Alphabet upgraded, Arm downgraded: 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 5 Upgrades:

Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet (GOOGL) to Buy from Accumulate with a price target of $205, up from $195. Alphabet is still the dominant player in digital advertising and the market leader in artificial intelligence, the firm tells investors in a research note.
Wells Fargo upgraded Booz Allen (BAH) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $165, down from $168. The firm thinks issues driving the Q1 EBITDA shortfall are “temporary and mostly behind us,” and says the company should see accelerating top-line growth as late Q1 hire utilization kicks in and year-over-year comparisons ease.
RBC Capital upgraded Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT) to Outperform from Sector Perform with an unchanged price target of $182. The firm has increased conviction that once past the Q2 earnings report, the “significant near-term launch inflection” it models is increasingly likely.
Guggenheim upgraded Akamai Technologies (AKAM) to Buy from Neutral with a $128 price target. The firm believes Akamai is “finally set up to transform itself” from a content delivery network company to a platform.
Deutsche Bank upgraded 3M (MMM) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $150, up from $110. The firm is “very impressed” with CEO Bill Brown’s first interaction with the Street, saying “he shared a very well thought-out, detailed assessment of his key areas of focus.”

Top 5 Downgrades:

HSBC downgraded Arm (ARM) to Reduce from Hold with a price target of $105, up from $100. The firm sees short-term downside risk to Arm’s earnings from increasing Android smartphone uncertainty.
Raymond James downgraded Charter (CHTR) to Underperform from Market Perform without a price target. With management “unwilling to give deeper insight” into its strategy or economics, Raymond James’ analysis suggests Charter’s shares will underperform the group.
Barclays downgraded Bristol Myers (BMY) to Underweight from Equal Weight with an unchanged price target of $41. The stock has rallied 25% over the past 11 days supported by multiple drivers, but the company hasn’t address investors’ key focus, which is longer-term trough guidance, the firm said.
Deutsche Bank downgraded General Dynamics (GD) to Hold from Buy with an unchanged price target of $320. The firm says the target price offers 10% upside from current levels, which is closely aligned with historical equity market returns, and as such, it prefers a more substantial market beating return for Buy-rated stocks.
Piper Sandler downgraded Charles Schwab (SCHW) to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $64, down from $80. Schwab has announced that over the next several years it plans to lower balance sheet duration and reduce the size of its bank by relying more heavily on third party banking relationships, the firm tells investors in a research note.

Top 5 Initiations:

Lake Street initiated coverage of GigaCloud (GCT) with a Buy rating and $50 price target. GigaCloud’s platform connects manufacturers, primarily in Asia, with resellers, primarily in the U.S., and allows for a seamless transaction for large parcel items between sellers and buyers, notes the analyst, who thinks the business is more insulated from other e-commerce players given it is completely B2B and works directly with product suppliers.
KeyBanc initiated coverage of Simulations Plus (SLP) with an Overweight rating and $47 price target. The firm sees the company and the biosimulation industry in the early growth stages with less than 5% of an $8B total addressable market penetrated.
TD Cowen initiated coverage of Astria Therapeutics (ATXS) with a Buy rating and $35 price target. The firm cites the likelihood of STAR-0215 Phase III success and the company’s “significant potential” in hereditary angioedema prophylaxis for the Buy rating.
Laidlaw initiated coverage of Abivax (ABVX) with a Buy rating and $48 price target. The firm says obefazimod affords a unique mechanism of action which has demonstrated “robust” Phase IIb results in ulcerative colitis, and bodes well for a positive outcome of the ongoing Phase III study.
Roth MKM initiated coverage of Nuwellis (NUWE) with a Buy rating and $17 price target, citing projected future revenue from Aquadex and Vivian device consoles and consumable circuits in fluid overload.