Wednesday's analyst calls: Stifel gets bullish on Tesla, FedEx seen rallying 40%, Citi boosts Nvidia

Published Wed, Jun 26 20246:13 AM EDTUpdated Wed, Jun 26 20248:14 AM EDT

(This is CNBC Pro's live coverage of Tuesday's analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) Electric vehicle maker Tesla and sprawling food giant Campbell's Soup were getting analyst attention Wednesday, as was Federal Express following big news from the shipping giant. Stifel opened coverage on Tesla with a buy rating and an ambitious price target as it sees multiple growth opportunities for the company. Elsewhere, JPMorgan swung to an overweight rating on Campbell's Soup for the first time in about 15 years, while strong earnings and cost-cutting measures at FedEx drew praise from JPMorgan. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 8:12 a.m. Citi downgrades Sarepta Therapeutics Biotech stock Sarepta Therapeutics appears fairly priced after its recent rally, according to Citi. Analyst David Hoang downgraded Sarepta Therapeutics to neutral from buy. The analyst said the stock's now fully priced in expectations after the Food and Drug Administration approval and expansion of Elevidys, a treatment for progressive muscular weakness, caused a surge in shares. "After ~30% rally post-FDA approval and label expansion of Elevidys (inline with our base case here), we believe SRPT is now appropriately valued and downgrade shares to Neutral/HR," Hoang wrote on Wednesday. Sarepta shares are higher by more than 60% this year. The analyst's $176 price target, which was raised slightly from $172 previously, is about 11% above where shares closed Tuesday. The biotech stock eased 1.6% in premarket trading. — Sarah Min 8:05 a.m. DA Davidson upgrades Home Depot to buy There are several reasons to be bullish on Home Depo t, according to DA Davidson. The firm upgraded the home improvement stock to buy from hold on Wednesday and increased its price target to $395 per share. The new target implies nearly 17% upside from Tuesday's close. On the macroeconomic side, Home Depot should benefit from a lower interest rate environment, which historically correlates with stock performance for the home centers, analyst Michael Baker said in a note to clients. HD YTD mountain Home Depot this yar In addition, housing trends should turn more favorable in the next 12 months, he added. "From a company specific perspective, while sales remain on the softer side, we believe a return to positive comps is in sight as both industry and company trends bounce along the bottom. And, once again the margin gap versus [Lowe's] has once begun to widen," he wrote. Baker also sees share gain potential as Home Depot expands its market. The home improvement stock has underperformed this year, down 2.4% year to date. — Michelle Fox 8:01 a.m. Morgan Stanley cuts Accenture rating to equal weight Morgan Stanley downgraded its rating on tech firm Accenture to equal weight from overweight on valuation concerns. "We no longer see it as relatively attractive. Further, we see potential valuation compression from decelerating cloud growth (50% of rev), longer-than-expected time for Gen AI rev contribution, and more acquisition spend," the Wall Street firm said in a note. Shares of Accenture dipped more than 1% in premarket trading Wednesday. Morgan Stanley also slashed its 12-month price target to $300 from $382 previously. The new forecast indicates a 2% decline from Tuesday's close of $307.17. — Yun Li 7:29 a.m. Citi names CNH Industrial top machinery pick, says shares can rally more than 60% Despite a tough period, Citi crowned CNH Industrial as its top pick within U.S. machinery stocks and sees a major rebound on the horizon. In addition, analyst Kyle Menges said U.S. shares of the U.K.-based equipment maker earned a buy rating and $16 price target. Menges's target implies the stock can soar 61.5% from Tuesday's close. "It stands out as the only [agriculture original equipment manufacturer] we cover for which we expect EPS growth next year, driven by its sizable cost savings initiatives," Menges said. CNH Industrial shares traded nearly 1% higher before the bell on Wednesday. But the stock has dropped more than 18% so far in 2024, putting it on track for its third straight negative year. For the machinery sector as a whole, Menges said his outlook fell between neutral and positive. He also held buy ratings on Oshkosh, Caterpillar, United Rentals and Cummins. The analyst was neutral on Agco, Terex, Paccar, Deere and Allison Transmission. — Alex Harring 7:07 a.m. Rosenblatt says to buy Apple, citing AI privacy work Apple's focus on privacy within artificial intelligence offers can be good news for investors, according to Rosenblatt. Analyst Barton Crockett upgraded the mega-cap technology stock to buy from neutral, specifically citing the company's privacy-focused AI work. Crockett also increased his price target by $64 to $260, which now suggests shares can rally 24.4% from Tuesday's closing price. AAPL YTD line Apple in 2024 "Strong privacy is by far the top feature consumers want in AI, based on our recent US survey, arguing for market share lift potential for Apple in AI," he wrote to clients Wednesday. That's "based on the unique privacy focus of Apple Intelligence, to date unmatched by Android." Apple's AI work, which was widely shared earlier this month at the tech firm's developer conference, should insulate it from cost pressures at hyperscalers like Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft, Crockett said. "We see this tipping AI risk/reward in favor of Apple," he said. Apple shares added nearly 1% before the bell on Wednesday. The stock has underperformed the broader market this year with an advance of less than 9%. — Alex Harring 6:54 a.m. Nvidia can continue climbing higher, Citi says Citi sees more room for high-flying Nvidia shares to run. Analyst Atif Malik hiked his price target on the artificial intelligence favorite by $24 to $150, implying about 19% upside over Tuesday's close. Malik maintained his buy rating on the chipmaker. The new price target stems from raised earnings per share expectations in 2025 and 2026 tied to the build plan for the GB200, also known as the Blackwell chip. Beyond this, Malik said enterprise AI agents should drive the next wave of demand for the technology, which has captured the imagination and dollars of Wall Street over the past several months. "Fundamentally, we believe AI adoption remains in the 3rd/4th innings," he said in a Wednesday note to clients. Nvidia shares advanced more than 2% in Wednesday premarket trading. The stock has already soared more than 150% in 2024, building on last year's monster rally of more than 230% amid the excitement around AI. — Alex Harring 6:41 a.m. Wolfe says Robinhood can rally another 31% Robinhood should be able to build on an already strong year, according to Wolfe Research. Analyst Steven Chubak upgraded the investment platform to outperform from peer perform. Chubak's $29 price target implies approximately 31% in upside from Tuesday's close. "We are growing more constructive on HOOD," Chubak told clients following a meeting with CFO Jason Warnick. The title of his note calls the company "More Batman Than Robin." Chubak said the firm sees 30% or more growth in GAAP earnings per share. That's supported by growth of 20% or more on net deposits and 5% or more in accounts. Sizable operating leverage and strong free cash flow also help, the analyst added. HOOD YTD line Robinhood shares surge His GAAP earnings per share estimate for 2026 is approximately 70% above the consensus forecast on Wall Street. With this in mind, he said the average estimates on the Street are "much too low." Chubak also said Robinhood has had strong fundamentals underpinning the stock's eye-popping jump of more than 73% this year. Shares added almost 3% in Wednesday's premarket trading following the upgrade. However, the analyst noted that the upgrade was not related to the activity of meme stock champion Keith Gill, better known as "Roaring Kitty." "Recent share spikes (and declines) linked to meme / crypto optimism are simply noise and have no bearing on our positive view," Chubak wrote. — Alex Harring 6:22 a.m. Buy beat-down U.S. Steel shares, BMO Capital Markets says U.S. Steel offers attractive valuation to investors right now, regardless of if it gets acquired, according to BMO Capital Markets. Analyst Katja Jancic upgraded the steel maker to outperform from market perform and upped her price target by $2 to $45. Jancic's new target suggests shares can surge 27.8% over the next year from Tuesday's close. The analyst sees obstacles for the current acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan-based Nippon Steel. Despite that doubt, she said the stock is attractive given its relative valuation and the potential for improved profitability and free cash flow generation through investments. Notably, Jancic said U.S. Steel currently trades at 5.1 times 2025 EBITDA and 4.2 times the same measure for 2026. By comparison, U.S. Steel's peers trade at around 7.5 times for 2025 and 7 times for 2026. "The Nippon/ US Steel transaction remains in limbo," Jancic told clients in a Tuesday note. Regardless, "X shares are fundamentally undervalued." U.S. Steel shares advanced about 2% before the bell on Wednesday. But the stock has plunged more than 27% in 2024, bucking the broader market's rise. — Alex Harring 6:01 a.m. FedEx can rally 40% amid strategic freight initiatives, JPMorgan says JPMorgan moved off the sidelines on FedEx coming off earnings with a potential transformation of its freight business underway. Analyst Brian Ossenbeck upgraded shares of the delivery company's stock to overweight from neutral and hiked his price target by $63 to $359. Ossenbeck's fresh target implies about 40% upside over Tuesday's closing level. FedEx on Tuesday posted $5.41 in adjusted earnings per share and $22.11 billion in revenue for the fourth fiscal quarter. That topped respective expectations of $5.35 a share and $22.07 billion from analysts surveyed by LSEG, sending shares higher by almost 14% in Wednesday's premarket trading. More interesting for Ossenbeck than those numbers is a fuel surcharge amid strategic initiatives underway for the freight business. A potential spin-off of the business also still appears on the table, he noted. "We expect some pushback that the FY25 revenue guide is too aggressive or macro dependent," Ossenbeck said. "But we think that overlooks the changes to the recent fuel surcharge tables that we highlighted in our F4Q24 Preview, which will flip to a tailwind in FY25 from a headwind in FY24." "This strategic announcement adds an idiosyncratic angle that is hard to ignore and should support the stock for the next six months while the review is underway," he added. Heading into earnings, FedEx shares underperformed the market with a rise of just over 1% in 2024. — Alex Harring 5:42 a.m. JPMorgan moves to overweight on Campbell Soup for the first time since 2009 JPMorgan turned bullish on Campbell Soup on Wednesday for the first time in about a decade and a half. Analyst Ken Goldman upgraded shares of the food maker to overweight from neutral, a rating the bank hasn't had on the stock since 2009. Goldman also hiked his price target by $7 to $52, now reflecting upside potential of 17.7% over Tuesday's close. The analyst said demand for Rao's and some other Sovos products is "excellent" and could be better than expected. On top of that, he said there could be improved synergies on the Sovos brand, which Campbell acquired earlier this year. Goldman also pointed to the company's long-term margin potential as a reason for optimism, given that it could be bigger than Wall Street expects. He said the company should at least be able to meet its long-term earnings per share growth algorithm of 6% to 8% over the next few years. CPB YTD line Campbell Soup performance in 2024 "We believe that the combination of Rao's strong growth, potentially higher deal-related accretion down the road than expected, and a self-help margin improvement story should give investors relatively high confidence that CPB can grow its bottom line as planned over the next few years," he told clients in a Wednesday note. "This is better than what other food companies might show with their earnings growth, we suspect." Goldman's call comes amid a period of underperformance for Campbell Soup. Shares have added just over 2% this year, while the broader S & P 500 has climbed more than 14%. — Alex Harring 5:24 a.m. Stifel says struggling Tesla shares are worth buying and can surge more than 40% Stifel opened coverage on Tesla in the bull camp and foresees a rebound ahead. Analyst Stephen Gengaro initiated the electric vehicle maker at a buy rating with a $265 price target. Gengaro's target implies 41.4% upside from Tuesday's closing level. "We believe TSLA is very well positioned to deliver robust multi-year growth in 2025-27+," he wrote to clients in a Tuesday note. A revamp to Model 3 and Model Y cars should boost sales in the near term, the analyst said. Then, he said the start of production on its next-generation vehicle called the Model 2 should aid demand. Tesla's full-self driving initiative can also bring value through sales, licensing and the potential RoboTaxi opportunities, Gengaro said. To be sure, he cited lackluster first-quarter earnings, challenges with broader electric vehicle adoption and the U.S. election as potential risks to performance in the near term. Gengaro's call suggests shares can see a big bounce after a tough year. The stock has dropped more than 24% so far in 2024, meaning it has sat out of the broader market's ascent. — Alex Harring