Notable analyst calls this week: Netflix, Lockheed Martin and Spotify among top picks

The S&P500 (SP500) closed in the green on Friday after investors accessed a wave of corporate earnings from companies including Tesla, Lockheed Martin and Alphabet.

For the week, Nasdaq (COMP:IND) rose 0.4%, while Dow (DJI) advanced 0.8%.

Wall Street had a slew of upgrades and downgrades from analysts. Here are some of the major calls for the week:

Netflix downgraded on declining engagement worries, overvaluation

Phillip Capital downgraded streaming giant Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) to Sell from Neutral, with analysts led by Helena Wang saying that the rating change was triggered due to the recent share price rally.

The brokerage maintained the stock’s PT at $950 and said it remains cautious on the stock given its “stretched valuation” and declining engagement per viewer, which might drag down ad revenue, making it harder to hit its target of doubling ad revenue in 2025.

“Lower engagement means fewer ad impressions per user, which can directly reduce advertising revenue,” the research firm said.

Lockheed Martin downgraded after Q2 results

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) was downgraded by Truist Securities to Hold from Buy, following the defense giant’s lower second-quarter earnings because of $1.8 billion in charges.

The brokerage said the charges of $1.8 billion that materialized in the quarter were far larger and broader in scope than it had expected.

“We are downgrading Lockheed shares now as we have little confidence that management will be able to execute on its multi-year growth framework,” said Truist analyst Michael Ciarmoli, citing risks of additional charges, declining free cash flow and uncertainty around key programs like the F-35 and the Next-Gen Interceptor.

Procter & Gamble downgraded by JPM ahead of earnings

JPMorgan downgraded Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) to Neutral from Overweight just ahead of the household products giant’s Q4 earnings report on July 29.

Analyst Andrea Teixeira said the firm is taking a pause because the team thinks Procter & Gamble’s organic sales growth will remain soft for the next few quarters as the categories have decelerated.

The brokerage established a December 2026 price target of $170 on the stock.

Spotify gets bullish rating from Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer upgraded Spotify (NYSE:SPOT) to Outperform from Perform, saying that the music streaming company will benefit from the secular tailwind of growing digital audio streaming adoption, and its subscription economics are “better than most believe.”

The brokerage, which has a PT of $800 for the stock, said it expects SPOT to add ~75M MAU per year (roughly in line with 2024/2025) from 2026 through 2030, resulting in a 2026-2030 CAGR of +8% vs. a 2024-2026 CAGR of +10%.

“Our engagement vs. cost analysis compared to other consumer subscription services implies SPOT is underpriced relative to usage,” Oppenheimer said.

Raymond James downgrades Roblox on recent stock rally

Raymond James cut ratings on Roblox (NYSE:RBLX) to Outperform from Strong Buy.

The research firm said the success of Grow A Garden has helped drive the stock price up 74% since a day after its Q1 report. While they maintain a positive bias on the stock’s trajectory going forward, the rally over the course of Q2 and inflated expectations from the game have triggered the rating cut.

However, RBLX’s PT was hiked to $130 from $81, saying that it is stick with a positive view on balance given the amount of evidence supporting the bullish thesis, namely the depth of solid performance metrics.

Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI) and Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) were both upgraded to Neutral from Sell by Seaport Research Partners, due in part to waning concerns over tariffs. Analyst Jay Goldberg said while the brokerage sees no strong catalysts, it now appears “conditions will not deteriorate and inventories may start to improve.”

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) was upgraded by Wells Fargo to Overweight from Equal Weight, saying Q2 print showed progress is happening faster than anticipated. The brokerage, which also increased PT to $125 from $105, pointing to a “compelling Q2” that “makes for a compelling relative valuation story”.

BofA upgraded UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) to Neutral from Underperform, with analysts saying that they expect EPS to expand sequentially until 2028. “Capital markets activity has bounced back, driving global banking revenues up. We expect good momentum in advisory with pipeline building up,” the brokerage said.