US BROKER MOVES: BA upgraded at BNP Paribas; EBAY downgraded at Wells Fargo, CRCL downgraded at Morgan Stanley
Newsquawk Staff ·
UPGRADES
- Tri Continental (TCBI) Upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays; PT USD 100
- SEI Investments (SEI) Upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Wells Fargo; PT USD 73 (prev USD 82)
- Starbucks (SBUX) Upgraded to Hold from Sell at Melius
- Parsons (PSN) Upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies; PT USD 52 (prev USD 60)
- Proto Labs (PRLB) Upgraded to Buy from Hold at Needham; PT USD 87
- LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) Upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan; PT USD 80 (prev USD 75)
- Ingersoll Rand (IR) Upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel; PT USD 84 (prev USD 101)
- inTEST (INTT) Upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Northland; PT USD 15
- Corning (GLW) Upgraded to Buy from Hold at Truist Securities; PT USD 175 (prev USD 205)
- Eaton (ETN) Upgraded to Outperform from In Line at Evercore ISI; PT USD 502 (prev USD 453)
- Coursera (COUR) Upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs; PT USD 6.50 (prev USD 5.50)
- CareDx (CDNA) Upgraded to Buy from Hold at Craig-Hallum; PT USD 64 (prev USD 35)
- Ballard Power Systems (BLDP) Upgraded to Buy from Hold at HSBC; PT USD 3.60 (prev USD 4)
- Boeing (BA) Upgraded to Outperform from Underperform at BNP Paribas Exane
- Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY) Upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James; PT USD 420
DOWNGRADES
- John Wiley & Sons (WWW) Downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citi; PT USD 345
- Wingstop (WING) Downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Bernstein SocGen Group; PT USD 155
- NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) Downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS; PT USD 270 (prev USD 305)
- Lear (LEA) Downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at BNP Paribas Exane
- Laureate Education (LAUR) Downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan; PT USD 41
- Fair Isaac (FICO) Downgraded to Peerperform from Outperform at Wolfe Research
- First Interstate BancSystem (FIBK) Downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays; PT USD 37 (prev USD 38)
- eBay (EBAY) Downgraded to Equal Weight from Equal Weight at Wells Fargo; PT USD 92 (prev USD 105)
- Circle Internet Group (CRCL) Downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley; PT USD 38 (prev USD 106)
- Cigna Group (CI) Downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy at Raymond James; PT USD 320 (prev USD 350)
- Birkenstock (BIRK) Downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at William Blair
- Birkenstock (BIRK) Downgraded to Hold from Buy at Williams Trading; PT USD 44 (prev USD 46)
- Alignment Healthcare (ALHC) Downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy at Raymond James; PT USD 19 (prev USD 22)
INITIATIONS
- Williams-Sonoma (WSM) Initiated Buy at Loop Capital
- Sherwin-Williams (SHW) Initiated Buy at Guggenheim; PT USD 400
- Charles Schwab (SCHW) Initiated Buy at Compass Point; PT USD 135
- RH (RH) Initiated Underperform at BofA Securities; PT USD 156
- Rigetti Computing (RGTI) Initiated Outperform at Wedbush; PT USD 40
- Quantum Computing (QUBT) Initiated Neutral at Wedbush; PT USD 12
- D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) Initiated Outperform at Wedbush; PT USD 40
- Pyxis Oncology (PYXS) Initiated Overweight at Wells Fargo; PT USD 12
- Life Time Group Holdings (LTH) Initiated Buy at Goldman Sachs; PT USD 53
- IonQ (IONQ) Initiated Outperform at Wedbush; PT USD 75
- Amphenol (ENTG) Initiated Buy at Freedom Capital; PT USD 140
- Circle Internet Group (CRCL) Initiated Buy at TD Cowen; PT USD 82
- BRC Inc. (BRCC) Initiated Buy at Craig-Hallum; PT USD 1.75
- Best Buy (BBY) Initiated Underperform at BofA Securities; PT USD 80
- Atmus Filtration Technologies (ATMU) Initiated Equal Weight at Wells Fargo; PT USD 56
- Adial Pharmaceuticals (ADIL) Initiated Buy at Alliance Global Partners; PT USD 11
What it means
A routine daily broker roundup; the market-relevant content sits in the few calls that cut against consensus or carry large target resets rather than in the bulk of single-notch moves. The Circle Internet calls are the clearest example: a downgrade to underweight with a price target cut by well over half at one house against a fresh buy initiation at another is the kind of split that typically reflects disagreement over how to value a recently listed, crypto-adjacent name, and divergent coverage of that sort has historically kept volatility elevated until a Street range establishes itself. The Boeing upgrade to outperform from underperform is the other notable one, since two-notch reversals from large houses tend to matter more than initiation noise, and previous episodes of sell-side capitulation on the name have coincided with the worst of the delivery and production concerns being priced. Price target cuts paired with rating upgrades, as seen in several entries here, usually signal a reset of expectations rather than fresh conviction and tend to move the stock less than the headline rating change implies. Beyond the individual names, rounds of initiations in clustered themes, quantum computing here, have historically marked where sell-side attention is rotating rather than where fundamentals have changed. Follow-ons worth noting are whether the Boeing call draws peer upgrades and whether the Circle target range narrows.
- OpenAI trims valuation target to USD 1.25tln after previously pitching a higher price, according to FT
- OpenAI is raising up to USD 30bln in funding round at a USD 1.25tln valuation, led by UAE investors, according to CNBC, citing sources; OpenAI is negotiating a commercial deal that would secure more computing capacity from the UAE
- Bloom Energy (BE) Q3 2026 (USD): Adj. EPS 0.94 (exp. 0.69), Revenue 1.24bln (exp. 1.06bln)
- Western Digital (WDC) Q1 2027 (USD): Adj. EPS 4.64 (exp. 4.08), Revenue 4.38bln (exp. 4.14bln)
- Elon Musk makes USD 1bln investment in Skydance (SKYD), Semafor reports
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