Here are Monday's biggest analyst calls of the day: Nikola, Merck, Yum! Brands, Tesla & more

Published Mon, Aug 3 20208:03 AM EDT

Key Points

UBS upgraded Pinterest to buy from neutral.
Bernstein upgraded Qualcomm to outperform from market perform.
Deutsche Bank upgraded Yum! Brands to buy from hold.
Goldman Sachs upgraded Merck to buy from neutral.
Stephens downgraded DuPont to equal weight from overweight.
Susquehanna upgraded Under Armour to neutral from negative.
BTIG upgraded Expedia to buy from neutral.
Deutsche Bank added a catalyst call buy idea on Nikola.

(This story is for CNBC PRO subscribers only.) Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Monday: UBS upgraded Pinterest to buy from neutral UBS upgraded the social media service company after its strong earnings report and said it sees several long-term positives for the stock including the "offline to online ad shift" among other things. "While we think the Q2 report contains many positive rate of change narratives, our rating change to Buy is not short-term but longer in duration driven by key themes - PINS remains in a unique position at the intersection of two secular tailwinds: 1) the offline to online ad shift & 2) the blurring of lines between digital ad & eCommerce. In particular, our higher conviction in the monetization path is reflected in our raised multi-year revenue forecast." Note: this call occurred after the bell on Friday. Bernstein upgraded Qualcomm to outperform from market perform Bernstein said in its upgrade of the stock that it's bullish on the upcoming 5G cycle and sees a more "positive" risk/reward. "Given a cleaner outlook around customer and regulatory disputes, potential further upside from possible Huawei chip sales, accelerating economics as AAPL reenters the model, and subsequent potential for multiple expansion we judge QCOM 's risk-reward to be more positive than it has been in a long time." Deutsche Bank upgraded Yum! Brands to buy from hold Deutsche said in its upgrade of Yum! Brands that it sees a "decent" entry point and expects shares to "grind" higher. "After a sharp sell-off earlier this year, and subsequent recovery, we think shares are poised to grind higher again on a more consistent basis moving forward. We think the current entry point is decent, and would envision significant support in the ~$80 to $85 range, should any news flow or market related factors take it there again." Goldman Sachs upgraded Merck to buy from neutral Goldman said in its upgrade of the multinational pharmaceutical company that it was bullish on the company's upcoming pipeline of products among other things. "We upgrade MRK to Buy from Neutral and our price target goes to $105 from $91 on an unchanged 15x P/E multiple applied to our new, post-2Q EPS estimates. There are two drivers of our positive outlook: (1) Pipeline and balance sheet optionality – we believe the market is ascribing minimal value to a potential opportunity of ~$13-18bn in pipeline assets (the vast majority of which is not in our model), and we view risk/reward as attractive heading into a number of upcoming readouts later this year and into next for cancer, HIV and COVID." Stephens downgraded DuPont to equal weight from overweight Stephens said in its downgrade of the stock that the company is "lacking" innovation driven revenue growth. "If cost cutting were the solution to DuPont 's problems, the stock would be soaring right now. But after a couple of years of cutting bloated businesses and overhead, what is most lacking at DuPont is innovation driven revenue growth. With the economy in the tank, innovation is harder to monetize, which is pushing back recovery further. Susquehanna upgraded Under Armour to neutral from negative Susquehanna upgraded the manufacturer of footwear, sports, and casual apparel and said it sees a "potential reset" of the company in 2021 and "less extreme" downside following the company's earnings report. "Better than expected 2Q20 results, 30% of 2H20 factory order cancelations, and an improving digital platform position the company for a potential reset in 2021 and limit near-term downside risk. However, just because UAA will be well positioned for 2021 does not mean it will take the necessary steps to improve." BTIG upgraded Expedia to buy from neutral BTIG upgraded the online travel company and said the valuation was finally "compelling." "The last month or so has been hard for us given a longstanding positive bias, but it is time, and we are upgrading EXPE to BUY in the wake of the 2Q miss and related sell-off. Highlights: 1) EXPE missed, and by a lot, but we don't see impairment and consider the sell-off to be unwarranted; 2) We expect the recovery to be choppy, but the trajectory looks to be intact, cost cuts are tracking ahead and we now see EXPE topping $2.5B of EBITDA in 2022; 3) At < 7x our 2022 EBITDA we see valuation as compelling, enough so to compensate for the still uncertain path of demand recovery." Citi raised its price target on Tesla to $550 from $450 Citi raised its price target on the stock and said it sees "slightly higher" long-term margins. The firm still has a sell rating on the company. "We're updating our model to reflect Q2 results and latest guidance indications. Also, with management providing guidance for 2020 regulatory credits, we're now incorporating regulatory credits into our EPS estimates, though we continue to evaluate Tesla 's core profitability excluding these credits. As a result of these updates, our 2020-2022 estimates rise. We're now assuming 2020-22 deliveries of 470k/640k/835k. Our price target rises to $550 from $450 mostly on slightly higher LT margin assumptions in our terminal value scenarios, reflecting management's latest target for low-teens operating margin. Deutsche Bank added a catalyst call buy idea on Nikola Deutsche added a catalyst call buy idea on the hybrid truck manufacturer and said it was bullish on the company's upcoming earnings report and that its earnings call might provide important updates for investors. "We are adding NKLA to our short-term Catalyst Call Buy List ahead of the company's 2Q earnings (Aug 4th) after the close. With limited focus on near-term earnings dynamics absent any revenue, Nikola could potentially use its conference call with investors to provide one or more of the following highly-anticipated business updates: (1) name customers for its BEV truck; (2) commercial partner for the hydrogen stations; (3) OEM manufacturing partner for the Badger pickup; (4) updated Badger reservations count."