5 big analyst picks: Etsy sales set to pick up, says Wolfe Research

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By Davit Kirakosyan

Here is your Pro Recap of the biggest analyst picks you may have missed since yesterday: upgrades at Etsy, Metlife, Southern, Immunogen, and Sealed Air.

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Etsy gains on Wolfe Research upgrade

Etsy (NASDAQ:ETSY) shares popped Thursday after Wolfe Research upgraded the company to Outperform from Peerperform with a price target of $100.

The firm noted that the homemade crafts e-commerce name was one of the significant underperformers in its coverage universe, with the stock down 46% year to date at the time of the client note, mainly because of multiple compression due to top-line growth revisions.

The analysts noted that revenue growth at the company has been notably influenced by macroeconomic conditions and said that, while it's hard to precisely forecast the recovery in discretionary consumer spending, they expect Etsy's growth to improve when the economy strengthens.

Wolfe believes this growth can drive growth in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the high-teens range, but added, "ETSY could alternatively achieve similar EBITDA growth in the interim from cost savings."

Shares were recently up 2.6% to $66.24.

Metlife raised to Buy at Jefferies

Jefferies upgraded MetLife (NYSE:MET) overnight to Buy from Hold and raised its price target to $72 from $58, noting its enhanced perspective on US life.

The analysts commented that MET "is one of the worst performing stocks in our coverage, largely due P/E compression, which we attribute to its CML office exposure." However, they explained:

"That said, MET's YTD performance in this asset class has been stable, and the company has generated above-peer improvement in excess capital, largely on the reinsurance deal announced in May."

Shares were recently adding 3% to $65.70.

Three more upgrades

BofA Securities upgraded Southern (NYSE:SO) to Neutral from Underperform on Wednesday and raised its price target to $68 from $67, as reported in real-time on InvestingPro.

ImmunoGen (NASDAQ:IMGN) shares closed with more than a 2% gain Wednesday after JPMorgan upgraded the company to Overweight from Neutral and raised its price target to $22 from $9.

This decision is based on positive feedback from a physician survey about Elahere's US launch and the potential seen in Immunogen's R&D. According to JPMorgan, the company is undervalued, with potential from its commercial product and promising expansion prospects.

Credit Suisse upgraded Sealed Air (NYSE:SEE) to Outperform from Neutral on Wednesday with a price target of $47 (from $59). The analysts commented:

We view Sealed Air as a major beneficiary of a soft-landing economic scenario in 2024 and see the stock being priced for recession currently.

Credit Suisse noted that the fundamentals of the Protective segment are stabilizing after significant destocking. Despite a recent unexpected guidance cut, the bank believes that it was deemed necessary due to demand challenges and changes in consumer behavior affecting the company’s high-margin Cryovac brand.

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