Notable analyst calls this week: Nike, Microsoft and Sarepta among top picks
Aug. 02, 2025 9:35 AM ET
By: Tiyashi Datta, SA News Editor
The S&P500 ( SP500) closed in the red on Friday after the week saw President Donald Trump's tariff rollout and earnings reports from megacaps including Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon.
For the week, Nasdaq ( COMP:IND) declined marginally, while Dow ( DJI) lost 1.5%.
Wall Street had a slew of upgrades and downgrades from analysts. Here are some of the major calls for the week:
JPM calls Nike ‘global athletic market leader’
J.P. Morgan upgraded Nike (NYSE: NKE) to Overweight from Neutral, saying that the company is the global athletic market leader with diversification across product categories, geographies, and distribution.
The brokerage, which set PT for Nike to $93, said it sees the Nike model at an inflection for revenue growth to re-accelerate into the second half of 2026 and fiscal year 2027 following several quarters of franchise product lifecycle management and inventory liquidation headwinds.
"Further, we see opportunity for NKE to recapture over 500bps of operating margin erosion on improved full-price selling & reception to new product innovation, and as NKE begins to leverage on SG&A expenses with an inflection to topline growth," said analyst Matthew Boss.
Microsoft receives praise from Wall Street after strong quarter
KeyBanc Capital upgraded Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) to Overweight from Sector Weight, after the tech giant posted a better-than-expected earnings report.
Goldman Sachs also reiterated Buy rating and raised PT on Microsoft to $630 from $550.
"We leave with increasing confidence in the longevity of AI-supported growth supporting share capture across Microsoft’s businesses. This quarter helped validate our thesis that AI percolates up the stack, the ripple effect of Microsoft’s GPU compute leadership drives demand for their wider suite of higher-margin products which, uniquely, cover all layers of the tech stack," said analysts led by Kash Rangan.
KeyBanc analysts said they do not expect the costs of supporting the Azure business to be debated much for the remainder of the year.
Wedbush called it a “slam-dunk quarter for MSFT” and raised PT to $625 from $600 reflecting an "eye popping cloud and AI strength.”
UPS downgraded on to rising uncertainty, earnings pressure
Bank of America downgraded United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) to Neutral from Buy after the company’s Q2 earnings report was released.
The brokerage pointed out the general uncertainty around the parcel delivery giant after it pulled its 2025 revenue and profit outlook in April and again withheld from providing targets in July.
BofA lowered PT on UPS to $98 from $115. The lower trading multiple from the firm was due to rising uncertainty and earnings pressure. The brokerage also cut their Q3, 2025, and 2026 EPS estimates on UPS.
Sarepta upgraded to Neutral at JPM, Barclays downgrades
Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SRPT) was in focus after J.P. Morgan upgraded it to Neutral from Underweight as it sees FDA's Elevidys hold removal recommendation in ambulatory patients as a clear win.
"In near-term, the company will have to restore confidence in patients / parents / physicians," JPM said on the agency's recommendation of resuming Elevidys U.S. shipments.
Earlier in the week, Barclays, however, revised rating from Equal Weight to Underweight on Sarepta and lowered PT from $18 to $10. The investment bank raised serious liquidity concerns for Sarepta, pointing out that the company must meet conditions to retain access to its $600 million credit revolver, make collaboration payments to Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals ( ARWR), and address its 2027 debt commitments.
JPM downgrades China's Bilibili, NetEase
J.P. Morgan downgraded Chinese digital entertainment names Bilibili (NASDAQ: BILI) and NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES) to Neutral from Overweight.
On Bilibili, the brokerage sees limited catalysts and is cautious on its strategy game, Sanmou, which is facing a high comparison base in the second half of 2025. JPM, which has a PT of $24, forecasts Bilibili's revenue growth to slow from 20%+ in 1H25 to 5% in 2H25.
For NetEase, JPM believes room for earnings upside is limited and sees potential increases in game promotion expenses in future quarters along with limited blockbuster game launches in the second half of 2025. NTES has a PT of $140.
Novo Nordisk downgraded on guidance cut
Novo Nordisk ( NVO) was downgraded to Hold from Buy by HSBC following the company’s recent warning that its 2025 exit growth rate will likely settle into mid-single digits.
The brokerage also lowered its target price from DKK680 to DKK360.
Analysts at HSBC said that the illegal sales by U.S. compounders have persisted, continuing to eat into Novo's market opportunity. Compounding this dent in confidence are internal management changes and execution delays, all of which further cloud the short-term earnings outlook, the analysts added.
UnitedHealth downgraded following Q2 results
Baird downgraded UnitedHealth (NYSE: UNH) to Underperform from Neutral, citing a challenging path ahead for the company following its latest earnings release.
“While we do appreciate all the additional management commentary, we left the 2Q earnings call viewing the fundamental story as more challenged than expected.” Baird analyst Michael Ha wrote, slashing UNH’s price target to $198 from $312 per share.
HSBC downgraded American Tower (NYSE: AMT) to Hold from Buy, and reduced PT to $235 from $245, saying that shares are up 20% ytd and the brokerage is not seeing major potential for further gains in the near term, especially with the marginal decrease in U.S. organic billings growth guidance for FY25.
KeyBanc Capital downgraded Palo Alto Networks' (NASDAQ: PANW) rating to Sector Weight from Overweight, citing platformization strategy concerns with CyberArk ( CYBR).
Wells Fargo started coverage on Take-Two (NASDAQ: TTWO) with Outperform, citing strong expectations for sales of the highly anticipated game, Grand Theft Auto VI. The brokerage has a PT of $265 for the company and said it forecasts GTA 6 to sell 50M units in FY27. |
