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(This is CNBC Pro’s live coverage of Wednesday’s analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 15-20 minutes to view the latest post.) A slew of analyst moves are out Thursday morning, including an upgrade to a major energy company. Bernstein raised its rating on Chevron to outperform from market perform. The firm cited optimism around production picking up in the Permian basin during the fourth quarter. Clorox also got an upgrade from Citi . Estee Lauder wasn’t as fortunate, however. RBC Capital Markets downgraded the stock to sector perform from outperform and slashed its price target after the company cut its quarterly guidance. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. 6:09 a.m. ET: Stifel upgrades Generac to buy, sees 40% upside ahead Stifel sees a rosy growth outlook ahead for Generac. The firm upgraded shares of the power generation products manufacturer to buy from hold. Analyst Stephen Gengaro’s price target of $135, up from $130, implies a more than 40% potential upside. Shares of Generac are down 4.5% this year. GNRC YTD mountain GNRC YTD Gengaro cited a slew of catalysts for the upgrade. “After being on standby since assuming coverage about a year ago, we believe the risk/reward in the shares is favorable,” he wrote. “Positives include: 1) a normalization of home standby generator field inventory levels; 2) roughly $300 million of HSB sales growth in 2024 simply due to under-shipping demand in 2023; 3) solid underlying growth in the HSB business supported by rising grid instability; and 4) valuation.” — Lisa Kailai Han, Michael Bloom 5:39 a.m. ET: RBC downgrades Estee Lauder, cites low visibility from management There might still be troubled times ahead for Estee Lauder , according to RBC Capital Markets. The bank downgraded shares of the cosmetics company to sector perform from outperform and lowered its price target to $115 from $195. This still implies a potential upside of 10% from Wednesday’s close. Estee Lauder sold off nearly 19% Wednesday, after the company lowered its full-year earnings per share guidance to between $2.17 a share and $2.42, versus its previous guidance between $3.50 to $3.75 per share. EL 5D mountain EL 5-day chart “While the data points around China were negative during the quarter, we thought EL’s guidance (provided last quarter) already embedded this dynamic. We were clearly wrong,” wrote analyst Nik Mod. “While we gave management the benefit of the doubt on having a handle on the situation, there are simply too many headwinds and not enough visibility at this time for us to believe in the 2H growth story.” — Lisa Kailai Han, Michael Bloom 5:39 a.m. ET: Citi upgrades Clorox Clorox shares got an upgrade to buy from neutral at Citi, which also hiked its price target to $150 per share from $135 per share. The new target implies upside of 30% over the next 12 months. “We believe the worst of the negative impacts from the August cyberattack is largely behind,” wrote analyst Filippo Falorni wrote. “While the ultimate full recovery of market share and shelf space will take time, CLX is already working with retail partners to rebuild inventories and should be able to ship ahead of consumption in the balance of the year, above conservative FY24 guidance.” The company disclosed a cyberattack in August, noting it would lead to a material impact on its quarterly figures. It also led to production delays. “Ultimately, we view the cyberattack as one-time in nature and expect CLX to fully recover from it by the end of FY25,” Falorni wrote. — Fred Imbert, Michael Bloom 5:39 a.m. ET: Bernstein upgrades Chevron Bernstein analyst Bob Brackett upgraded the oil giant to outperform from market perform. He also raised his rating on the stock to outperform from market perform. “Permian clean up on aisle 5. Volumes sequentially down in 3Q but guided up in 4Q amidst a barrage of issues that veered toward mundane rather than impactful,” Brackett wrote. “We’re card carriers and as CVX communicates the value of HES growth to its value oriented shareholders, more will join.” “We see the HES acquisition as accessing the most valuable growth runway of any oily basin on earth for a modest premium,” he added. Chevron announced its deal to buy Hess in late October. Since then, shares are down more than 10%. CVX mountain 2023-10-23 CVX since Oct. 23 — Fred Imbert, Michael Bloom
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