumption in the balance of the year, above conservative FY24 guidance.” The company disclosed a cyberattack in August, noting it would lead to a material impact on its quarterly figures. It also led to production delays. “Ultimately, we view the cyberattack as one-time in nature and expect CLX to fully recover from it by the end of FY25,” Falorni wrote. — Fred Imbert, Michael Bloom 5:39 a.m. ET: Bernstein upgrades Chevron Bernstein analyst Bob Brackett upgraded the oil giant to outperform from market perform. He also raised his rating on the stock to outperform from market perform. “Permian clean up on aisle 5. Volumes sequentially down in 3Q but guided up in 4Q amidst a barrage of issues that veered toward mundane rather than impactful,” Brackett wrote. “We’re card carriers and as CVX communicates the value of HES growth to its value oriented shareholders, more will join.” “We see the HES acquisition as accessing the most valuable growth runway of any oily basin on earth for a modest premium,” he added. Chevron announced its deal to buy Hess in late October. Since then, shares are down more than 10%. CVX mountain 2023-10-23 CVX since Oct. 23 — Fred Imbert, Michael Bloom
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