Here are Thursday's biggest analyst calls: Nvidia, Oracle, Tesla, Amazon, Carvana, PNC, Cava, Broadcom, Microsoft & more

Wall Street analysts issued a series of significant ratings, with several firms initiating or reiterating "Buy" or "Outperform" calls on companies like Oracle, Alphabet, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Broadcom, primarily citing strong AI and cloud computing leadership. Other notable upgrades included DraftKings, PNC, Citizens Financial, and Carvana, driven by perceived undervaluation, fundamental strength, or robust sales. However, Freshpet saw a downgrade to "Hold" due to a prolonged slowdown and unclear growth catalysts, reflecting a selective but generally optimistic analyst sentiment across diverse sectors.

Analysis

Here are Thursday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Baird initiates Oracle as outperform Baird said Oracle has "has positioned itself at the center of the most significant trend in the history of computing: AI." "We are initiating coverage of Oracle with an Outperform rating and $365 price target." Read more. BMO reiterates Alphabet as outperform BMO raised its price target to $294 per share from $225. "GOOGL's AI leadership continues to translate into strength in core Search and GCP [Google Cloud Platform] per expert checks, as GOOGL benefits from ongoing AI integrations and product launches, driving incremental user value." BMO reiterates Amazon as outperform BMO said Amazon remains a top pick. "3Q25E checks continue to support 2H25E AWS growth acceleration, although ramping competition and capacity constraints likely limit incremental upside." Berenberg upgrades DraftKings to buy from hold The firm said investors should buy the dip. "We upgrade DraftKings to Buy as we view the recent sell-off in the shares as unjustified. While we acknowledge risks from prediction markets, as it stands today, we have seen little disruption and thus see upside to our new price target of $43.00." RBC initiates Cava as outperform RBC said Cava has plenty more room for growth. "We view CAVA as the dominant brand in the fast-growing Mediterranean category with a long runway for unit growth." Piper Sandler upgrades PNC to overweight from neutral Piper says investors should buy the dip in the regional bank. "Next, we are upgrading The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (PNC) from Neutral to OW. PNC has been an interesting one this year. Despite strong fundamental performance, the shares have languished. They are basically flat YTD, and PNC is the second worst performing large regional we follow." Canaccord initiates Oklo as buy Canaccord said shares of the nuclear company have more room to run. "We are initiating on OKLO with a BUY rating and $175 price target." HSBC upgrades IQVIA to buy from hold HSBC said it sees an attractive risk/reward for the clinical research company. "We expect easing regulatory clouds in pharma to support IQVIA's rerating." Deutsche Bank initiates Moelis & Co as buy Deutsche said it's bullish on the investment bank. "We are initiating coverage of Moelis and Company with a BUY rating and a target price of $80." Deutsche Bank initiates Evercore ISI as buy Deutsche said the investment bank is "well levered to cyclical recovery." "We initiate coverage on Evercore Inc., with a Buy rating and TP of $400." Citi adds a positive catalyst watch on Carvana Citi said sales tracking numbers look robust. "Given our tracking ahead of Carvana's 3Q25 earnings on 10/29 AMC [after market close], we are raising our projections for 3Q and beyond, opening a positive Catalyst Watch, and we reiterate our Buy rating and $490 TP." Cantor Fitzgerald reiterates Nvidia as overweight Cantor raised its price target on the stock to $300 per share from $240 following management meetings. "We hosted NVDA mgmt for investor meetings in NYC this past week, including Jensen Huang (CEO), Colette Kress (CFO), Toshiya Hari (IR), as well as other Senior Executives." Citi upgrades Tractor Supply to buy from neutral Citi said the farm equipment supply company is defensive. "Big picture, TSCO is a defensive growth retailer not dependent upon a housing market recovery to return to algo growth and trading at a discount to the retail market share winners' basket. We see a compelling risk/reward in our bull case vs. bear case scenarios." JPMorgan upgrades Marsh & McClennan to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said the insurance giant's shares are compelling. "Also, we are upgrading MMC from Neutral to Overweight given the company's strong brokerage franchise, tempered growth expectations, and drop in valuation. Morgan Stanley reiterates Microsoft as overweight Morgan Stanley said Microsoft is best positioned in AI spend. "Microsoft remains best positioned to capture incremental share of GenAI spend and IT budgets as workloads move to the cloud." Goldman Sachs reiterates Broadcom as buy Goldman analyst Jim Schneider says the stock is well positioned heading into earnings season. "Jim continues to see AVGO as the leader in AI custom compute and merchant networking silicon." Jefferies initiates Williamsas buy Jefferies said it's bullish on the power generation company. " WMB' s expansion into BTM {behind-the-meter] power generation is the key driver of our Buy thesis." Bank of America upgrades Citizens Financial to buy from neutral The firm said the stock is compelling. "We upgrade Citizens Financial (CFG) to Buy from Neutral, raise PO to $65 from $52, now based on 12.5x our 2026 P/E..." Bank of America initiates Scholar Rock as buy Bank of America said the biopharma company is well positioned. "We initiate coverage of Scholar Rock (SRRK) with a Buy rating and a $53 PO." TD Cowen reiterates Tesla as buy TD Cowen said it's standing by shares of Tesla and raising its price target on the stock. "We're also Buy rated on Tesla (PT to $509 from $374)..." Jefferies downgrades Freshpet to hold from buy Jefferies said in its downgrade of Freshpet that it sees too many negative catalysts. "Scaled premium pet food manufacturer experiencing a prolonged slowdown with tough comps and low visibility into a growth rebound catalyst." Wall Street analysts exhibit a strongly positive sentiment, with a general score of 0.85, largely driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cloud computing leadership. Oracle (ORCL) was initiated as Outperform, with a $365 price target, for its central role in AI. Alphabet (GOOGL) saw its target raised to $294, as BMO noted AI leadership translating into Search and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) strength. Microsoft (MSFT) and Broadcom (AVGO) were also highlighted for their strong AI positioning. Significant upgrades extended beyond technology. DraftKings (DKNG) was upgraded to Buy, with a $43 price target, as its recent sell-off was deemed unjustified. Regional banks PNC and Citizens Financial (CFG) received upgrades, with PNC noted for strong fundamentals despite flat year-to-date shares, and CFG's price objective raised to $65. Carvana (CVNA) received a positive catalyst watch and reiterated Buy rating, with a $490 price target, based on robust Q3 sales tracking. Growth opportunities were identified in Cava (CAVA), initiated as Outperform for its dominant brand in the Mediterranean category, and nuclear energy firm Oklo (OKLO), initiated with a Buy rating and $175 price target. However, Freshpet (FRPT) was downgraded to Hold due to a prolonged slowdown and low visibility into growth catalysts, marking a notable exception to the prevailing bullish outlook across diverse sectors.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Consider increasing exposure to companies demonstrating strong AI and cloud computing leadership, particularly those with recent analyst upgrades or reiterations like Oracle, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Nvidia.
• Evaluate 'buy the dip' opportunities in sectors like regional banking (PNC, Citizens Financial) and online gaming (DraftKings) where strong fundamentals or unjustified sell-offs are cited by analysts.
• Monitor companies with specific growth catalysts or robust sales trends, such as Carvana's Q3 earnings and Cava's unit growth potential, for potential short-term or long-term plays.
• Exercise caution with companies facing prolonged slowdowns and unclear growth catalysts, as exemplified by Freshpet's downgrade, and reassess existing positions in similar situations.