(This is CNBC Pro’s live coverage of Thursday’s analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) A pharmacy operator and an industrial stock were among the stocks being talked by analysts on Thursday. Barclays upgraded CVS to overweight from equal weight, calling for 24% upside. Meanwhile, JPMorgan lowered its rating on Honeywell International to neutral from overweight. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 6:24 a.m.: Bernstein downgrades PayPal, cites recent outperformance It’s time to rein in the enthusiasm for PayPal , according to Bernstein. Analyst Harshita Rawat downgraded the payments platform stock to market perform from outperform. However, she accompanied the move by lifting her price target to $80 from $75. Shares of PayPal are up 33% this year and closed at $81.65 on Wednesday. Rawat’s updated forecast sees the stock slipping 2% after its recent outperformance. “The stock path appears to be more uncertain from these levels due to the push/pull dynamics around intense competitive pressures on the cash-cow button on one hand, and tailwinds from buybacks/opex cuts and incrementalism (around monetization initiatives) on the other hand,” she wrote. Meanwhile, Venmo could lose momentum in the peer-to-peer payments vertical, with Cash App and Zelle on the rise. And while investors are enthusiastic around Fastlane, PayPal’s checkout solution for businesses, Rawat noted that its development will take multiple years to execute. The analyst added that lower rates could impair PayPal’s gross profit and earnings growth in the coming year. — Lisa Kailai Han 6:07 a.m.: RBC upgrades Medtronic on the back of ‘renewed sense of confidence’ It’s time to move off the sidelines when it comes to Medtronic , according to RBC Capital Markets. The bank upgraded shares of the medical technology stock to an outperform rating from sector perform and raised its price target to $105 from $98. This new forecast is 19% higher than where Medtronic stock closed on Wednesday. Shares of Medtronic have risen 7% in 2024. Analyst Shagun Singh noted the stock trades at a discount to peer, which he thinks longer makes sense given its recent improvements. “We have a renewed sense of confidence in the business fundamentals, and management’s ability to execute, which was lacking in the past,” the analyst said. “MDT is trading at the deepest discount to the S & P 500 at 6x versus 10-year historic average of 1x. We believe this is no longer justified and expect a re-rating in the stock as catalysts take hold e.g. margin expansion/EPS growth and product catalysts.” Singh added that Medtronic believes analysts have underappreciated most of its catalysts, including various product offerings and technologies. With this in mind, the analyst said that he was even more confident that Medtronic would execute on its three key themes for fiscal year 2025. These goals include delivering continued mid-single-digit growth at the top line, investing in high-priority growth and areas and restoring the company’s earnings power. — Lisa Kailai Han 5:50 a.m.: Barclays upgrades CVS, sees 24% upside Barclays sees significant upside ahead for shares of CVS . The bank upgraded the pharmaceutical stock to overweight from equal weight. Analyst Andrew Mok accompanied the rating change by lifting his price target to $82 from $63. CVS has slipped 16% this year, but Mok’s target implies that shares could rally a 24% from Wednesday’s close. CVS YTD mountain CVS year to date The analyst thinks that a “compelling margin recovery opportunity” exists for the stock due to a few catalysts, including early signs of a Medicare margin recovery. “CVS went three-for-three in important Medicare releases over the past two weeks (plan exits, supplemental benefits, and star scores), which is a positive first step toward a multi-year Medicare margin recovery to unlock significant value at Aetna,” he wrote. Mok added that most consensus estimates underappreciate the pace of this recovery, especially given the company’s significant cost-savings initiatives which could unlock around $2 billion in value. The analyst pointed out that CVS currently trades at a discount to peer Cigna. “We think the EPS baseline has stabilized, which sets the stage for earnings acceleration in its most valuable segment (Aetna),” he wrote. — Lisa Kailai Han 5:50 a.m.: JPMorgan downgrades Honeywell Don’t expect much from Honeywell in the near future, according to JPMorgan. Analyst Stephen Tusa downgraded the industrial giant to neutral from overweight. To be sure, he did raise his price target by $10 to $235, implying upside of nearly 10%. “We like the defensive growth profile of the company with extended visibility tied to the long cycle backlog and a renewed focus on growth under the new CEO, and we applaud action here, with a constructive top line outlook for ’25,” Tusa wrote. “However, our concern is that a refreshed focus on organic growth, which we expect to pay off somewhat in 2025, may not fall to the bottom line as expected, with a trade-off that is balanced against margins,” he added. “In addition, inorganically, we had thought the company had 3% upside from acquisition accretion in ’25 setting up for a beat, but with divestitures now taking center stage, it appears as though while portfolio management will likely mix the company to higher quality metrics, the dilution is a cost that breaks the near term consensus earnings curve,” Tusa said. The Dow Jones Industrial Average member fell 0.8% in the premarket after the downgrade. Year to date, it’s up just 2%. HON YTD mountain HON in 2024 — Fred Imbert
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