Wall Street’s most consequential research calls landed Wednesday, spanning upgrades, downgrades, and fresh initiations across technology, energy, and consumer sectors.
Truist upgraded CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV) to Buy from Hold, setting a price target of $126, down slightly from $131, citing rising enterprise demand for compute as open models and sovereign AI gain traction.
The firm believes CoreWeave’s leadership position in the neocloud space is not fully reflected in its share price, which trades at a significant discount to peers despite the company’s competitive standing.
Baird separately initiated coverage of CoreWeave with an Outperform rating and a $100 price target, warning that current market concerns about supply-side capacity building underscore the importance of execution at a time when demand far outpaces supply.
Baird also initiated coverage of IBM (NYSE: IBM) with a Neutral rating and a $230 price target, acknowledging the company’s hybrid cloud AI strategy and software positioning while flagging that a recent negative pre-announcement puts software growth concerns and mainframe durability questions front and center.
The firm said those concerns are capping share-price upside near-term, even as it described its overall view of IBM’s operating model as positive.
Stifel upgraded DigitalOcean (NASDAQ: DOCN) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $160, up from $135, pointing to valuation as the primary driver after shares fell 30% from recent highs.
TD Cowen upgraded Genmab (NASDAQ: GMAB) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $43, up from $32, expressing confidence that Epkinly, rinatabart sesutecan, and petosemtamab will offset the company’s $3.6 billion Darzalex patent cliff.
On the downgrade side, Citizens cut Pegasystems (NASDAQ: PEGA) to Market Perform from Outperform after the company reported disappointing second-quarter results, saying “unprecedented changes in the AI market caused clients to delay their purchasing decisions.”
JPMorgan downgraded Crown Holdings (NYSE: CCK) to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $121, citing valuation concerns following the tailwind from World Cup-related volume benefits running its course.
Jefferies downgraded Amcor (NYSE: AMCR) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $44.92, noting that while Middle East-related cost concerns have eased, a sustained multiple re-rating relies on a positive volume inflection the firm views as “unlikely” given ongoing structural challenges.
Raymond James downgraded Roper Technologies (NASDAQ: ROP) to Market Perform from Strong Buy after assuming coverage, noting the company remains attractive but that valuation appears fair and near-term upside may depend on a recovery in merger and acquisition activity.
Bernstein initiated coverage of Affirm (NASDAQ: AFRM) with an Outperform rating and a $100 price target, forecasting a GMV compound annual growth rate of 28% from 2026 through 2029 and calling the current valuation “attractive.”
BTIG initiated coverage of Philip Morris (NYSE: PM) with a Buy rating and a $216 price target, citing the company’s successful transition to reduced-risk products and its resilient combustible business as key supports for its valuation.
Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage of Generac (NYSE: GNRC) with an Overweight rating and a $325 price target, expecting the ongoing data center build cycle to leave the company with a materially better earnings mix anchored by a high-margin residential franchise.
