(This is CNBC Pro’s live coverage of Monday’s analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) A gym stock and an oil giant were among the stocks being talked about by analysts on Monday. Baird named Planet Fitness a top pick , highlighting its attractive valuation. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley raised its rating on Petrobras , calling for strong gains ahead. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 7:12 a.m.: BofA says to snap up Biohaven on pipeline potential Investors should buy into Biohaven as degrader and neuropsych clinical programs show promise, according to Bank of America. Analyst Jason Gerberry initiated coverage with a buy rating and $52 price target. Gerberry’s target reflects the potential for shares to add 24.6% over the next year from last week’s closing level. Biohaven’s novel protein-targeting technology called MoDE accounts for 35% of the bank’s price target, Gerberry said. Meanwhile, he said the neuropsych drug in development could be best-in-class and have peak revenue registering at billions of dollars. “We are most bullish on its two programs for mood disorders and autoimmune conditions,” he said. Gerberry said he likes Biohaven’s “fast-follower” approach, where it advances drugs that rivals have already started developing to be on a de-risked path. Though he called the company’s work “quite expansive,” he noted that management has a history of allocating capital well. Biohaven shares have slid 2.5% in 2024, bucking the broader market’s advance. — Alex Harring 6:52 a.m.: Buy Ollie’s, Gordon Haskett says Gordon Haskett upgraded Ollie’s heading into the discount retailer’s earnings report on Thursday. Analyst Chuck Grom raised his rating on the stock to buy from accumulate. Grom’s $107 price target suggests 8.2% upside from last week’s closing level. “We favor OLLI in the current softer macro backdrop,” Grom told clients. That’s “owing to the defensiveness of the closeout model, consumers’ increased emphasis on value, additional trade down, and the healthy closeout environment, all of which drive steady comp growth.” Grom said Ollie’s should once again exceed expectations and continue its upward earnings revision cycle. He noted that the company has a “favorable outlook, strong momentum and improving execution.” Ollie’s has growth opportunity as retailers close or declare bankruptcy, the analyst said. He also pointed to the company’s “long runway” with annual store growth around 10%. Shares have jumped more than 30% in 2024, outperforming the broader market. That builds on last year’s 62% surge. OLLI YTD mountain OLLY year to date — Alex Harring 6:37 a.m.: Wells Fargo modestly cuts Amazon price target Wells Fargo pulled back its expectation for how far Amazon can run as the satellite internet project takes shape. Analyst Ken Gawrelski decreased his price target on the e-commerce giant by $7 to $225, though that still implies upside of 27.1% over Friday’s close. Gawrelski kept his overweight rating. Gawrelski tied the price target change to a cut to 2026 earnings per share. These moves come as the analyst dug into the Kuiper satellite internet service, which is anticipated to be commercially available by the end of 2025. He noted sizable upfront costs tied to the business. On top of that, Gawrelski reduced his outlook for operating income between 2025 and 2027 by around 3%. “Upon further inspection, see the potential for an attractive longer term business, but question synergy with the other core businesses at Amazon,” he told clients. “As such, we believe the market would value additional clarity on the strategic rationale for the project.” Amazon shares have jumped about 16.5% in 2024. Shares traded slightly higher before the bell on Monday. — Alex Harring 6:29 a.m.: Summit Materials can rally more than 25%, Morgan Stanley says Summit Materials could be in for big gains as a “super cycle” takes hold, according to Morgan Stanley. Analyst Angel Castillo initiated coverage of the building material producer at an overweight rating with a $51 price target. Castillo’s price target implies the stock can climb 26.4% from Friday’s closing level. We “see attractive risk/reward on the back of tight US Cement S & D, vertically integrated business model, exposure to troughing residential market, inorganic growth opportunity, and strong industry pricing,” Castillo wrote to clients in a Monday note. Castillo said the firm’s updated model shows the so-called super cycle for the U.S. business remains on track despite challenges to demand from variables like weather and high interest rates. But before the super cycle, he noted there will be fractionally lower demand for 2023 to 2024. Summit shares advanced around 1% in Monday’s premarket trading. The stock has risen just under 5% this year, underperforming the broad market. SUM YTD mountain SUM year to date — Alex Harring 5:59 a.m.: KeyBanc names Autodesk a favorite idea for early 2025 KeyBanc dubbed Autodesk a top pick with 2025 on the horizon. “Net, we continue to see a compelling margin expansion-led narrative change, and view ADSK as one of our favorite early 2025 ideas,” analyst Jason Celino wrote in a Sunday note to clients. Celino has an overweight rating on the stock and a price target of $305, which suggests 19.5% upside ahead from Friday’s close. Celino said the narrative change on the stock is led by the margin expansion as a result of investor activism. It’s a story the analyst called compelling, but “not an immediate slam dunk.” To be sure, he warned that the macroeconomic environment carries some uncertainty and could need recovery time after interest rates are cut. Following mixed quarter-end checks, Celino concluded that the tone of the business should be largely unchanged. Yet he said investors will look for signals that Autodesk has listened to recent feedback and is focusing on margins. Autodesk shares have underperformed the broader market this year with a gain of less than 5%. — Alex Harring 5:53 a.m.: JPMorgan moves to neutral on BJ’s JPMorgan exited BJ’s bearish camp as the company invests in itself and consumers trade down. Analyst Christopher Horvers upgraded shares of the wholesaler to neutral from underweight and upped his price target by $2 to $78. However, Horvers’ refreshed target suggests 5.8% downside from Friday’s closing price. “Looking ahead, we expect modest reflation in grocery while the company is benefitting from its efforts to drive share by reinvesting in the business,” Horvers said. On top of that, “we are squarely at the point where the channel is seeing a lift from trade down in a hyper-value seeking consumer environment.” Horvers predicted that the company’s guide down for 2024 fiscal year guidance would end up being a “bit conservative.” Still, with this outlook in mind, he said to expect flat or down earnings for the third straight year. The analyst noted that JPMorgan’s 2022 downgrade was based on the long trail of disinflation that was then anticipated for BJ’s. He said the stock was of particular concern given its 85% grocery mix and higher-than-typical exposure to the low-income consumer. Shares rose more than 1% before the bell. The stock has climbed more than 24% in 2024. — Alex Harring 5:44 a.m.: Baird deems Planet Fitness a ‘bullish fresh pick’ Baird has reason for optimism on Planet Fitness . Analyst Jonathan Komp on Monday added a “bullish fresh pick” designation through year-end on the gym chain’s stock, while maintaining his outperform rating. Komp’s $92 price target implies 13.5% upside from where the stock concluded last week. “We are highlighting PLNT as an attractive idea for a slowing growth environment,” Komp wrote to clients. “New leadership has addressed unit economic challenges, and we see multiple potential drivers – especially better marketing – lining up for 2025,” he added. “PLNT’s strong consumer value proposition and high-margin franchise model should prove resilient in a challenging macro backdrop, and lower interest rates and building cost relief could spur investor optimism in unit growth reaccelerating after 2024E.” Komp noted that the stock is still lagging the S & P 500 despite rising from lows seen earlier this year and an improving fundamental setup for 2025. He said shares look “attractive” at forward enterprise value to EBITDA multiple of 17.2, which Komp said is about a 6% discount compared with other peers in the franchisee business. Shares are up slightly over 11% in 2024. PLNT YTD mountain PLNT in 2024 — Alex Harring 5:44 a.m.: Morgan Stanley upgrades Petrobras A strong period is ahead for Petrobras after struggling in 2024, according to Morgan Stanley. Analyst Bruno Montanari upgraded the Brazilian oil giant to overweight from equal weight. His price target of $20, up from $18, implies upside of 38.9% from Friday’s close. Petrobras recently underwent major executive changes, including the appointment of a new CEO in June, putting pressure on the stock. Year to date, shares are down nearly 10%. PBR YTD mountain PBR in 2024 But, with “management changes now behind, we believe the noise level will gradually diminish, which could remove some of the volatility component,” Montanari wrote. “The message of the new CEO and CFO in recent conference calls and meetings leads us to believe in strategy continuity, with the coexistence of a responsible increase in investments and dividend distribution, as long as there is spare cash availability.” U.S.-listed shares were up 2% in the premarket following the upgrade. — Fred Imbert
