Paramount, PayPal upgraded: Wall Street’s top analyst calls

Paramount upgrade, Nerdy downgrade, and Deere imitation among today's top calls on Wall Street

The most talked about and market moving research calls around Wall Street are now in one place. Here are today's research calls that investors need to know, as compiled by The Fly.

Top 5 Upgrades:

• Wells Fargo upgraded Paramount (PARA). The company is heading into the Skydance merger with a second half of 2025 close, which includes $15 per share offer for up to 50% of shares, which limits fundamental upside/downside, the analyst tells investors.
• Daiwa upgraded PayPal (PYPL)  Some of the company's initiatives are “quickly generating visible results,” such as improving profitability for Braintree, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
• Morgan Stanley upgraded General Dynamics (GD). The analyst sees General Dynamics “with a premier balance sheet and strong prospects for capital return upside.”
• Craig-Hallum upgraded Akamai (AKAM). Top line growth appears poised to bottom in Q3 and accelerate into the mid to upper single digits in FY25, says the analyst.
• Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded SoundHound (SOUN). The Amelia acquisition will add financial services and healthcare customer exposure to SoundHound, and while the company would have entered these markets, it likely would have taken them several years to do so, the analyst tells investors in a research note.

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Raymond James downgraded Nerdy (NRDY) without a price target. The company's Q2 results that were largely in-line with consensus, but with a significantly reduced outlook to growth and profitability, the analyst tells investors in a research note. JPMorgan also downgraded Nerdy without a price target.
• KeyBanc downgraded Eventbrite (EB) to Sector Weight from Overweight without a price target. The firm says its thesis on monetization and margin inflection has changed. Piper Sandler also downgraded Eventbrite.
• Morgan Stanley downgraded L3Harris Technologies (LHX). The analyst says the company's peers offer more inherent upside potential from supply chain improvement.
• JPMorgan downgraded Cars.com (CARS). The company's Q2 results and second half of 2024 guidance came in softer than estimates, with commentary around monthly average revenue per dealer and ancillary product adoption suggesting low visibility on a growth reacceleration, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
• Susquehanna downgraded Bumble (BMBL). The company is once again revamping its strategy and focus given challenges in its core Bumble App, the analyst says.
  

Top 5 Initiations:

• BMO Capital initiated coverage of Deere (DE). The firm is “cautiously optimistic” on agriculture equipment margins across the cycle, but says ongoing industry contraction “seems only in the middle innings.”
• Citi reinstated coverage of Liberty Global (LBTYA). Liberty's holding discount now leaves negative equity value for its holdings in operation companies, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
• KeyBanc initiated coverage of H&E Equipment (HEES) with a Sector Weight rating and no price target. The analyst is near-term cautious but long-term positive on the rental industry.
• JonesResearch initiated coverage of Wave Life Sciences (WVE). 
• Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage of Cintas (CTAS). The firm says consistent growth and high incremental returns on capital have driven Cintas' shares to rerate to their highest multiple of the past 20 years.

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Originally Posted August 9, 2024