Today's most important upgrades

Zillow Group (NASDAQ: ZG) shares gained more than 5% intra-day today after Evercore ISI upgraded the company to Outperform from In Line and raised its price to $61 from $34.

The firm mentioned several key factors behind the upgrade, including (1) Q1/23, which was the low point for the residential real estate sector in terms of existing home sales and prices, is showing tentative signs of a rapid rebound, (2) the company's top-line trends are expected to turn positive in Q2/23, (3) Zillow is believed to be well positioned to take advantage of the real estate market recovery, (4) investments and initiatives could position Zillow for stronger growth and profitability in the post-recovery market, and (5) despite a 40% YTD increase in the stock price, there is reasonable valuation upside from current levels.

The firm also mentioned that the housing market is “either already beginning to recover or will very soon do that.”

Fastly Inc. (NYSE: FSLY) shares jumped more than 30% intra-day today after BofA Securities upgraded the company to Buy from Underperform and raised its price target to $16.00 from $10.50 as it believes the cloud computing provider is on “the road to recovery”.

According to BofA Securities, the company’s short-term results could still fluctuate but the firm would like to focus on the potential value creation in the intermediate term and believes that Fastly has solid underlying foundations, which the new management team is aiming to expose.

Todd Nightingale joined Fastly as CEO in September and laid out a turnaround strategy during the company’s Q3 earnings call. Since then, he has taken steps to streamline the product portfolio, pricing, and other operational aspects, and BofA Securities believes this could drive revenue growth reacceleration and margin expansion, with the company reaching profitability by 2024.

Benchmark upgraded Proto Labs (NYSE: PRLB) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $45.00 following the company’s reported Q4 results on Friday.

According to the firm, high points for the quarter included 49.6% year-over-year growth for the Hubs digital network group, positive cash flow for the year, and an expanded share repurchase program.

Shares gained more than 13% on Friday after the company reported Q4 EPS of $0.26, better than the consensus estimate of $0.22. Revenue came in at $115.6 million, beating the consensus estimate of $110.83M.

Management provided updated guidance for upcoming Q1/23, including revenues of $114-$122M, or -3% to +3% growth, and non-GAAP EPS of $0.18-$0.26.

Credit Suisse upgraded AllianceBernstein (NYSE: AB) to Outperform from Neutral and raised its price target of $43.50 from $32.00.

The firm said AllianceBernstein is "too good a story to ignore" following better-than-expected Q4/22 results and a comprehensive model refresh.

Shares rose more than 2% intra-day today.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL) shares gained more than 4% intra-day today after BofA Securities upgraded the company to Buy from Neutral and raised its price target to $145.00 from $130.00, as the company’s strong revenue trends boost confidence.

The company reported its Q3 results on Thursday, with EPS of $3.35 coming in better than the consensus estimate of $2.92. Revenue was $1.83 billion, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76B.

By Davit Kirakosyan

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