Top Calls on Wall Street: Kenvue, Riot, CarMax, Visa and More

Top 5 Upgrades:

• Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Kenvue (KVUE) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $22, down from $22.50. The shares are down over 20% this month with the Trump administering linking usage of Tylenol by expectant mothers with an increased risk of autism in infants, but the firm views proposals laid out this week by the Health and Human Services department as "more measured than feared."

• Rosenblatt upgraded Ciena (CIEN) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $175, up from $127.50 following the innovation day. The company has an opportunity to network multiple artificial intelligence data centers into clusters.

• Citi upgraded Riot Platforms (RIOT) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $24, up from $13.75. The firm cites the company's ramping transition to artificial intelligence and high-performance computing for the upgrade. JPMorgan also upgraded Riot Platforms to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $19, up from $15.

• Goldman Sachs upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) to Neutral from Sell with a price target of $65, up from $45. The firm says Ionis is transitioning to a commercial growth story and has optimized its antisense oligonucleotide technology.

• RBC Capital upgraded Alkermes (ALKS) to Outperform from Sector Perform with a price target of $44, up from $42. The firm's analysis of potential narcolepsy type 2 treatment effects for alixorexton suggests the drug is likely to show clinically meaningful benefits with a tolerable safety profile.

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Evercore ISI downgraded CarMax (KMX) to In Line from Outperform with a price target of $52, down from $80. Q2 results show pressure on market share and credit is intensifying, with reinvestment likely needed to stabilize share, the firm tells investors in post-earnings note. Oppenheimer also downgraded CarMax to Perform from Outperform without a price target, saying the company's fiscal Q2 results were much weaker than expected.

• KeyBanc downgraded Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) to Sector Weight from Overweight without a price target. The firm says it has no way of knowing if a deal with Paramount Skydance (PSKY) will ultimately materialize. KeyBanc is "nervous" from reports suggesting Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav wants $40 per share and a bidding war.

• Morgan Stanley downgraded Civitas Resources (CIVI) to Equal Weight from Overweight with an unchanged price target of $40. The firm cites valuation for the downgrade with the shares outperforming since early Q3.

• Jefferies downgraded Duke Energy (DUK) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $134, down from $141. With the stock trading at a 4% premium to peers, successful execution is now "fully reflected in the stock price," the firm tells investors.

• Scotiabank downgraded EOG Resources (EOG) to Sector Perform from Outperform with an unchanged price target of $130. The firm cites the stock's "rich" valuation relative to EOG's mega-cap exploration and production peers for the downgrade.

Top 5 Initiations:

• Cleveland Research initiated coverage of Visa (V) with a Buy rating. The firm views Visa as well positioned to outperform expectations in FY26 as its checks suggests the company is seeing accelerating debit share gains, improving VAS and CMS penetration, and benefiting from recent pricing actions, according to the firm, which notes that share gains, combined with incremental pricing, drives Cleveland to model FY26 results ahead of consensus.

• RBC Capital initiated coverage of United Therapeutics (UTHR) with an Outperform rating and $569 price target. The firm views the company as a leader in rare lung diseases with a $2B blockbuster franchise in Tyvaso.

• Stephens initiated coverage of Vertex (VERX) with an Overweight rating and $30 price target. The firm sees "many levers" for a return to high-teens growth and views the company as having a competitive moat and strong market position.

• JPMorgan initiated coverage of Rollins (ROL) with an Overweight rating and $70 price target, implying 24% upside from current levels. The firm says the company has one of the most resilient models in industrials, with 80% of revenue generated from recurring service contracts, and a "vast untapped market opportunity."

• BofA reinstated coverage of CRH (CRH) with a Buy rating and $128 price target. CRH reported negative organic volumes the last five quarters, but the firm sees an organic growth inflection ahead as it argues that end markets are lining up for such an inflection with non-residential construction starts picking up, interest rates easing and state infrastructure budgets pointing up next year.