Notable analyst calls this week: Altria, Nvidia and Paramount stocks among top picks

Seeking Alpha News (Sat, 05-Apr 9:35 AM)

The S&P500 (SP500) closed in the red on Friday, after U.S. President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs targeting more than a hundred trading nations stoked fears of a global trade war. 

For the week, Nasdaq (COMP:IND) lost over 4%, while Dow (DJI) declined 3%.

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

Altria downgraded by Deutsche due to near-term headwinds

Deutsche Bank downgraded Altria (NYSE:MO) to Hold from Buy, saying it sees limited upside potential for shares at their current level due to some near-term challenges.

The downgrade also reflects uncertainties surrounding Altria's NJOY litigation, the brokerage said, adding that the company can no longer sell NJOY products in the U.S., meaning NJOY revenue is expected to decline significantly from Q2 onwards.

Nvidia downgraded at HSBC on 'limited' GPU pricing power

Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) was downgraded to Hold from Buy by HSBC, as the brokerage said it sees "limited" pricing power for GPUs going forward until several long-term bets start to emerge.

Analyst Frank Lee also lowered PT to $120 from $175 as he cut his fiscal 2026 earnings and revenue estimates for the AI giant.

“We now think Nvidia's GPU pricing power is slowing down as we have seen no significant ASP boost between B200 and B300 GPU or the GB200 and GB300 NVL72 rack architecture,” Lee wrote, adding that the firm sees “limited spec migration outside of adoption of HBM4 memory with Nvidia's upcoming Vera Rubin which does not see any change in GPU headcount vs Blackwell, remaining at 72 GPUs per rack until Rubin Ultra in CY2027."

Jefferies cautious on airline sector amid weak consumer sentiment, tariff impact

Jefferies downgraded American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) and Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) to Hold from Buy, warning that consumer sentiment continues to disappoint and pointed out that tariffs, which take effect this week, could impact continue to impact investor confidence. 

The firm also downgraded Air Canada (OTCQX:ACDVF) and Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) to Underperform from Hold. Analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu said American, Air Canada and Southwest Airlines will cut their 2025 guidance.

The rating moves left United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) as the only Buy-rated airline stock at the firm. However, Raymond James downgraded UAL to Market Perform from Outperform.

Raymond analyst Savanthi Syth upgraded Allegiant Travel Company (NASDAQ:ALGT) to Strong Buy from Outperform given Allegiant’s "idiosyncratic earnings drivers" that should help offset any macro-driven headwinds.

Paramount Global cut on ad outlook

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) was cut to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank on risks to the advertising outlook and more attractive investment alternatives.

"We see the risk/reward as more balanced now, especially in light of what we see as increasing risk to the advertising outlook due to macroeconomic factors," Deutsche Bank analyst Brian Kraft said and cut PT to $12 from $15.

Morgan Stanley upgraded KLA Corp. (NASDAQ:KLAC) to Overweight from Equal-Weight and upped PT to $870 from $748 on the expectations that it will outgrow the broader chip equipment market.

Stifel maintained its Buy rating but now has a $455 price target on Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), down 4% from the prior PT, citing headwinds from the “anti Elon Musk crowd” and declining favorability among Tesla's target demographic. J.P. Morgan also slashed estimates on the stock, saying the trend in sales is worse than it appreciated and confirmed "unprecedented" brand damage.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) was upgraded to Buy from Hold by Argus Research, with analyst Alexandra Yates saying that the maker of farm chemicals and seeds offers improved demand trends, a strong balance sheet and positive momentum in key agricultural technology segments.

BofA upgraded Swiss technology company Logitech International (NASDAQ:LOGI) to Neutral from Underperform, citing a more balanced risk/reward.