The S&P 500 (SP500) closed in the red on Friday, with Nasdaq (COMP:IND) falling 2.8% during the week. Wall Street had a slew of upgrades and downgrades from analysts. Here are some of the major calls for the week:
Eli Lilly upgraded on coverage expansion for obesity drugs
Leerink Partners upgraded Eli Lilly (LLY) to Outperform from Market Perform, arguing that its recent pricing deal with the Trump administration will significantly expand coverage for its obesity drugs.
LLY and its rival in the obesity space, Novo Nordisk (NVO) agreed to lower prices for their prescription medicines in the U.S. in exchange for Medicare and Medicaid access for their blockbuster weight-loss drugs.
Thursday’s deal “should significantly enhance obesity drug adoption prospects and more than offset lower pricing,” Leerink analyst David Risinger said.
“We expect LLY to succeed in the price-for-volume game, given its tremendous scale advantages and growing obesity portfolio,” Risinger added.
Skyworks, Qorvo upgraded on merger synergies
Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) and Qorvo (QRVO) were upgraded at Mizuho, with the investment firm citing expected synergies from the pending $22B merger.
“We are upgrading SWKS + QRVO following their merger announcement, as the deal provides some valuation synergies, offset by broader handset headwinds,” analyst Vijay Rakesh said. He upgraded Skyworks to Neutral from Underperform and put a $73 price target on the stock, while Qorvo was raised to Neutral and given a $93 price target.
For Skyworks, Rakesh said the deal could take out around $500M in costs by 2028 and 2029, which could help the company earn roughly $5.83 per share in fiscal 2027. For Qorvo, it would imply roughly a $103 share price by 2027, even when factoring in a discount for Chinese regulatory approval.
Susquehanna hikes Nvidia PT ahead of Q3 earnings
Susquehanna raised the price target on Nvidia’s (NVDA) stock to $230 from $210 ahead of the company’s third quarter fiscal 2026 results next week, Nov. 19.
The firm kept its Positive rating on the shares of Nvidia.
“We expect better results and guidance as GB300 is expected to continue ramping in 2H. For DC Compute, Al demand continues to be supported by ever-increasing hyperscale capex plans. The top five hyperscalers are now expected to increase capex spend by 69% YOY in 2025 (vs. Street estimates of +60% YOY prior to the quarter). Notably, hyperscaler capex is expected to grow 24% YOY in 2026, further supporting growth into 2026,” said the analysts.
Wedbush raised the price target on Zscaler (ZS) to $350 from $330 while maintaining its Outperform rating on the shares of the cloud security provider. Wedbush noted that Zscaler is in a strong position with more cloud and AI deals.
Wolfe Research downgraded Fastenal (FAST) to Underperform from Peer Perform with a $43 price target, anticipating an impact from tariff-related inflation.
Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA) was downgraded to a Peer Perform rating from Outperform at Wolfe Research, primarily due to emerging safety concerns tied to its Nex-z program, which have offset earlier optimism about the company’s growth trajectory.