This post was originally published on this site
Ethan Brown, founder and chief executive officer of Beyond Meat Inc., second right, looks at a monitor during the company’s initial public offering (IPO) at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York, U.S., on Thursday, May 2, 2019.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Tuesday:
J.P. Morgan upgraded Beyond Meat to ‘overweight’ from ‘neutral’
J.P. Morgan said it saw potential for Beyond Meat to acquire new customers following a secondary stock offering.
“We see three primary reasons for renewed optimism: (1) The potential to acquire new food service customers, (2) Continued strength in measured data, and (3) Valuation. We appreciate that the secondary offering spooked many investors; however, founder/CEO Ethan Brown trimmed only a tiny portion of his holdings, and we cannot blame anyone involved pre-IPO for locking in some gains.”
Read more about this call here.
Rosenblatt initiated PayPal as ‘buy’
Rosenblatt said in its initiation of PayPal that shares were at an enticing entry point.
“We like the complementary opportunity set on both the merchant and consumer sides of the business, with initiatives like moving upstream in the merchant ecosystem, monetizing Venmo, and significantly strengthening its international footprint as likely to re-accelerate growth in the coming years. Ultimately, with the shares trading at under 30x our 2020 EPS, we see current levels as an enticing entry point for long-term holders.”
BMO upgraded Pilgrim’s Pride to ‘outperform’
BMO said in its upgrade of the chicken producer that it had a unique chicken strategy.
“PPC‘s ongoing successful execution of its unique chicken strategy (e.g., Key Customer, portfolio mix) coupled with an improvement in underlying chicken fundamentals (e.g., promotions, African Swine Fever, beef plant fire) should create stronger earnings power in F2020 and F2021. “
Piper Jaffray upgraded AbbVie to ‘overweight’ from ‘neutral’
Piper upgraded biopharmaceutical AbbVie and said that although it was skeptical of its acquisition of Allergan, the firm liked the “immediate” earnings per share accretion.
“We haven’t been shy in expressing skepticism about the strategic rationale behind ABBV‘s acquisition of AGN (see prior note) and indeed we still aren’t exactly enthusiastic about the combination given AGN’s unique challenges (including product LOEs) that ABBV will inherit. That said, other aspects of the deal including the immediate EPS accretion (10% in year 1 and >20% at peak) and cost reductions caught our attention, and with ABBV shares trading at current levels we now think the risk/reward is skewed to the upside. “
Citi downgraded Hewlett Packard to ‘neutral’ from ‘buy’
Citi said in its downgrade of Hewlett Packard that it saw tailwinds in the commercial PC segment stemming from the Windows 10 refresh.
“As we look further out, we expect tailwinds in the commercial PC segment from Windows 10 refresh will temper as we move into CY2020. While employment trends remain strong, macro risks could also pressure commercial purchases in PCs and Print as we move into CY2020.”
Argus downgraded Las Vegas Sands to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’
Argus said in its downgrade of the casino and resort company that gaming revenue was weak in Macau.
“Looking ahead, we expect limited growth at LVS over the next 12 months as the U.S.-China trade war and a slowing Chinese economy have weakened the outlook for the Macau gaming industry. Reflecting the weaker outlook, gross gaming revenue in Macau fell 3.5% in July, well below the consensus call for a 2% gain. “
