Here are Friday's biggest analyst calls: Nvidia, Apple, Instacart, Peloton, Monster, Block, SharkNinja, Legal Zoom & more
Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Friday: Morgan Stanley upgrades Novartis to equal weight from underweight Morgan Stanley said in its upgrade of Novartis that growth is improving at the biopharma company. “Valuation remains demanding for the growth profile, but growth quality is higher and we see room for upside (commercial execution and pipeline).” Goldman Sachs upgrades Diageo to neutral from sell Goldman said upgraded the beverage company on valuation. The firm says it sees limited downside for Diageo. “We see limited downside risk in FY26, as new management steps-up cost saving to support best-in-class margins and stabilise earnings, albeit visibility remains low and the outlook is based on a 2H recovery.” Barclays downgrades Crocs to equal weight from overweight Barclays downgraded the shoe company and says fundamentals are worsening. “We are downgrading shares of CROX to Equal Weight based on: 1) ongoing macro uncertainty that is depressing the forward order book, 2) a shift to athletic footwear purchasing behavior in the US consumer base…” Jefferies initiates James Hardie as buy Jefferies says the cement manufacturer is poised for a re-rating. ” JHX is a rare secular growth story, driven by material conversion, with leading mkt positions in well-structured industries that allow it to outgrow the mkt consistently & take price.” Bernstein reiterates Nvidia as outperform Bernstein says it’s sticking with Nvidia shares. “The datacenter opportunity is enormous, and still early, with material upside still possible.” Piper Sandler upgrades Monster Beverage to overweight from neutral Piper says growth is improving for Monster. “We have been overly careful to ensure that the energy category’s inexplicable 2024 funk was in the rear-view and that MNST’s better momentum could return, but it now looks like it is clearly in hand.” Piper Sandler upgrades GoDaddy to overweight from neutral Piper says shares of website domain company are oversold. “We are upgrading GDDY to Overweight with a $182 PT as we believe shares have entered oversold territory. GoDaddy.” Goldman Sachs upgrades Peloton to buy from neutral Goldman says Peloton’s earnings report on Thursday proves that a turnaround is underway. “Mgmt Frames Path Forward; Platform to Capitalize on Health/Fitness Initiatives; Upgrade to Buy.” Read more. Truist upgrades Gilead Sciences to buy from hold Truist upgraded the biotech company following earnings and says it likes its HIV segment. ” GILD beat 2Q25 expectations for sales and EPS, driven by the HIV segment.” Melius reiterates Apple as buy Melius raised its price target on Apple shares and says it’s sticking with the stock. ‘Target Increases to $260 from $240, Reflecting ~28x our FY27 Estimate. The 2.4B+ installed base and its high customer satisfaction are both intact at Apple.” Deutsche Bank upgrades e.l.f. Beauty to buy from hold Deutsche said in its upgrade of the beauty stock that “opportunity knocks.” “Heading into yesterday, on the back of FY1Q26 results, we said that despite many moving parts, we did not think a significant downward move in ELF’s stock was warranted. However, on Thursday, ELF’s stock declined -9.5% leaving the stock below $100 and presenting in our view an attractive entry point with compelling 20%+ potential upside.” Goldman Sachs reiterates Live Nation as buy Goldman says it’s sticking with the entertainment concerting and ticket company following earnings. “We reiterate our Buy rating on shares of Live Nation and increase our Price Target to $168 ($162 prior) following 2Q25 results that featured better than expected performance in Concerts, and ~in-line Sponsorships & Ticketing.” Deutsche Bank initiates Bowhead as buy Deutsche says shares of the insurance company have more room to run. “Given the uncertainty around the future path of interest rates, we prefer companies like Bowhead that haven’t yet optimized their investment income.” Bank of America downgrades Trade Desk to underperform from buy Bank of America double downgraded the software ad company following earnings. :”While we continue to believe TTD can be a double-digit topline grower, we believe it is challenging to justify the premium multiple it has historically received. As a result, when comparing to more traditional ad-tech peers, we see potential downside to current levels and downgrade to Underperform. Our new $55 PO (vs $130 prior) is based on 20x our lower CY26E adj. EBITDA.” Bank of America upgrades Legal Zoom to buy from underperform The firm says the online legal company is well positioned for AI. “We upgrade LZ from Underperform to Buy as mgmt. has executed a substantial portion of the shift toward Subscriptions, while also adding strategic AI collaborations.” Read more. Goldman Sachs upgrades Cushman & Wakefield to buy from sell Goldman double upgraded the commercial real estate company and says it sees tailwinds in international. “We are updating our CWK estimates following strong 2Q25 results (where management meaningfully raised guidance), and following our analysis deconstructing CWK’s EMEA margin gains.” Benchmark upgrades Instacart to buy from hold Benchmark upgraded the stock following earnings on Thursday. “And it appears sustainable as CART continues to benefit from competitive pressures facing regional/smaller grocers that need its platform to compete with mass merchants and online pure plays like Walmart and Amazon Fresh, respectively.” Deutsche Bank reiterates Block as buy Deutsche says growth is accelerating following earnings on Thursday. ” XYZ cleared the high bar investors had set heading into 2Q25 earnings, delivering a strong beat and raise driven by material outperformance in Cash App and an acceleration at Square.” Morgan Stanley reiterates Pinterest as overweight Morgan Stanley lowered its price target to $41 per share from $45 following earnings but says it’s sticking with the stock. “For PINS, faster growth likely needed to durably rerate stock, lower PT to $41, remain OW.” Bank of America reiterates SharkNinja as buy The firm says sales trends are accelerating following the home products company’s earnings report on Thursday. ” SN reported 2Q25 adjusted EPS of $0.98 (vs. our $0.82) as sales increased 15.7% y/y with upside led by Food Prep appliances (+53.0% vs. our 20.0% est.) driven by strong sales of SLUSHi and ice cream makers.”
