Here are Friday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Raymond James initiates Astera Labs as outperform The firm said it sees a compelling entry point for the AI connectivity company. “As a leading supplier of high-speed connectivity solutions, ALAB is well-positioned to benefit from the GenAI megatrend. Exponential growth in compute intensity is creating bottlenecks between chips, boards, and racks, which is necessitating high-speed interconnects in which ALAB specializes.” Truist initiates Waystar as buy Truist said shares of the healthcare payment tech company are attractive. “We are initiating coverage of Waystar (WAY) with a Buy rating and a $45.” Barclays initiates Six Flags as overweight Barclays said the entertainment park has “significant” upside. “We initiate with an OW on FUN with a $41 PT for significant self-help driven upside against material share underperformance YTD.” Loop upgrades Chipotle to buy from hold Loop said the Mexican restaurant chain has “manageable tariff risk” and investors should buy the dip. “As discussed in our focus report on CMG published last month on 2-19-25, we believe there is the potential for at least 7.0-8.0% upside to the current consensus EPS estimate of $1.30 for 2025 in the event comparable sales continue to beat expectations over the course of the current year.” Canaccord upgrades Peloton to buy from hold After a change in analyst coverage, the firm upgraded the fitness company and said it has “high-margin recurring revenue stream.” ” Peloton is the clear leader in the connected fitness industry, which they invested in early on and built a 6M loyal member base that has a high-margin recurring revenue stream.” Citi downgrades T-Mobile to neutral from buy Citi said the stock is overvalued right now. “We believe TMUS is capturing a premium largely due to faster top-line service revenue growth guided at 5% for 2025, whereas the communications industry service revenue is only growing at ~1.5% and strategic products, wireless, and broadband services are each growing at ~4%.” Wells Fargo initiates Viper Energy as overweight Wells said the energy company has upside potential. “We believe VNOM offers investors exposure to a high-growth, oil-weighted, income investment, with strong downside protection. Potential catalysts include further dropdowns and acquisitions.” Mizuho reiterates Nvidia as outperform The firm lowered its price target on the stock to $168 per share from $175 due to slowing growth concerns. “For NVDA, no change to NVDA estimates and reiterate our Outperform, but lower PT to $168, 31.1x our F27E P/E, as we pull in our PT with multiple compression in the AI space overall due to fears of slowing growth…” UBS upgrades Nuvalent to buy from neutral UBS said the biotech company has “best in class” biotech therapies. “We upgrade NUVL to Buy and maintain $100 PT. NUVL has been beaten down since September 2024, driven largely by the tough biotech tape and macro environment.” Jefferies upgrades Revolve Group to buy from hold The firm said it came away from meetings with management feeling more constructive on the stock with a compelling entry point. ” RVLV is a digital platform that leverages influencers to engage in the sale of apparel, footwear, accessories, and beauty products from emerging, established, and owned brands.” Barclays upgrades RELX to overweight from equal weight Barclays said the British analytics company “looks incrementally attractive to us.” “We think RELX offers reliable growth in an environment where relative safe havens may be needed. KeyBanc upgrades Crowd Castle to overweight from sector weight Key upgraded the cellular tower infrastructure company and says the stock is posed to re-rate. “We are upgrading CCI to OW and are establishing a $120 PT. Wedbush reiterates Apple as outperform Wedbush said investors need to see through the “doom and gloom.” “In a nutshell, this is not the time to sell this tech stalwart as in our view the next stage of product and AI driven services growth is still ahead and speaks to our view Apple will make new time highs in 2025 despite the brutal sell-off to start the year.” Wells Fargo reiterates Tesla as underweight Wells said it see too many negative catalysts for Tesla particularly in Europe. “We’ve repeatedly flagged the weak core biz fundamental since our March ’24 downgrade. Shocking YTD EU sales have finally shifted focus to fundamentals. We see further risks to volumes, px & margins. We lower our EPS & px target & reiterate our UW.” Wells Fargo upgrades Check Point Software to overweight from equal weight The firm said the company’s new CEO could be a “game-changer.” “Mr. Nadav Zafrir took over as CEO of Check Point in December 2024, and while an executive change can be disruptive, we believe Mr. Zafrir can leverage his background to reinvigorate growth at Check Point by further penetrating the Fortune 500 enterprise market and also expanding the company’s product portfolio via M & A.” Baird upgrades American Express to neutral from underperform Baird said investors should buy the dip. “Persistent sell-off in the broader market makes it difficult for us to remain pessimistic on AXP’s high-quality franchise.” Bank of America initiates Penumbra as buy The medical device company has “profitable growth with upside,” the firm said on Friday. “We initiate coverage of Penumbra (PEN) with a Buy rating and $320 PO.” Argus upgrades Philip Morris to buy from hold Argus said it’s bullish on the company’s nicotine pouches. “We see revenue growth ahead driven by PM’s nicotine pouches as management is now better enabled to market this smoke-free product and is committing capital expenses.”
