Ciena upgraded, Flutter downgraded: Wall Street's top analyst calls

Ciena upgraded, Flutter downgraded: Wall Street's top analyst calls

Mon, September 21, 2026 at 4:47 PM GMT+3 4 min read

The most talked about and market moving research calls around Wall Street are now in one place. Here are today's research calls that investors need to know, as compiled by The Fly.

Top 5 Upgrades:

• BNP Paribas upgraded AT&T (T) to Outperform from Neutral with a price target of $30, up from $26. The firm says believes AT&T's wireless service revenue growth will accelerate in the back half of 2026.

• Evercore ISI upgraded Ciena (CIEN) to Outperform from In Line with a price target of $550, up from $375. The firm sees connectivity between and inside data centers becoming "an increasingly critical gating factor for frontier LLM monetization" and calls Ciena an attractive way to gain exposure to the optical networking space that is quickly emerging as a critical bottleneck in the AI buildout.

• Mizuho upgraded Invitation Homes (INVH) and AMH (AMH) to Outperform from Neutral, saying the shares offer attractive valuations at current levels "with less risk on several fronts" compared to other real estate investment trusts.

• Northland upgraded Veeco (VECO) to Outperform from Market Perform with an unchanged price target of $66. Veeco is seeing "very strong order momentum" and estimates its total addressable market will increase to $3B in calendar 2030, up from $1.7B in calendar year 2026, driven by laser annealing, IBD, and advanced packaging, the firm tells investors.

• Evercore ISI upgraded Macerich (MAC) to Outperform from In Line with an unchanged price target of $26. The company's improving balance sheet and accelerating funds from operations growth in 2027 and 2028 make the stock more attractive, the firm tells investors in a research note.

Top 5 Downgrades:

• Rothschild & Co Redburn downgraded Flutter Entertainment (FLUT) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $119, down from $169. The firm says the company's four consecutive guidance cuts temper its enthusiasm for the shares.

• Texas Capital downgraded Universal Technical (UTI) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $25, down from $48. The firm left a call with the company's CFO "increasingly concerned" with the lingering impact from disruption in its high school channel.

• HSBC double downgraded CCU (CCU) to Reduce from Buy with a price target of $10, down from $15. The company is "poor at creating future demand for its core product," the firm tells investors in a research note.

• Mizuho downgraded Equity Lifestyle (ELS) to Neutral from Outperform with a price target of $65, down from $72. The ongoing war in Iran suggests "higher-for-longer" oil prices, inflation, and interest rates, which the firm believes will remain headwinds for Equity Lifestyle's multiple expansion.

• BNP Paribas is moving to the sidelines on Vail Resorts (MTN), downgrading the stock to Neutral from Outperform with a $135 price target.

Top 5 Initiations:

• Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage of CoreWeave (CRWV) with a Sell rating and $54 price target. The firm believes the stock's risk/reward "remains sufficiently unattractive for us to hold a negative view." Rothschild also started coverage of Nebius (NBIS) with a Sell rating.

• Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage of Equinix (EQIX) with a Buy rating and $1,261 price target. Traditional real estate investment trusts "stand out as underappreciated second-derivative beneficiaries of the buildout," says the firm. Rothschild also started coverage of Digital Realty (DLR) and Iron Mountain (IRM) with Buy ratings.

• Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage of Hut 8 (HUT) with a Neutral rating and $96 price target. Rothschild is negative on the neoclouds, where it believes earnings and valuations are "cyclically inflated" but is neutral on AI infrastructure. The firm also started Cipher Mining (CIFR), TeraWulf (WULF), Core Scientific (CORZ) and Applied Digital (APLD) with Neutral ratings.

• JPMorgan resumed coverage of Oddity (ODD) with a Neutral rating and $18 price target. The firm is positive on Oddity's "leading" scale, data-driven platform, and path toward a 2027 recovery, but says the company's visibility remains limited.

• Needham initiated coverage of Nano Nuclear Energy (NNE) with a Buy rating and $33 price target. Nano acquired nearly a decade of USNC development for $8.5M and UIUC has moved the 15 MWe reactor into formal NRC construction-permit review, with key milestones due in 2027, the firm tells investors.