Here are Wednesday's biggest analyst calls: Nvidia, SpaceX, Apple, Sandisk, Salesforce, Nike, Lockheed Martin & more

Wall Street issued a broad set of bullish research calls, including multiple upgrades/initiation of coverage (e.g., Jefferies upgrading Murphy USA to Buy; Wedbush initiating SpaceX at a $190 target; Wolfe upgrading Fox to outperform; UBS raising Advanced Energy Industries to Overweight with a $465 target). Several themes underpin the positives—improving margins/EBITDA outlook (MUSA), strong/early-stage clinical data and revised expectations (Abivax), and durable demand drivers such as data storage tied to genAI (SanDisk). Overall, the coverage is skewed constructive with largely valuation/earnings-outlook uplift, but it is not a single company- or macro-wide catalyst.

Analysis

The cleanest read-through is not "analyst optimism" but where estimates can actually move: power-chain semis, LTL freight, and a few balance-sheet stories. AEIS and SNDK look better than the headline AI leaders because they monetize data-center capex through bottlenecks with tighter supply and faster margin conversion; NVDA remains the quality anchor, but at current expectations the incremental upside is more vulnerable to any slowdown in capex cadence.

Freight is the most interesting cyclical inflection. ODFL/SAIA/XPO benefit if tonnage improves because pricing and mix usually lag volumes, so the real earnings acceleration should show up into 3Q rather than immediately; that makes pullbacks before results the better entry. MUSA is more tactical: fuel margin expansion can lift EBITDA quickly, but it is a spread trade with a short half-life if gasoline demand weakens or wholesale costs reprice.

Contrarianly, the market may be overpaying for valuation support in software while underappreciating durable pricing power in medtech and select consumer names. CRM/NOW can rerate if growth re-accelerates, but without visible acceleration they remain multiple-defense stories; by contrast, ABT and BIRK have cleaner paths to steady compounding. The main falsifiers are a data-center capex pause, a 3Q freight miss, or any reversal in fuel spreads that would unwind the MUSA thesis quickly.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Long AEIS on weakness over the next 1-3 months; pair against NVDA only if you want relative-value exposure to broader AI capex broadening beyond GPUs. Upside is better if data-center demand remains diversified, but the thesis breaks if hyperscaler spend narrows back to accelerator-only.
• Buy XPO or SAIA into any end-of-quarter selloff ahead of 3Q prints; target a 2-4 month window for margin revision upside. Falsify the trade if volumes fail to accelerate by early 3Q or if pricing remains flat despite better tonnage.
• Short NKE / long BIRK as a 3-6 month consumer pair trade. The market is still giving Nike benefit-of-the-doubt on turnaround timing, while Birkenstock has a cleaner pricing and mix story; cover the short if Nike shows clear gross-margin and inventory improvement.
• Take a tactical long in MUSA for 1-2 quarters only, with tight risk management. Best risk/reward comes from spread capture, but exit quickly if wholesale gasoline moves against margins or if same-store fuel volumes soften.
• Watchlist only: ABT and NOW as quality compounders, but wait for a better entry or evidence of upward estimate revisions before adding size.