CEO of Apple Tim Cook attends China Development Forum 2019 at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse on March 23, 2019 in Beijing, China.
Han Haiden | Visual China Group | Getty Images
Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Friday:
Nomura Instinet raised its price target on Apple to $180 from $175
Nomura raised its price target but said it had “low” expectations for Apple‘s upcoming iPhone cycle.
“Our F3Q work indicates a slow finish to the iPhone Xs cycle and steady App Store growth. We have low expectations for the impending iPhone cycle (and the one beyond) and do not expect Apple’s new services to add materially to earnings. The ecosystem and buyback program remain strong. We nudge our target to $180 on higher market multiples.”
KeyBanc initiated Zillow as ‘overweight’
KeyBanc said the online real estate brokerage has a “competitive advantage.”
“We are initiating coverage of Z at Overweight and recommend buying the shares. Zillow’s traffic should allow it to remain the leading marketplace for connecting home buyers/sellers with agents. Further, we believe its traffic, capital, and data provide competitive advantages that position Zillow to become the leading market maker for residential real estate in the U.S. We believe can drive substantial profit growth and ancillary opportunities over time. Our $66 price target is based on 9.0x 2020E EV/GP$. “
Barclays upgraded Philip Morris to ‘overweight’ from ‘equal weight’
Barclays upgraded the tobacco maker after its earnings report saying it was “back on offense.”
“Why upgrade after a 9% stock price move? In April 2018, PM was trading at 20x+ PE, as investors bought into an 8%+ ex-FX rev CAGR growth narrative, driven by IQOS. The narrative was severely derailed as IQOS stalled in Japan and PM repeatedly cut rev growth guidance. PM is now trading at 15x P/2020E EPS. In the meantime, S&P500 has scaled new highs, and staples have rallied hard as 10y bond yields collapsed. PM’s new FY19 ex-fx rev growth guidance of 6% is towards the higher end in staples. Similar rev growth stocks (KO, P&G) are trading at 23x P/2020E EPS. We believe it’s time to look at PM again. “
J.P. Morgan downgraded MSG Networks to ‘underweight’ from ‘neutral’
J.P. Morgan said it saw “worsening” video subscriber trends for the regional cable and television network.
“Ahead of FQ4 earnings, we are moving from a Neutral to Underweight rating on MSGN and lowering our price target to $19 from $23. We view the risk/reward for shares through year-end as skewed to the downside given worsening trends for legacy video subscribers, which could lead to lower consensus estimates and further multiple contraction. “
Credit Suisse initiated AMC Entertainment as ‘outperform’
Credit Suisse initiated AMC and said it saw box office growth in the next several quarters.
“Our bottom-up film forecast suggests industry box office growth for the next three quarters, which we believe should bolster investor sentiment as AMC‘s ticket prices begin to normalize. Risks to our thesis include the popularity, availability and timing of film content from the film studios; media consolidation; economic cyclicality, particularly given AMC’s current elevated 6x debt leverage; rising minimum wages, as its workforce is 90% part-time employees; and exchange rates in Europe (26% of revenue). “