analyst coverage on Friday unveiled a mix of upgrades, new initiates, and a notable downgrade across several key names.
TD Cowen upgraded Diageo to buy, citing a turning tide for the beverage firm and attractive entry points amid CEO‑led cost cuts and reinvestment expected to restore growth.
Stephens kicked off coverage of two companies: it rated James Hardie (overweight) with a $31 price target, highlighting its leadership in premium fiber‑cement siding and composite decking after the AZEK merger; and initiated Granite (overweight) with a $180 target, noting its strong position in construction services, civil contracting, aggregates and asphalt.
Mizuho reiterated Nvidia as outperform, emphasizing NVDA’s continued leadership in AI training and inference chips for data‑center applications.
Morgan Stanley kept Apple overweight, pointing to an earnings upside driven by a 15‑25% price boost across Mac and iPad lines, a strategy aimed at protecting margins despite record memory inflation. The firm believes ecosystem lock‑in and relatively inelastic demand could support revenue growth.
Goldman Sachs launched coverage of the gaming sector with buy ratings on Penn Gaming and Red Rock Resorts. Penn is seen at an inflection point, while Red Rock is positioned for a strong 2027 earnings story as disruption headwinds fade and recent projects begin to bear fruit.
KeyBanc downgraded Nike to sector weight from overweight, noting that the turnaround is taking longer than expected and revising FY27 estimates to reflect higher China/EMEA headwinds.
BMO upgraded American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) to outperform, maintaining a $39 target price and highlighting the company’s geographic diversity.
Piper Sandler raised Crocs to overweight from neutral, setting a $150 price target. The firm pointed to a mid‑single‑digit MSD inflection in Crocs North America DTC in 1Q26, green shoots at its Heydude label, upward‑biased EPS estimates and an inexpensive 8× PE valuation.
Citi initiated Belden as a buy, projecting a 10‑12% EPS CAGR as the electronics interconnect specialist shifts to a solutions‑based go‑to‑market strategy that is driving larger orders, deeper customer engagement and higher‑margin active products.
RBC upgraded American Tower to outperform from sector perform, citing superior organic revenue growth versus peers and favorable trends at its CoreSite subsidiary, which now carries a higher multiple.
Evercore ISI lifted Americold Realty Trust to outperform from in line, raising its price target to $18 and projecting total return potential above 25%.
Deutsche Bank reiterated Microsoft as a buy, arguing the cloud and AI businesses are underappreciated and constitute a sustainable commercial foundation.
Citi upgraded (ALGT) to buy from neutral, citing the ALGT/SNCY merger as one of the industry’s best deals and establishing elevated 2027/2028 EPS estimates.
Needham upgraded Barnes & Noble Education (BNED) to buy and set a $16 price target, praising a stable balance sheet and a multi‑lever strategy for profitable growth. The firm also initiated coverage of Nu Holdings (NU) with a buy rating and a $17 target, noting its neobank and digital‑lending focus in Brazil.
Piper Sandler initiated Connect Biopharma (CNTB) as overweight with a $7 price target. BTIG launched coverage of Robinhood (HOOD) as a buy, setting a $125 target.
JPMorgan upgraded H.B. Fuller to overweight from neutral, citing EBITDA growth driven by higher prices and favorable currency effects despite flat to lower volumes.
Wedbush initiated Infleqtion (INFQ) as outperform with a $20 target, calling it the only publicly traded pure‑play in the neutral‑atom stack across computing, sensing and software.
Morgan Stanley kept Tesla at equal weight but raised its 2Q delivery estimate to 413,000 units from 373,000, citing stronger regional sales trends.
RBC initiated coverage of Honeywell Aerospace (HONA) as outperform with a $300 target, pointing to solid top‑line growth.
Rothschild & Co/Redburn launched coverage of Mosaic with a buy rating and a $30 target, implying roughly 40% upside potential in the phosphate and fertilizer sector.
Baird initiated Faeth Therapeutics (FTH) as outperform with a $57 price target, noting a robust clinical pipeline.
Raymond James gave a strong buy rating to Primis Financial, describing it as a unique Virginia banking franchise anchored by a community‑bank core and complemented by national mortgage‑warehouse and healthcare‑banking platforms.
Jefferies upgraded FuelCell (FCEL) to buy from hold and lifted its price target to $24, citing a first contracted order for US data‑center power via Fit Energy and ongoing pipeline momentum.
Finally, Argus initiated coverage of SpaceX as a hold, stating that the shares are currently overvalued.
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