Buy/Sell: Wall Street’s top 10 stock calls this week

What has Wall Street been buzzing about this week? Here are the top 5 Buy calls and the top 5 Sell calls made by Wall Street’s best analysts during the week of January 9-13.
 
Top 5 Buy calls:

Netflix (NFLX) – Jefferies upgrades the stock to Buy, raises target to $385

On January 12, Jefferies analyst Andrew Uerkwitz upgraded Netflix to Buy from Hold with a price target of $385, up from $310. The analyst says that with a potential recession looming, he’s looking for safety and media names that have "downside de-risked." Advertising-based video on demand will be slow to kick in for Netflix, but when it does it should drive sales outperformance, Uerkwitz tells investors in a research note. The "bigger kicker" will be 2024 operating margin upside surprises on flattish content amortization and better revenue growth, the analyst adds.

Oracle (ORCL) – Mizuho starts with a Buy as Piper Sandler upgrades shares to Overweight

On January 10, Mizuho analyst Siti Panigrahi initiated coverage of Oracle with a Buy rating and $116 price target. Oracle’s "broad" portfolio of infrastructure and application products has matured, prompting the company to transition to the cloud to reaccelerate its growth profile, Panigrahi tells investors in a research note. The analyst believes investors may be underestimating the company’s potential over the medium-term to generate "solid" sales and cash flow growth, and exceed its fiscal 2026 targets.

On January 9, Piper Sandler analyst Brent Bracelin also upgraded Oracle to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $104, up from $85. The company’s "model diversification narrative is just beginning" with only 11% of its 430,000 customer base adopting Oracle Cloud, Bracelin tells investors in a research note. The analyst sees room for both earnings and multiple expansion as Oracle’s acceleration to double-digit earnings growth materializes.

Uber (UBER) – Piper Sandler upgrades Uber to Overweight, lifts target to $33

On January 9, Piper Sandler analyst Alexander Potter upgraded Uber Technologies to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $33, up from $31. The analyst recommends pairing Uber against DoorDash, which he downgraded from Neutral to Underweight. Vehicle prices are near all-time highs, and a quick reversion to historical pricing seems unlikely, Potter tells investors in a research note. As a result, he thinks "cash-strapped" consumers will increasingly opt to hail rides instead of trying to replace old cars.
Meanwhile, Jefferies analyst John Colantuoni assumed coverage of Uber with a Buy rating and $38 price target. Colantuoni estimates Uber’s core Rideshare/Restaurant Delivery businesses each operate in $1T addressable markets, which implies just about 5% penetration and a long runway for growth, and thinks Uber’s dominant scale and network effect support greater reinvestment into customer experience/adoption, which should spur frequency/stickiness and grow market share over time, the analyst tells investors in a research note.

Zillow (Z) – Bank of America upgrades stock to Buy, raises target to $42

On January 9, BofA analyst Curtis Nagle upgraded Zillow to Buy from Underperform with a price target of $42, up from $22. Nagle believes the real estate market may trough in early 2023 even though fundamentals still remain challenged and is more confident that growth can return to double digits in 2024 on improving affordability. Zillow’s initiatives, including ShowTime, 3D virtual tours, and increased focus on financing to identify high intent home buyers could lead to higher revenue and conversions, the analyst contends.

AT&T (T) – Wells Fargo upgrades stock to Overweight, ups target to $22

On January 10, Wells Fargo analyst Eric Luebchow upgraded AT&T to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $22, up from $17. The analyst views the U.S. telecom sector as a relatively defensive play for 2023, saying wireless subscriber growth should remain above historical levels, fiber-to-the-home construction should still grow and fixed wireless should continue taking share. However, he recommends investors be selective given the current inflationary backdrop. Luebchow named AT&T raised his top wireless pick for 2023 on upside potential to consensus estimates, its better balance sheet and attractive valuation.

Top 5 Sell calls:

Roku (ROKU) – Jefferies downgrades to Underperform, cuts target to $30

On January 12, Jefferies analyst Andrew Uerkwitz downgraded Roku (ROKU) to Underperform from Hold with a price target of $30, down from $45. A "significantly slower" digital advertising market is not reflected in near-term consensus expectations for Roku while the long-term trajectory of the business "remains unclear," Uerkwitz tells investors in a research note. The analyst expects Netflix and Disney+ (DIS) to capture the majority of incremental connected TV ad spend in 2023 and 2024. Excluding the two new entrants, the industry is growing low single digits, Uerkwitz adds.

DoorDash (DASH)– Piper downgrades to Underweight as Jefferies starts shares with an Underperform

On January 9, Piper Sandler analyst Alexander Potter downgraded DoorDash to Underweight from Neutral with a price target of $40, down from $227. The analyst recommends pairing a long position in Uber against DoorDash. Vehicle prices are near all-time highs, and a quick reversion to historical pricing seems unlikely, Potter tells investors in a research note. As a result, he thinks "cash-strapped" consumers will increasingly opt to hail rides instead of trying to replace old cars. While a beneficiary of increasing labor supply, DoorDash does not benefit from growing demand for ride-hailing, the analyst says. He thinks DoorDash "will face more recessionary pressure on revenue."

Meanwhile, Jefferies analyst John Colantuoni initiated coverage of DoorDash with an Underperform rating and $37 price target. Colantuoni estimates DoorDash’s market share in U.S. Restaurant Delivery increased from 18% in 2018 to 56% in 2022, but expects share gains to slow given past gains came from players that are now much smaller, the analyst tells investors in a research note. He also expects the overall category to experience more modest growth following a pull forward in adoption during the pandemic and less contribution from excess food inflation.

Salesforce (CRM) – Bernstein downgrades Salesforce to Underperform while Atlantic goes to Neutral 

On January 11, Bernstein analyst Mark Moerdler downgraded Salesforce to Underperform from Market Perform with a price target of $119, down from $134. The analyst notes that Salesforce has been a controversial name for the last year as growth slowed and the company started to focus on margin. Management guided to hit $50B in revenue and PF operating margins of 25%-plus for 2026. But pressure has increased for larger margin improvements, while growth has continued to slow and the company has missed expectations, Moerdler adds. Comparing the valuation of Salesforce against peers the analyst finds that Salesforce is overpriced, as it has a similar growth rate to peers but lower margins and lower quality earnings. With a lot more pain ahead for Salesforce and numerous catalysts that may drive a lower multiple, he drops his rating to Underperform.

On January 13, Atlantic Equities analyst Peter Sazel downgraded Salesforce to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $140, down from $200. The analyst cites execution concerns, the company’s C-suite management "exodus" and risk of slower than expected revenue growth for the downgrade. Recent departures could start hurting Salesforce’s ability to win new deals going forward, Sazel tells investors in a research note. In addition, the analyst believes increased risk of a revenue slowdown is also reflected in the company’s decision not to provide fiscal 2024 revenue or EBIT margin guidance.

Coinbase (COIN) – BofA downgrades the stock to Underperform on below-Street 2023 view

On January 11, BofA analyst Jason Kupferberg downgraded Coinbase to Underperform from Neutral with a price target of $35, down from $50, noting that his 2023 revenue estimates are now "even further below" the Street view after analyzing Q4 crypto transaction volume data. He thinks it will be hard for the shares to tolerate a significant downward revision to consensus estimates given the volatile crypto environment.

Paycom (PAYC) – MoffettNathanson starts coverage with an Underperform, $310 price target

On January 9, MoffettNathanson analyst Jackson Ader initiated coverage of Paycom with an Underperform rating and $310 price target. On the Human Capital Management, or HCM space broadly, Ader argues that strength in 2022 may "portend later cycle impact in 2023" after the group "held up remarkably well relative to the rest of software in 2022 from both a trading and a fundamental perspective." On specific names, Ader argues that "at the poles," current multiples imply "too much optimism" for Paycom and "too much pain" for Workday (WDAY), which he started with an Outperform rating.