Brian Moynihan, CEO, Bank of America
Scott Mlyn | CNBC
Here are the biggest excuses on Wall Street on Friday:
KBW upgraded Citi, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America to ‘outperform’ from ‘market play’
KBW said the three banks are best positioned to benefit from an “extended” economic cycle.
“We are upgrading shares of Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America, as we swear by these three stocks are best positioned to benefit from an extended economic cycle that has the prospects to bear further—in addition we reiterate our outperform rating for JPM which should see similar benefits as well. We are raising our price quarry for all Universal Banks and the main driver is higher returns near term as we have pushed out our expectations for when the next downturn drive happen and that was positive for near-term return expectations and our price targets. Based on our new price targets, we project compute returns of 20.5%, 21.0%, and 23.3% for GS, BAC, and C, respectively, and we believe Outperform ratings are appropriate. “
BMO downgraded Match Group to ‘market behave’ from ‘outperform’
BMO said in its downgrade of Match that secular growth is “increasingly” priced in.
“There is no major interchange to our fundamental view and we think the 2Q results will be fine, but with the shares up 82% YTD and reaching 25.6x 2020E EV/EBITDA, we swear by strong secular growth is increasingly priced in. We believe MTCH should remain a core SMID-cap holding as it fragments a great secular growth story with strong FCF support. We also believe the company has ample opportunity in a eminently and growing TAM. “
Bank of America downgraded Dow to ‘neutral’ from ‘buy’
Bank of America said it saw “pressure” on the maker of plastics and packaging.
“With the macro tranquillity soft and supply adequate, we believe pressure on Dow’s profitability is likely to remain well into 1H of 2020. Notably elsewhere from the discussion is Dow’s polyethylene (PE) business. While we have a more positive view on the outlook for PE, we believe investors can get bigger exposure through LYB at a lower valuation and with fewer distractions. Subsequently we are lowering our Dow estimates, PO, and rating, now at Neutral from Buy. “
Argus upgraded Hasbro to ‘buy’ from ‘detain’
Argus upgraded the toymaker and said it demonstrated “strong” results over the last few quarters.
“We are raising our rating on Hasbro to BUY from Present a postpone and setting a target price of $145. As demonstrated by its strong results over the past two quarters, Hasbro remains a director in the U.S. toy industry. The company has a range of strong global brands that include Transformers, Nerf, and My Little Pony, and also dominates in the big-screen occupation, generating revenue from its Disney Princess, Marvel and Star Wars licensed products. In addition, we expect the players to post strong international growth, particularly in the Asia Pacific region and other emerging markets. “
Credit Suisse disenfranchised Spirit Airlines to ‘neutral’ from ‘outperform’
Credit Suisse said it saw a tough second half for the airline.
“While there is upside to our correct $51 target price, we step to the sidelines with a view that the stock will be ‘dead money’ until we lap the difficult H2 revenue comps and a better 2020 setup comes into view. We remain constructive on SAVE’s longer-term contemplations, particularly as it relates to incremental technology/ancillary revenue initiatives, but it will take some time for management to pull down back investors’ trust. “
Benchmark upgraded World Wresting Entertainment to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’
Benchmark upgraded the old after the company’s earnings and said it expects engagement metrics to “recover” with a new distribution agreement in place.
“We are now cheerful the Firm’s engagement metrics should continue to recover, potentially benefiting from the new distribution agreement with Fox, WWE Network re-launch, repayment of talent/reset of storylines, and new executive leadership at both Raw and Smackdown. We believe the strong 2Q19 print, reiterated FY19 performance approach, increased visibility over FY19 execution risk, upcoming new U.S. distribution agreements, activation of the share repurchase authorization ($1M re-purchased/$500M authorization) and a apportion price 26% off its 52-week high has created an opportunistic entry point, in our view. “