The S&P 500 (SP500) closed in the green on Friday after investors witnessed strong corporate earnings along with retreating oil prices.
Wall Street had a slew of upgrades and downgrades from analysts. Here are some of the major calls for the week:
AMD downgraded ahead of earnings
Northland Capital downgraded AMD (AMD) to Market Perform from Outperform.
“We expect AMD to beat and raise estimates when it reports next week, but the results will likely not be as robust as Intel's,” analyst Gus Richard wrote in a note to clients. “While AMD will benefit from price increases, we believe AMD needs to continue spending heavily on R&D to catch up with NVDA.”
The brokerage kept its PT of $260 on the stock.
“We believe the CY27 consensus needs to come down, as we expect AI infrastructure spending to decline in CY27,” Richard added.
Meta downgraded after AI spending surge
J.P. Morgan’s Doug Anmuth downgraded Meta Platforms (META) to Neutral from Overweight following its Q1 results and increased capex spending.
Anmuth said that “shares could remain pressured as investors look for greater clarity on agentic products and how Muse models will help drive incremental revenue beyond advertising.”
“We look for greater clarity into the path to returns on AI spending beyond the core ad business and believe building, iterating, scaling, and monetizing new products and experiences will take time,” the brokerage added.
T-Mobile receives upgrade on Q1 results
T-Mobile (TMUS) earned an upgrade at Oppenheimer on Q1 results, free cash flow, and M&A opportunities. Analyst Timothy Horan expects T-Mobile to focus on closing the 20% price discount with peers while maintaining cost controls to keep expenses flat year-over-year, largely by relying more heavily on artificial intelligence.
Increases to its free cash flow to an “industry-leading 13% per year” on strong margins and buybacks also support Horan’s upgrade to Outperform.
“Long-term guidance is also likely conservative with room for upside from M&A and synergies,” Horan says, adding that the current 11% free cash flow yield and 5-year low of ~8x EV/EBITDA create “an attractive entry point.”
UBS downgraded Nucor (NUE) on valuation concerns. The brokerage lowered the rating to Neutral from Buy with a $224 price target following the company’s Q1 results, with shares up ~36% since March 20—even before the company's strong Q1 print—and now trading at ~7.7x estimated Q2 2027-Q1 2028 EV/EBITDA, the highest multiple vs. consensus near-term estimates in 10 years, analyst Andrew Jones said.
Bank of America Securities upgraded Radian Group (RDN) to Buy from Underperform and raised its price target to $43 from $35 based on Radian's transformation into a global, diversified specialty insurer from a U.S. mortgage insurer.
Citi raised its estimates for Palantir (PLTR) on rising momentum for the enterprise software company but also lowered its price target on the stock to $210 from $260.
“We expect continued momentum in Q1, both USG and commercial, and more progress Internationally, following the large renewals with Airbus and Stellantis,” analyst Tyler Radke wrote, adding that the brokerage is raising FY27/28 estimates more than 500bps ahead of consensus.
“However, the recent multiple compression in software cut our TP to $210 [from $260] (implying ~48x FY27 EV/Sales; ~87x EV/FCF). We reiterate our Buy/HR rating, as we believe PLTR remains one of the top AI beneficiaries as AI continues to proliferate across enterprises, as noted at AI Summit recently,” Radke added.