(This is CNBC Pro’s live coverage of Thursday’s analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) A sports betting stock and a liquor giant were some of the stocks being talked about by analysts on Thursday. Barclays initiated Flutter Entertainment with an overweight rating. Meanwhile, Bank of America upgraded Diageo to buy from neutral. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 7:37 a.m.: Wolfe Research upgrades Roku, says shares can rally more than 30% It’s time for investors to consider scooping up shares of Roku , according to Wolfe Research. “Amidst industry & Roku-specific fears about [connected TV] ad sales, leadership’s rising focus on monetization supports acceleration and should bury the profitability debate,” according to Peter Supino. The analyst upgraded the streaming company to outperform from peer perform and views shares as cheap on an enterprise value-to-sales basis. This multiple also “undervalues” Roku’s free cash flow potential and its leadership position in the space. Supino also lifted the firm’s price target to $93 a share, reflecting about 33% upside from Wednesday’s close. Shares have slumped more than 23% this year and gained 3% before the bell. – Samantha Subin 7:21 a.m.: Bank of America upgrades Potlatch on normalizing lumber prices Bank of America believes that Potlatch could be a beneficiary of normalizing lumber prices. BofA upgraded the lumber real estate investment trust to buy from neutral, with the firm’s price target of $51 implying nearly 20% upside from Wednesday’s close. Shares of Potlatch have fallen more than 13% year-to-date, opening up an attractive entry point in the valuation for investors, the firm said. As a catalyst, analyst George Staphos pointed to Potlatch’s recent expansion of its Waldo mill, which should give Potlatch a better cost position to increase its overall lumber margins. Meanwhile, although lumber prices have sold off recently, BofA noted that there’s a limited downside. “Our 2025 and 2026 lumber price forecasts increase given the potential impact of a gradually improved housing cycle, lumber duties and capacity decreases,” the analyst said. “Our log price forecast increases modestly in the North given the potential for higher lumber to feedback to timber because of index pricing.” — Lisa Kailai Han, Sean Conlon 7 a.m.: UBS downgrades IPG on advertising account losses IPG might suffer more losses than consensus has priced in, according to UBS. The bank downgraded shares of the advertising company to sell from neutral. Analyst Adam Berlin lowered his 12-month price target to $29 from $34, implying 6% downside. Shares of IPG have already slipped more than 5% this year. “We think consensus has not fully factored in the impact of account losses such as the recent Amazon media loss,” Berlin wrote. Other recent creative account and media billings losses include the firm’s Rocket, Lego, GM and Pfizer accounts. These losses mean that IPG could struggle to deliver growth in 2024, and this headwind could translate over in 2025 as negative organic growth, the analyst added. “In our view, the market is not sufficiently pricing in the risk that there might be structural reasons that IPG is losing clients and that the strategic initiatives underway may not be sufficient to resolve them quickly,” Berlin said. “We think a decline in revenues will impact IPG margins as staff incentives are already low vs history.” The analyst added that IPG shares could also feel a squeeze from a slowing U.S. macroeconomic environment and the adoption of generative artificial intelligence tools. However, he expects the firm to mitigate these pressures in the long term. “While we think the impact of these effects are manageable, it will take time to change investor sentiment,” he said. — Sean Conlon, Lisa Kailai Han 6:38 a.m.: Bernstein reiterates outperform rating on Oracle Oracle’s vast cloud offerings could boost its stock higher, according to Bernstein. The firm sees more than 11% upside ahead for the stock and reiterated its outperform rating — calling it “our top investment idea.” “There really is a lot of innovation going on at Oracle and the company is surprisingly well positioned in numerous ways to capture market share … and finally move the Oracle database aggressively to the Cloud,” analyst Mark Moerdler wrote in a note to clients. As a catalyst, the analyst pointed to Oracle cloud infrastructure’s vast breadth of solutions for clients. “If you have a need, Oracle likely has an OCI option that meets your need,” he continued. “One should not underestimate either the opportunity set or the differentiation of Oracle’s offering.” Meanwhile, Oracle announced earlier in the week that its cloud revenue reached a $2.1 billion run rate, which is above the previous quarter’s $2 billion figure. The analyst noted that this is “only the start.” Oracle shares have soared more than 49% year to date. — Lisa Kailai Han, Sean Conlon 6:13 a.m.: Simon Property Group is poised for a near-term pullback, Stifel says A series of headwinds will squeeze Simon Property Group in the near-term, according to Stifel. Stifel downgraded the real estate investment trust that invests in malls and shopping centers to hold from buy. The investment firm’s price target of $159 implies more than 2% downside from Wednesday’s close. Shares have surged more than 19.5% year to date, outperforming the 14.8% rally this year among its peers, the firm noted. Stifel added that the mall sector is the third best-performing this year. SPG YTD mountain SPG year to date “While SPG will likely experience a drag on growth from bankruptcies and store closures, retailer demand and leasing leverage are stronger at higher-productivity centers,” analyst Simon Yarmak wrote in a note. He added that funds from operations – a metric for measuring cash flow of REITs – in 2025 may be negative, citing debt refinancing as a potential headwind. “With shares now trading above our NAV and facing potentially uninspiring 2025 FFO growth, we believe that shares could lag the RMS in the near-term,” he also said. — Sean Conlon 5:59 a.m.: Bank of America upgrades Diageo to buy There’s a bright future in store for Diageo , according to Bank of America. The bank upgraded shares of the alcoholic beverage company to buy from neutral. Analyst Andrea Pistacchi also his price target to $147 from $134. This is approximately 14% above Wednesday’s close. Shares of Diageo are down nearly 12% this year. However, the analyst believes that the “worst is behind” for the stock. “With a reasonable valuation, improving momentum in the business and a relative scarcity of compelling investment alternatives in staples, there is enough for the stock to o/perf, we believe,” she wrote. As a catalyst, Pistacchi pointed to his belief that growth will improve in 2024, driven by Latin America. Diageo’s cost savings alongside lower agave costs will help “limit margin erosion this year,” he added. — Lisa Kailai Han 5:59 a.m.: Barclays says buy Flutter Entertainment Flutter Entertainment is primed to grow its footprint both in the U.S. and global sports betting markets, according to Barclays. Looking for exposure to the global sports betting market? Look no further than Flutter Entertainment, according to Barclays. Analyst Brandt Montour initiated coverage of the FanDuel parent with an overweight rating. His price target of $263 implies upside of 19.4% for U.S.-listed shares. “FLUT is the undisputed leader in the fast-growing U.S. digital sports betting space, as well as in several large markets globally, which it’s achieved via methodical M & A, best-in-class product, and superior global scale,” Montour wrote. “FanDuel’s leading parlay product in the U.S. drives structurally higher win margin, which allows it to both price and reinvest in players more aggressively, supporting outsized market share,” he said. Additionally, “FLUT’s strong M & A track record … has won the confidence of shareholders (and us) that it can continue to acquire top brands in attractive/new markets, and leverage its existing scale to boost those brands to leadership positions over time.” Flutter listed on the New York Stock Exchange on Jan. 29. Year to date, it’s up 23%. FLUT YTD mountain FLUT year to date — Fred Imbert
