Here are Friday's biggest analyst calls of the day: Lululemon, Bloomin' Brands, Slack & more

Published Fri, May 29 20209:05 AM EDT

Key Points

Raymond James raised its price target on Lululemon to a Street high $335 from $250.
Jefferies upgraded Bloomin' Brands to buy from hold.
Stephens raised its price target on Slack to $37 from $32.
Baird initiated Waste Management as outperform.
Credit Suisse initiated S&P Global and Moody's as outperform.
Argus downgraded VF Corp to hold from buy.
Cowen downgraded Halliburton to market perform from outperform.

(This story is for CNBC PRO subscribers only.) Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Friday: Raymond James raised its price target on Lululemon to a Street high $335 from $250 Raymond James raised its price target on the stock to a Street high and said the apparel retailer was a top long-term idea. "We maintain our Strong Buy rating on LULU as it remains one of our top ideas for longterm, secular winners in a retail landscape that is characterized by a widening gap between winners and losers. We believe LULU's dominance in the growing athletic apparel market will continue to increase as its innovation machine continues to deliver exciting and unique product to its loyal customer base. LULU's industry-leading digital platform and strong online penetration position it extremely well to outperform most "non-essential" retailers near-term, as well as to see accelerated market share gains longer-term." Jefferies upgraded Bloomin' Brands to buy from hold Jefferies raised its price target on the restaurant hospitality company and said it sees an attractive risk/reward as states begin to re-open. "Casual dining same store sales pace has been good as off-premise business surprised to the upside, and as reopenings drive a 10%-plus lift. We lay out a recovery scenario and raise our SSS and EBITDA estimates for most casual dining companies. Reopening data read through positively for BLMN, CHUY, and TXRH, given off-premise growth during lockdown and the potential for 2021 average unit volume's to exceed 2019. We upgrade BLMN to Buy on attractive valuation and favorable risk/reward. Stephens raised its price target on Slack to $37 from $32 Stephens raised its price target on the stock which tied a Street high and said the company's value has been further accentuated by the work-from home environment. "We view Slack as a communications platform that enhances collaboration productivity for internal/familiar external contacts through structuring and archiving messaging inputs from users/software. Therefore, Slack's hero's journey is demonstrating the efficiency improvements for enterprises resulting from this bifurcation of workplace communication (collaboration with known contacts via Slack, email for transactional/introductory communication). We believe if customers recognize the value unlocked through this shift in internal communications, pricing/Microsoft Teams competition considerations become less relevant." Baird initiated Waste Management as outperform Baird initiated the waste company and said it liked the stock's near-term fundamentals. "We believe it is a new era at WM , highlighted by faster EBITDA growth, margin improvement and yield/ volume growth vs. history. With near-term economic headwinds already discounted in the stock, we believe investors should instead focus on potential opportunities post COVID-19 (revisiting less profitable residential contracts, e-commerce adoption and cost reductions) and what we see as numerous tailwinds coalescing in 2021. Bottom line, we like the setup for both fundamentals and the stock for solid near-term and steady long-term returns." Credit Suisse initiated S & P Global & Moody's as outperform Credit Suisse initiated the ratings agency companies and said they were well-positioned for a "data revolution." "We initiate coverage of credit rating agencies Moody's Corporation (Outperform, $285 TP) and S & P Global (Outperform, $345 TP). We acknowledge uneven debt issuance risk as the credit markets settle owing to COVID-19. However, CRAs outscore other Information Services stocks in our proprietary valuation framework given high barriers to entry, enviable pricing (3-4% in ratings annually), secular megatrends (e.g., active to passive [passive +2,000bps share since 2000]), and expanding total addressable markets. " Argus downgraded VF Corp to hold from buy Argus downgrade VF Corp and cited softer footwear sales. "Our rating reflects slowing sales of Vans and Timberland footwear, as well as high North Face inventory. We think these factors offset a more reasonable valuation following the coronavirus selloff. We are lowering our FY21 EPS estimate to $1.10 from $3.90, reflecting the closure of company stores in EMEA and the Americas, offset in part by signs of recovery in China and accelerating digital sales. We are setting an FY22 EPS estimate of $2.50." Cowen downgraded Halliburton to market perform from outperform Cowen downgraded the oil field services company on valuation. "With higher estimates and better market valuations our price targets increase, however the stocks have run and, in many cases, appear to be fairly valued. This is the case for HAL where we now have just 7% upside to our $13 price target (up from $10) and as a result downgrade our rating to Market Perform from Outperform.