The most talked about and market moving research calls around Wall Street are now in one place. Here are today's research calls that investors need to know, as compiled by The Fly.

Top Upgrades:

• Argus upgraded Yum! Brands (YUM) to Buy from Hold with a $155 price target. The firm sees same-store sales at Kentucky Fried Chicken and Taco Bell driving growth for Yum! in 2025.

• Argus upgraded Ralph Lauren (RL) to Buy from Hold with a $250 price target. The company is working to increase its average unit retail growth by attracting younger and less price-sensitive customers, the firm tells investors in a research note.

Top Downgrade:

• Stifel downgraded Canoo (GOEV) to Hold from Buy with a price target of 50c, down from $4.50. The firm cites the company's need for capital and its recent announcement that it is suspending production in Oklahoma for the downgrade. Since Q1 of 2022, Canoo has noted that there was substantial doubt about its ability to continue to operate as a going concern, the firm tells investors in a research note.

Top Initiations:

• DA Davidson initiated coverage of Vertex (VRTX) with a Buy rating and $62 price target. Vertex "exhibits several characteristics exemplifying sustained value-capture and per-share compounding," such as a market with steady growth and favorable disruptive catalysts, a moat, a cost structure supportive of margin accretion, and a management team with "excellent capital allocation discipline and incentives," the firm tells investors.

• Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage of Rithm Property Trust (RPT) with a Buy rating and $4 fair value estimate. The company's transition to a commercial real estate investment strategy will deliver near-term earnings in support of the dividend and capitalize overtime on the substantial demand for CRE capital, combined with a dearth of lending activity in the sector, the firm says.

• Lake Street initiated coverage of Treace Medical (TMCI) with a Buy rating and $14.50 price target. The firm, which thinks "the Street has fully digested (and overreacted to) the challenges Treace has faced," sees Treace gearing up for several major portfolio additions in the first half of 2025 and adds that key CMS reimbursement "doubles tomorrow."

• RBC Capital reinstated coverage of Ducommun (DCO) with an Outperform rating and price target of $72, up from $60. The firm believes Ducommun represents a "solid value proposition" for small cap investors looking for aerospace and defense exposure.