Block upgraded, Starbucks downgraded: Wall Street's top analyst calls

4 days ago 5

The Fly

Wed, March 18, 2026 astatine 8:34 AM CDT 4 min read

The astir talked astir and marketplace moving probe calls astir Wall Street are present successful 1 place. Here are today's probe calls that investors request to know, arsenic compiled by The Fly.

Top 5 Upgrades:

Truist upgraded Block (XYZ) to Buy from Hold with a terms people of $77, up from $72, pursuing the company's caller announcement of a 40% simplification successful its workforce. The steadfast is shifting its code to go much affirmative arsenic it sees mid-to-high azygous digit upside to the Street's out-year EPS forecasts coming from Cash App gross nett upside, amended than expected borderline enlargement and buybacks. Rothschild & Co. Redburn upgraded Block to Neutral from Sell with a terms people of $55, up from $45.
Maxim upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) to Buy from Hold with a $575 terms target. The steadfast believes povetacicept tin beryllium a blockbuster and has "pipeline-in-a-product potential."
Citi upgraded Constellation Brands (STZ) to Buy from Neutral with a terms people of $175, up from $155. Beer scanner information has improved up of the summertime season, the steadfast tells investors successful a probe note.
BNP Paribas upgraded Extra Space Storage (EXR) to Outperform from Neutral with a terms people of $154, up from $141. 2025 results suggest that self-storage is not stuck astatine a trough oregon bouncing sideways, says the firm, which is turning bullish connected the sector.
TD Cowen upgraded Grail (GRAL) to Buy from Hold with a terms people of $65, down from $114. The steadfast believes the caller selloff successful the shares creates an charismatic introduction point.

Top 5 Downgrades:

RBC Capital downgraded Starbucks (SBUX) to Sector Perform from Outperform with a $105 terms target, citing much balanced risk-reward astatine existent levels. RBC noted that imperishable labour investments positive nett outgo savings implicit the adjacent 3 years are "smaller than antecedently anticipated," which implies further investments are required.
Stifel downgraded Trade Desk (TTD) to Hold from Buy with a terms people of $26, down from $48. Stifel told investors that portion it does judge Trade Desk remains the golden modular for integer advertisement buyers, and the steadfast imagines determination volition beryllium immoderate solution with Publicis, it struggles to find a wide catalyst that volition statesman to alteration capitalist cognition to a much affirmative stance, which means shares are improbable to enactment successful the near-term.
Mizuho downgraded CF Industries (CF) to Underperform from Neutral with a terms people of $100, up from $95. The steadfast cites the large run-up successful CF and different fertilizer stocks successful 2026 for the downgrade.
Argus downgraded Duolingo (DUOL) to Hold from Buy. The steadfast believes that the company's caller strategy focused connected expanding the fig of its regular mean users implicit monetization is apt to unit bookings and bounds gross maturation successful the adjacent term.
UBS downgraded Tencent Music (TME) to Neutral from Buy with a terms people of $13, down from $26. Despite a gross bushed successful Q4, the steadfast is turning much blimpish connected Tencent Music's near-term maturation outlook amid rising contention concerns and AI disruption risks. Benchmark and JPMorgan besides downgraded Tencent Music to Neutral-equivalent ratings.