Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Wednesday: Goldman Sachs upgrades XP to buy from neutral Goldman says it sees “operating leverage” for the Brazilian investment company. “We are upgrading XP to Buy from Neutral with a $23 price target, as we see the company well positioned to benefit from operating leverage, with possible upside risks if revenue growth accelerates further.” UBS reiterates Netflix as buy UBS raised its price target on the stock citing strong viewership trends. “We believe secular trends and competitive dynamics remain supportive of Netflix’s ability to drive stronger monetization and operating leverage. We remain Buy rated and are increasing our price target to $1,450 from $1,150 previously.” Needham downgrades Apple to hold from buy Needham downgraded the stock due to rising competition and valuation. “Fundamentals . We lower estimates based on threats to AAPL’s near-term revenue and EPS growth. Competition . Every Big Tech competitor wants to take AAPL’s 15%-30% platform tax. GenAI innovations open the door for new hardware form factors that threaten iOS devices.” You can read more on this call here . Goldman Sachs upgrades Yum! Brands to buy from neutral Goldman says the owner of brands like KFC is “best-in-class.” “We upgrade YUM to Buy from Neutral given 1) the company’s best-in-class unit growth trajectory and high franchise mix which builds relative resilience into the business, 2) improved digital integration across brands and at the enterprise level to improve operational efficiency and to drive top-line acceleration…” You can read more about this call here . Citi downgrades Constellation Energy to neutral from buy Citi downgraded Constellation Energy following its announcement of a deal with Meta on Tuesday. “We think hyperscalers are less likely to support any new generation if they can claim supporting the life extension of a plant is equivalent to new builds. This is positive for merchant gas prices but slightly negative for new builds.” Bank of America downgrades CrowdStrike to neutral from buy Bank of America says CrowdStrike has “limited valuation upside” following earnings on Tuesday. “We downgrade to Neutral from Buy, but adjust our PO from $420 to $470, to reflect recent sector multiple expansion.” UBS upgrades Snowflake to buy from neutral UBS says it’s getting “increasingly confident” in the stock. “While Snowflake shares are already +35% YTD, we conclude that it’s not too late to get more constructive and we upgrade Snowflake shares to a Buy from a Neutral.” You can read more about this move here . UBS initiates International Paper as buy UBS says the paper company is best positioned. “We initiate coverage of IP with a Buy rating and $60 price target (27% upside) as our top pick of the four paper packaging stocks.” Citi opens a positive catalyst watch on Western Digital Citi raised its price target on the stock to $62 per share from $56. “We open a Short-Term Upside View on WDC shares following our 6/2 meeting with STX indicating continued solid data center storage demand, steady pricing, and continued limited production on high utilization – which are supportive of pricing and margins for the overall HDD [hard disk drives] industry.” Bank of America initiates Centrus Energy as buy Bank of America says the nuclear stock is “well positioned in a growth market + solid balance sheet.” “We initiate coverage on Centrus Energy (LEU) with a Buy-rating and $160 per share price objective (PO), implying ~22% upside.” Bernstein initiates Spotify, Live Nation and DraftKings as outperform The firm initiates all three entertainment stocks and says they are well positioned. ” LYV is our top pick as we see upside to Ticketmaster volumes, sponsorship earnings, and concert margins. We expect SPOT to surprise on pricing and deliver a strong superfan product launch next year. We believe DKNG can leverage its lead in live betting toward strong handle growth.” BMO reiterates Alphabet as outperform BMO says Alphabet’s Made by Google event in August is a key catalyst for the stock. “Google Will Reportedly Host Made by Google on August 13th, Which Should Be A Catalyst — Google will likely announce updates to various AI integrations including Gemini Live and Circle to Search, which should serve as a catalyst as management continues to showcase its leadership position in AI tools Oppenheimer upgrades Dollar General to outperform from perform Oppenheimer upgraded Dollar General following earnings on Tuesday. “Based on our work, we are upgrading shares to Outperform from Perform and installing a $130 PT. We are now increasingly confident in management’s ability to drive a 2-3% comp on a sustained basis and make progress toward its 6-7% operating margin target in 2028/2029.” You can read more about this call here . Wedbush reiterates Nvidia as outperform Wedbush says Nvidia is a top idea for the “industrial revolution.” “We view Nvidia’s intermediate term growth profile as likely to parallel broader favorable consumption/investment trends in these industries, bolstered by ramping Blackwell projects and large private and sovereign AI investments.” Seaport reiterates Broadcom as buy Seaport says it’s bullish on the company’s new Tomahawk chip and that it’s sticking with stock heading into earnings on Thursday. “Broadcom launched its flagship networking chip Tomahawk 6. Broadcom has a very strong track record in networking. The new chip firmly positions the company as the leading contender against Nvidia for the AI compute market.” Barclays initiates Primo Brands as overweight Barclays says the water bottle company is compelling. “PRMB offers what has proven to be an increasingly rare combination within Staples of solid earnings visibility at a compelling valuation.” Morgan Stanley reiterates Tesla as overweight Morgan Stanley said in a note on Wednesday that Tesla has the chops to be a player in the drones space. “Manufacturing, material science, navigation/ autonomy, electric motor development, battery storage, supporting infrastructure and robotics… Tesla has a host of relevant skills to be a factor in the Low Altitude Economy from both a commercial and (potentially) non-commercial perspective.” JPMorgan reiterates Amazon as overweight The firm raised its price target on the stock to $240 per share from $225, ” AMZN is most diversified mega-cap across rev/profit & has numerous large growth opportunities.” JPMorgan reiterates Meta as overweight JPMorgan raised its price target on Meta to $735 from $675. “AI Ads & Product Innovation; Core Returns Support AI Investment Ramp.”
